The parks in the Seaport Public Realm Plan are not unusual in scale or quantity for a district of 27-30 million square feet of new commercial density at full build.
What cripples the district's potential is the BRA's penchant for long street blocks with a spattering of entrances (often for private groundfloor uses), the car-centric width of the streets and boulevards, and the possibility that there will be ridiculous setbacks for security bollards and plazas.
As for activation of parks and more generally the Seaport, if NAIOP, BCEC, Boston Chamber of Commerce and market pressures from within the Financial District continue to support the front-phasing of office, commercial and destination uses, residential uses will never achieve critical mass necessary for a "neighborhood" to evolve. As I've said before, over the past 10 years the BRA has approved and issued press releases for the development of 3000 residential units on the Seaport (not including Fort Point) but NONE have been built or are in the pipeline.
What cripples the district's potential is the BRA's penchant for long street blocks with a spattering of entrances (often for private groundfloor uses), the car-centric width of the streets and boulevards, and the possibility that there will be ridiculous setbacks for security bollards and plazas.
As for activation of parks and more generally the Seaport, if NAIOP, BCEC, Boston Chamber of Commerce and market pressures from within the Financial District continue to support the front-phasing of office, commercial and destination uses, residential uses will never achieve critical mass necessary for a "neighborhood" to evolve. As I've said before, over the past 10 years the BRA has approved and issued press releases for the development of 3000 residential units on the Seaport (not including Fort Point) but NONE have been built or are in the pipeline.