Grit vs.Gentrification

Beton Brut said:
Bad grit we should ban: street-facing chain link fences on residential property; aluminum or vinyl siding on residences over 50 years old.
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First two things I did when I bought my house?

Stripped off the vinyl siding and ripped out the chain link fence. :)

And I love your definition of good grit/bad grit. Absolutely spot on. Thanks.
 
I don't think the problem with Boston is lack of grit, I think the problem is the vast chunks of high density urban fabric that have been blown away. There are the obvious big gaps in the city like Charles River Park apartments, GC and RKG, but even Causeway Street and the old North Station site have that wide open suburban feeling, much different than in the 1980's.

Boston seems like a much smaller and more boring city than it could be if these gaping large holes in the urban fabric were to be developed with multi-use high density development, with narrowed streets and small blocks.
 
statler said:
First two things I did when I bought my house?

Stripped off the vinyl siding and ripped out the chain link fence.
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Many thanks for your public service. What did your neighbors think? Was there any reaction?
 
Well, I was hoping to start a trend, but since I bought there have been two more houses on my street sheathed in plastic. :(

When we first took off the siding, the paint underneath was a sickly yellow and peeling badly. After we painted it a nice reddish color we got a ton of compliments. But a few people admitted they thought we were crazy at first. The exterior still needs a lot of work, but that requires time and money, two things that are in short supply lately. :rolleyes:

There was a nice small house down the street with a beautiful mansard roof and nice trim work. It was in disrepair, but a little TLC and it would have been a showcase. Now it's a little plastic castle.
 
This discussion could lead us down a lot of different paths:

  • Work/Life balance
  • The time-value of money
  • What you "own" when you own a home
  • Aesthetics vs. ease-of-maintenance
  • Aesthetics in the context of social class and education level
  • Our societal failure to teach aesthetics

I need a drink.
 
^^ Each an interesting topic unto itself, which leads to yet another topic:

  • Time spent online vs. time spent in real life
 
I'm very fortunate to have a rich and varied "real" life. I like my job (though sometimes it hates me in return), surround myself with family and good friends, maintain an active social calendar, remain engaged in my community, and sit on the board of a cultural organization. For me, staying busy is part of staying sane.

I'm also among the "splinter group" who have taken their thoughts from this board into the public realm. I recognize that this isn't for everyone, but I wish more of the astute and vocal posters here would surface at community and planning meetings, especially in their own communities.

Posting here is a way of tuning (and amplifying) my public self. It also helps keep me sane. My family and friends (who couldn't give a flying handshake about architecture & urbanism) thank you for listening.
 
^ Speaking of astute and vocal posters, where in the world did czsz go? I hope he's just enjoying his summer and will return soon.

Beton Brut said:
In general, good grit is "public" and it enlivens its place. Think Wally's, or TC's.
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TC's fascinates me. It's got to be the only place in central Boston that manages to attract the country folk, and seeing the contrast between Berklee/BoCo musician-hipsters and redneck patrons always amuses me.

And Wally's... that place is a home away from home for me.
 
tobyjug said:
Perhaps this is deeply old fashioned, but places like the Hotel Commonwealth and its tenants have such an oiley, almost desperate parvenu quality that it is difficult to call the result "gentrification". Hangouts for the striving classes, yes.
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Such places are often easily identified by the sinks in their washrooms; if when you turn on the water, it immediately splashes off the glass/stone/hammered steel sculpture that substitutes as a real sink, soaking the front of your trousers, then you are in such a place. See, e.g. Radius.
 
Beton Brut said:
In general, good grit is "public" and it enlivens its place.

Bad grit is often "private" and kills the place that surrounds it. Filthy vacant lots, dilapidated private homes (and ill-kept public housing). These are the things that keep people out of a neighborhood, because they create (deservedly or not) an aura of menace.
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That's what Giuliani realized when he set out to fix New York. So he targeted graffiti, bums, littered streets, boom boxes, three-card monte, streetcorner drug deals, porno and hookers...

The extent of his success can be gauged by comparing today's New York with the place described in "The Wackest," a current film with Ben Kingsley set in the New York of 1994, the winter of its discontent.

You want an aura of menace? You'll find plenty in this flick. Highly recommended.



(p.s. Giuliani was and is an obnoxious jerk, but no politician I know of has ever so greatly improved --in such a short time-- a place he was entrusted with. Ever.)

The hookers and the cardsharps and the strutting pimps were entertaining, to be sure ... but they definitely pumped out the menace.

.
 
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^ Glad you liked it.

Others better catch it fast

before it's gone

from the local sin-e-mah.
 
ablarc said:
(p.s. Giuliani was and is an obnoxious jerk, but no politician I know of has ever so greatly improved --in such a short time-- a place he was entrusted with. Ever.)
The hookers and the cardsharps and the strutting pimps were entertaining, to be sure ... but they definitely pumped out the menace.
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Don't forget most obnoxious jerks of all, the windshield washers who'd jump in front of your car, throw a bucket of soapy water on your windshield and basically hold you hostage unless you paid them to clean off the mess of soapy water that they made! NYC is a much better place because of Giuliani...and yes, he is an obnoxious jerk.
 
^ How could they have slipped my mind?

Once I was victimized by a squeegee artist jerk, all of whose fingers were variously incomplete --some mere stumps. For a year or so I watched for signs of leprosy.

.
 
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atlantaden said:
Don't forget most obnoxious jerks of all, the windshield washers who'd jump in front of your car, throw a bucket of soapy water on your windshield and basically hold you hostage unless you paid them to clean off the mess of soapy water that they made! NYC is a much better place because of Giuliani...and yes, he is an obnoxious jerk.
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Bloomberg?

If he can't get away with a third term in NYC, it'd be awesome to have him as mayor here. Unlikely, of course, but awesome. One of the only prominent supporters of free public transit I know of.
 
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