Green Line Extension to Medford & Union Sq

Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

bigeman312 said:
Prospect Hill was a good name at the time. This would still be an okay name, but McGrath Highway really cuts off Prospect Hill from where this station is, and makes it "feel" like a more distant neighborhood than it is, in spite of the fact that this is the closest station to most of Prospect Hill. Today, Prospect Hill is very oriented towards Union Square, probably due in part to McGrath's existence.
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Yes, I'd say that Prospect Hill is triangulated by the 2 stations and can't be given as a name to either, the same way there's no Beacon Hill station despite any number of stations that might claim it.

I'm unpersuaded by the old maps (since most people don't use them for wayfinding and they're not even the basis for informal names).

But we do have the Cobble Hill Apts, and the Brickbottom Lofts that people do know, and either of which could be the nucleus for a place identity.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

Arlington said:
But we do have the Cobble Hill Apts, and the Brickbottom Lofts that people do know, and either of which could be the nucleus for a place identity.
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Cobble Hill is a pretty good name, the issue is that it is used inconsistently. I have heard/seen it used to refer to different areas (even in official documents) and is not as recognizable as some other possibilities.

Upside: Unique. Somewhat recognizable. The Cobble Hill Apartments and Cobble Hill Plaza are right there, so that's a plus.

Downside: When people are talking about "Cobble Hill" as the actual hill itself, they are referring to the hill on Mt. Vernon Street, which is actually closer to Sullivan Station than this station (although a longer, circuitous walk). This hill is the sight of the former Cobble Hill B&B. When people are talking about "Cobble Hill" as the neighborhood, they are often using it synonymous to "Ward Two," which this station is not located within.

Brickbottom, in my opinion, is a superior name. It generally always refers to the area bounded by McGrath/the Fitchburg Line/the Lowell Line/Washington Street, which includes the Brickbottom Lofts and is immediately adjacent to the station.

EDIT: By the Lowell Line, I mean the rail spur that runs from the Lowell Line ROW to the Fitchburg Line ROW. This separates Inner Belt from Brickbottom.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

Well here's your problem:

http://greenlineextension.eot.state...oup0709/Mtg6_050508/StationLocation050508.pdf

The old planning documents identified the name "Brickbottom" with a different station location off of Fitchburg St, with "Washington St." an adjacent station alternative. The combined station on the overpass was referred to as "Washington St/Brickbottom" as shorthand for serving both catchments. Evidently the MBTA decided at some point to dump the name of the rejected alternative, despite the fact that the only reason "Washington St." was called that was to differentiate it from "Brickbottom".

There's probably a lot of planning documentation from before the alternatives were combined that referred to "Washington St. Station" and such in the titles and file names, so it was expedient to just keep the name. Dumb. Change it back, please.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

I asked on GLX's Facebook page and here's the response

That question was asked at a meeting last month. In response, Mary Ainsley of the MBTA said there would be a process for determining the station names, noting as you did that there already is a Washington Street station in the system, and also a Tufts Medical Center station, which makes it unlikely that the College Avenue Station in Medford would carry "Tufts" in its name.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

Ruairi said:
I asked on GLX's Facebook page and here's the response

That question was asked at a meeting last month. In response, Mary Ainsley of the MBTA said there would be a process for determining the station names, noting as you did that there already is a Washington Street station in the system, and also a Tufts Medical Center station, which makes it unlikely that the College Avenue Station in Medford would carry "Tufts" in its name.
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Thanks for doing that! I know we'd discussed the Tufts issue as well (better to rename the Orange Line station, IMO).
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

FWIW, Stony Brook Station on the Orange Line was referred to as Boylston Street Station on the planning documents. In the end, Washington won't be this station's name.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

CSTH said:
So...'Bank of America Station' it is, then?
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Still a real possibility given the directive from the legislature which I'm assuming still exists?
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

Equilibria said:
Thanks for doing that! I know we'd discussed the Tufts issue as well (better to rename the Orange Line station, IMO).
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It seems silly to only allow the "Tufts" name if they're distinct. But if you must, change TMC to "Bay Village" or "South Cove" (honestly, who thinks Tufts Med Center won't have yet another name change in the future...), and give the Tufts name to the University campus's station.

Alternatively keep TMC and name the GLX stop "College Hill."
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

Tbf, "Longwood" and "Longwood Medical Area" cause a lot of confusion already, so I can see how two Tufts variations would too. Back when I used to commute on the Green Line, I'd have to explain it to people asking for directions constantly.

I second renaming Tufts Medical Center back to South Cove.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

datadyne007 said:
Tbf, "Longwood" and "Longwood Medical Area" cause a lot of confusion already, so I can see how two Tufts variations would too. Back when I used to commute on the Green Line, I'd have to explain it to people asking for directions constantly.

I second renaming Tufts Medical Center back to South Cove.
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Longwood and LMA should just be Longwood West and Longwood East.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

I feel like the entire southern section of Somerville has an identity crisis when it comes to what it should be called. "Cobble Hill" is a bad name, even though it sounds nice. The problem is that there is no obvious hill, unlike Prospect, Winter, Spring, etc. This wouldn't be a big deal if people could decide and agree on where put this mythic "hill", but nobody can do that - I'm hearing it connected to Ward 2, a neighborhood that goes almost all the way to Porter Square, and to far East Somerville - an area spanning almost two miles.

Ward 2 is also a horrible, non descriptive name to describe that section of Somerville. Which is a problem seeing how that area is on major transit corridors, very densely populated and basically the gateway between Somerville and Cambridge. It's a very active part of the city and yet it's got one of the worst, least descriptive names in the entire metro area.

Brickbottom is a good name as it both sounds good and defines a clear area which is very close to the station, thus it should be the station name. Prospect Hill is a bad name, as you have McGrath cutting it off and it's really nowhere near most of that neighborhood. East Somerville is a worse name because large portions it are nowhere near the station, including Broadway, by far the most definable part of that neighborhood. Inner Belt is an ok name, although that makes me think of the areas south of the train tracks which are hard to get to by foot. I'd be ok with Brickbottom/Inner Belt, or Brickbottom/Cobble Hill if the city made a concerted effort to clearly define Cobble Hill as the area south of Washington St where the plaza and apartments of that name lie.

Part of the problem in defining neighborhoods in Cambridge in Somerville is that everything revolves around the squares, but the squares aren't neighborhoods themselves but rather centerpoints which neighborhoods radiate outwards from.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

My understanding is that Cobble Hill doesn't exist as a hill any more because it was leveled for use as landfill in the 1800s.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

Balerion said:
My understanding is that Cobble Hill doesn't exist as a hill any more because it was leveled for use as landfill in the 1800s.
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Fun fact: the Lowell Line which is up on an "embankment" is actually on the original grade of Cobble Hill. The rest of the hill was excavated from around it. Don't know if it was for fill, or simply to make way for a level railyard.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

Balerion said:
My understanding is that Cobble Hill doesn't exist as a hill any more because it was leveled for use as landfill in the 1800s.
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Ok, so Brickbottom it is. Governor Baker? I have Mayor Curtatone on the line...
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

Call it McCarthy Memorial Station.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

BostonUrbEx said:
Fun fact: the Lowell Line which is up on an "embankment" is actually on the original grade of Cobble Hill. The rest of the hill was excavated from around it. Don't know if it was for fill, or simply to make way for a level railyard.
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The Lowell Line was the very first 'conventional' standard-gauge powered railroad in New England (Granite Railroad in Quincy/Milton on the current alignment of Southeast Expressway was the first overall in 1826, but that was a custom gravity railroad + horsecar line later converted to steam/standard-gauge. Soooooo much landfilling was yet to be done after the Boston & Lowell first opened in 1835 that the alignment through Somerville was shifted more than once. More dramatic the further south you go...swinging as much as several blocks off the current alignment. Where it now goes was pretty much frozen in the 2nd half of the century.

The original (you'd have to find some damn old parchment to trace that in any detail) is unrecognizable and doesn't make any sense with some of the present-day geography that was altered. Nevermind make any sense with the mature street grid plunked onto that altered geography. Whole area was subject to a whole lot of human re-shaping...much earlier on than other parts of Boston where the landfilling was better-documented.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

Matthew said:
Not the NJTransit that I know. Maybe the major stations, e.g. Newark Penn, which does have waiting areas (Art Deco style and all).
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Maybe not every single one, but almost all. Every stop on the northeast corridor aside from Jersey Avenue, for example, do.

Even the brand new Princeton dinky station has a brand new enclosed shelter with heat and ac, and that will get significantly less ridership than a green line stop.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

jass said:
Every single one.
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Not all. Stirling Station has nothing besides a tiny concrete shelter with a single bench and a ticket machine. North Branch, High Bridge, and Annandale at the far end of the Raritan Valley Line also come to mind for stations without a heated shelter. I'm sure there's more.

That said, you're generally correct. NJT has a heated waiting room at most stops with any notable ridership.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

These are 90% drawings. I'm sure there's time to snake a cable for overhead heaters and a box around a bench or two, or frankly, these things have Taj Mahal headhouses. If you're cold, you can do pretty well in there.
 
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