Flickr Finds & Social Media Pics

[gooseberry]

Causeway St. used to ooze with distinct character and urban vitality. It has become a no place.

Ya, I miss the old Causeway St, but the new North Station T stop is a huge improvement.

 

[BostonUrbEx]

Awesome shot! Really cool seeing the freight, too!

 

[Ron Newman]

I thought the Union Freight Railway was used only at night -- guess not!

 

[czsz]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cialowicz/5443404433/in/faves-31981813@N00/

 

[BostonUrbEx]

^ omfg, I see this picture every time I search for anything...

"bowdoin tail tracks" THIS PICTURE.

"mbta urb ex" THIS PICTURE.

"subway infiltration" THIS PICTURE.

"purple elephants" THIS PICTURE.

 

[kz1000ps]

La la la MORE FLICKR FINDS (and the last I'll be posting for a while)

1958

Austin7nut

Check out how swanky this little building on Summer Street was back in its day:

amy.arch

You'll have to squint a little...1959 from the old John Hancock

AndrewEick

A grittastic building Welkah & Pedroiyah Nation could've been proud of were it still around...

Dick Leonhardt

happyarm

September 5th, 1964...you can see three projects under construction: State Street Bank, 100 Cambridge Street and the JFK Federal Building. Somewhere up in heaven, Ed Logue is smiling upon this scene:

Dick Leonhardt

Comm Ave:

Snap Man

This is my current wallpaper:

Dick Leonhardt

Making way for the Johnson addition, 1966:

Boston Public Library

I've already covered everything I've found from the next few decades, so now we skip ahead to 1997:

Roland_Doenges

So long, old friend

jimboyle93

A set of Big Dig pics from 1999:

There's several hundred more here: martin.jessica

Millenium Place under construction in November of the new millenium:

[/url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/26664392@N04/2749214089/"]Mark.D.Baker[/url]

adm

Souvenir Soul

Mark.D.Baker


July 2001, look at all those lovely red brick plazas (also, you can see 101 Huntington getting refaced)

rextangtw

That's it for now. Pics from 2002 and newer will be coming in a couple weeks, once I'm back from my business trip!

 

[datadyne007]

Big Dig pix thoughts: Thank god for the Greenway.

2001 Pru photo: I couldn't remember what the area used to look like before Shaws and the Mandarin Oriental/Newbury Arcade were built. Interesting obsession with gridded plazas. I'm guessing they were just as dead as the other Prudential Plazas? The one on Huntington (where Shaws is now) looks like it would have been an attractive spot if it had some trees or something.

I miss that view from the Hancock so much. My dad used to take me into the city to go up the Hancock several times a year. This photo was taken couple months before the observatory was (illegally) closed due to 9/11 too.

 

[Boston02124]

lots of great crane pixs,seems like yesterday when it (big dig) was all going on!

 

[czsz]

Big Dig pix thoughts: Thank god for the Greenway.

Really? The specific urban form of the Greenway is justified because the relatively brief period of the highway's deconstruction was sort of disruptive and miserable?

 

[datadyne007]

Really? The specific urban form of the Greenway is justified because the relatively brief period of the highway's deconstruction was sort of disruptive and miserable?

Each time I see pix of the Central Artery, more memories come back of how horrible that thing was. Just look at the way it interacted with Marketplace Center and how the Greenway interacts now. Compared to what we had, the Greenway is a major improvement. I will take that opinion to the death of me. This is why I'm not as critical as others about the Greenway.

It wasn't just the deconstruction that was miserable. IT, itself, was miserable. I remember walking under that monstrosity to get to the water. Going into the darkness with piles of trash chilling under there. It smelled too.

Marketplace Center, 1999:

Marketplace Center, 2010:

 

[briv]

At last Marketplace Center's glorious blank walls and auto entrances can be beheld by all.

 

[datadyne007]

At last Marketplace Center's glorious blank walls and auto entrances can be beheld by all.

I'm more focused on the direct waterfront connection from Faneuil Hall Mkpl/MPlace Center that we have now, but I'd assume that MPlace Center was built like that because of the Central Artery. Why build windows that look out to a nasty scene and provide awful light? A similar thing happened with Providence Place. I would bet that if Clarendon were to rebuild MPlace Center today, they would engage that waterfront side tremendously.

 

[czsz]

Yeah, it looks nice when you angle the photo to put Columbus Park in front, doesn't it? But there's still a concrete chasm between Marketplace Center and Faneuil Hall. And barreling traffic, thanks to the ramps.

I think it might have been safer for pedestrians with most of the traffic up top, actually. Now we essentially have a two-level highway with connectors engineered to better facilitate speed.

 

[Charlie_mta]

I agree. We now have a surface freeway with a dolled up lawn for a median strip. The elevated was better at seperating traffic from the pedestrian flow. If the land beneath the old elevated highway had been developed a bit, it would have been more inviting than the blank suburban void that sits there now.

 

[Boston02124]

I think they should now tear down that low rise section of the building,maybe build a small 6 story building on either end and allow Quincy Market to be open up to the Greenway,then the suface roads should have been sunken like they are on Storrow dr,Comm ave ect and a grand entrance/connection to the parks and Harbor built on top.

 

[Boston02124]

besides nothing has really changed on the suface,yeah the trash and the overhead banging and smells are gone but you still have to cross those dam streets to get to the Harbor,North End ect. that has'nt change, again the underpass'es would have worked great in many location along the Greenway

 

[datadyne007]

MPlace Center does an excellent job bridging Faneuil Hall to the Greenway and waterfront. Heck, it's a blessing that they even built that grand archway considering that it originally led to under that green monstrosity. It was as if they were planning ahead.

Do I believe other parts of the Greenway could be livened up with some development? Absolutely.
Is it at least marginally better than what we had? Yes.
Do I believe its managed correctly/appropriately? Absolutely not.
Is it the worst thing in the world? No.
Is it the worst thing in Boston? No.

 

[Ron Newman]

As someone who used to walk daily through this area as part of my commute -- it is immensely better without the elevated Central Artery.

Is it perfect? No. But it's still a huge improvement over what it was.

 

[datadyne007]

As someone who used to walk daily through this area as part of my commute -- it is immensely better without the elevated Central Artery.

Is it perfect? No. But it's still a huge improvement over what it was.

I'm glad someone else can see my side. I find it absurd to even consider the notion that some people could think that the Central Artery was better because it separated pedestrian flow even though it was detrimental to the urban environment: trash, smells, darkness, views etc. Seriously, it's not hard to cross the streets. Half the time, you don't even have to wait for a walk signal because the streets are empty or 2 cars are passing by. It's only busy in the summer which is when the Greenway is the most active anyways.

 

[Ron Newman]

Also, the peripheral service roads were there, and had to be crossed, even when the elevated Central Artery was still standing.