Yes and no. I think in this specific case, a larger company in bio tech leaving Kendal sq to help jump start a new neighborhood, it has good in it. I do think that the 70 million in tax breaks is a bit much. But it seems like the thing to do, have all municipalities race to the bottom (so that at the end of the day very rich people can make even more profit). And here is my main reasoning. I believe Kendall Sq, the bio tech capital of the world/ one of the most cocentrated areas of inteligence, can fill that void fairly quick. Where-as South Boston needs a shot in the arm. I think this goes a way towards that. I said it before, I view it like transplanting trees from a dense forest to start a new forest somewhere else.
So assuming, and yes its a large assumption, that Kendall Sq can recoup lost business. That the presence of this new large company (Vertex) is the final piece of confidence the private sector needs to truely become bullish. Then it could possibly be a net gain. South Boston has been slowly adding all these peices together, (ICA, Liberty Warf, Convention Center, apartments, hotels) that a real neighborhood needs. Now granted the architecture could be better, but I beileve it's really close to that critical cross-over. It could help it progress from a location some might be willing to take a chance on, to a place a lot of companies and people would like to call home. I think that Vertex might be that crucial amount of business/people/activity required to trigger the creation of this neighborhood (30 years in the making).