I've been forum member for a while now, and remember when it seemed like the number of "recently updated" threads on new development numbered a small handful. Over the past decade, that list has grown and now it's almost impossible to keep up with everything, good and bad.
However, it's also amazing to see and feel the difference "on the ground" as it were. I commute from Seaport to North Station and I decided to do that on foot last night. What amazed me was how pedestrian-activated nearly every step of that journey was. The seaport was teeming with people, both residents and visitors, with a constant flow coming over the Seaport Blvd. bridge to/from downtown. Once across the bridge, I followed one of the greenway paths to the Trillium Brewery thing, passing tourists and residents a like, and noted a few people having a couple drinks. From there, I continued along the greenway, passing some families playing with dogs, and crossed to the downtown side of Atlantic avenue near Quincy Market and the carousel. From there, I followed Atlantic Avenue, with brief dip on New Chardon to get to Canal Street, and ultimately, North Station.
For almost the entire way, there were other people walking around, ground-level park, retail, and dining options, and a general sense of life and being in an "alive" city. Ironically, the "deadest" area was immediately outside Quincy Market, where the buildings that previously protected the market from the highway now form a barrier to its inclusion in the rest of the city. Canal street was also relatively quiet compared to other places, but the new North Station entrance and surrounding environs have a vitality they didn't before.
When I completed my journey, I was amazed at the contrast from the early 2000's when I previously worked in the Seaport and commuted to Beacon Hill. I frequently made the same walk, or some variation of it back then, and at that time it felt like Quincy Market was the ONLY area of life along that trip.
www.bostonglobe.com
