Harvard Square Infill and Small Developments

[Charlie_mta]

Plan to enliven Harvard Square's Palmer Street reimagines the Coop Annex with restaurant spaces:

https://www.cambridgeday.com/2024/0...reimagines-coop-annex-with-restaurant-spaces/

 

[BronsonShore]

Hell yeah - that's what every single building adjacent to a pedestrian alley should be doing. Make Boston Istanbul.

 

[FK4]

Plan to enliven Harvard Square's Palmer Street reimagines the Coop Annex with restaurant spaces:

https://www.cambridgeday.com/2024/0...reimagines-coop-annex-with-restaurant-spaces/

View attachment 48958

I was thinking this would be a good spot for a Verizon store, a Legal Seafoods, and a Capitol One.

 

[itchy]

I was thinking this would be a good spot for a Verizon store, a Legal Seafoods, and a Capitol One.

Always gets my goat when Legal Seafoods steals good real estate from local businesses like CVS and Dunkin' Donuts.

 

[#bancars]

Zoeâs Diner, an Affordable Staple of Harvard Square, Permanently Closes | News | The Harvard Crimson

Zoe’s Diner, a longtime staple of Harvard Square dining beloved for its retro aesthetics, bottomless coffee, and all-day breakfast offerings, permanently closed last week.

www.thecrimson.com

 

[FK4]

Zoeâs Diner, an Affordable Staple of Harvard Square, Permanently Closes | News | The Harvard Crimson

Zoe’s Diner, a longtime staple of Harvard Square dining beloved for its retro aesthetics, bottomless coffee, and all-day breakfast offerings, permanently closed last week.

www.thecrimson.com

Fuck Tatte. They’re a scourge on the city

 

[dhawkins]

Please pay a visit to Club Passim or the Sinclair, support local music! Kepp the venues alive.

Sinclair

Passim

 

[itchy]

Fuck Tatte. They’re a scourge on the city

Yeah, they exude a certain bougie-ness that gets my hackles up. There's something so forced-trendy about Tatte, like they're a Dubai import or something.

 

[FK4]

Yeah, they exude a certain bougie-ness that gets my hackles up. There's something so forced-trendy about Tatte, like they're a Dubai import or something.

I feel like the new thing over the last decade is the local chain: certain local businesses proliferate rapidly and banalify local commercial districts in the same way a Starbucks or Mcdonalds does, but because they're local (and usually also high end and bougie, as you say), people think they're great and dont notice they're just as bad.

In general, it seems much more likely that a successful local business ends up multiplying. When I was younger, I dont remember every popular restaurant proliferating in the way it seems to happen now. Not that it never happened (Dunkin etc come from this of course), but it seems like now, once your brick and mortar does well, you're automatically onto making a duplicate, then a triplicate, etc.

 

[bdurden]

I’ve been living in Alexandria and working in DC this year and my dislike of the DuPont Circle Tatte is real and irrational.

Perhaps it comes down to the prime location they occupy, despite replacing a Starbucks.

 

[393b40]

I feel like the new thing over the last decade is the local chain: certain local businesses proliferate rapidly and banalify local commercial districts in the same way a Starbucks or Mcdonalds does, but because they're local (and usually also high end and bougie, as you say), people think they're great and dont notice they're just as bad.

In general, it seems much more likely that a successful local business ends up multiplying. When I was younger, I dont remember every popular restaurant proliferating in the way it seems to happen now. Not that it never happened (Dunkin etc come from this of course), but it seems like now, once your brick and mortar does well, you're automatically onto making a duplicate, then a triplicate, etc.

Scaling successful formula businesses is not hard and profitable.

I don't mind Tatte.. I'm not a breakfast pastry kind of person but I appreciated it when there was one underneath my office several years ago for a quick 3pm snack.

 

[bigpicture7]

I’ve been living in Alexandria and working in DC this year and my dislike of the DuPont Circle Tatte is real and irrational.

Perhaps it comes down to the prime location they occupy, despite replacing a Starbucks.

I am guessing it parallels my distain for the Harvard Sq. one. I actually don't mind Tatte in general, and actually like some of their locations. But you couldn't pay me to go into the Harvard one. There's something about it; always packed, the overflowing mix of tourists with some poor local souls actually trying to do work in there. Ugh. If I pay $20 for lunch+coffee and it actually feels like a quality (dare I say relaxing) experience, I might feel OK about it being $20 well spent. But envisioning doing that at the Harvard Sq. Tatte is akin, in my mind, to flushing a crisp 20bill directly down the toilet.

 

[Stlin]

I’ve been living in Alexandria and working in DC this year and my dislike of the DuPont Circle Tatte is real and irrational.

Perhaps it comes down to the prime location they occupy, despite replacing a Starbucks.

I am guessing it parallels my distain for the Harvard Sq. one. I actually don't mind Tatte in general, and actually like some of their locations. But you couldn't pay me to go into the Harvard one. There's something about it; always packed, the overflowing mix of tourists with some poor local souls actually trying to do work in there. Ugh. If I pay $20 for lunch+coffee and it actually feels like a quality (dare I say relaxing) experience, I might feel OK about it being $20 well spent. But envisioning doing that at the Harvard Sq. Tatte is akin, in my mind, to flushing a crisp 20bill directly down the toilet.

I regularly visit DC with a friend from NYC - we meetup on the train - or they visit me in Cambridge, and their insistence on eating ≤1 meal at those specific Tattes is mildly infuriating, so just for me personally I really want them to open at least one location in Brooklyn.

But no - generally I would agree. Something about the white Parisian chic is very tourist and insta friendly, so the one in Arlington or downtown are much more ... Comfortable. And while not amazing Tattes are decent for what they are - they haven't reached oversaturation yet.

 

[#bancars]

I am guessing it parallels my distain for the Harvard Sq. one. I actually don't mind Tatte in general, and actually like some of their locations. But you couldn't pay me to go into the Harvard one. There's something about it; always packed, the overflowing mix of tourists with some poor local souls actually trying to do work in there. Ugh. If I pay $20 for lunch+coffee and it actually feels like a quality (dare I say relaxing) experience, I might feel OK about it being $20 well spent. But envisioning doing that at the Harvard Sq. Tatte is akin, in my mind, to flushing a crisp 20bill directly down the toilet.

I agree--it really depends on the location. The Harvard Sq and Seaport locations are a nightmare. But the original Brookline location, as well as the one on Main St in Cambridge, are quite nice imo--smaller, less hectic, with good outdoor seating.

 

[shmessy]

I’m enjoying the debate about Tatte.

But wondering why does Dunkin Donuts (the Papa John’s of Donuts) get a free pass when there are practically 3 on each block in Boston?

Sorry if it offends the home team, but That shit stinks. Even their once vaunted coffee is no longer great.

 

[chrisbrat]

I’m enjoying the debate about Tatte.

But wondering why does Dunkin Donuts (the Papa John’s of Donuts) get a free pass when there are practically 3 on each block in Boston?

Sorry if it offends the home team, but That shit stinks. Even their once vaunted coffee is no longer great.

 

[DZH22]

Sorry if it offends the home team, but That shit stinks. Even their once vaunted coffee is no longer great.

I get a large cold brew with skim milk and caramel about once a week and always look forward to it.

 

[shmessy]

I get a large cold brew with skim milk and caramel about once a week and always look forward to it.

Enjoy!

 

[HBostonian]

Penny Pritzker ’81 Donates $100 Million for New Economics Department Building | News | The Harvard Crimson

Former U.S. Secretary of Commerce and business leader Penny S. Pritzker ’81 donated $100 million to the Economics Department to support the construction of a new department building, Harvard announced Tuesday morning.

www.thecrimson.com

I am a grad student with parking access to the lot next to the current economics building (Littauer) and have just been notified that the adjacent parking lot will be permanently closed due to a significant construction project beginning in Fall 2024 with utility work scheduled to start in October. Not clear if it is the project this money is going towards, but that would make sense since the article says the new building will be built near Littauer.

 

[#bancars]

A few updates on the Harvard Square kiosk project:

Harvard Square Kiosk to Return as Visitor Center, Cultural Space | News | The Harvard Crimson

The City of Cambridge announced Thursday that the kiosk, an iconic Cambridge landmark which has languished under years of slow-moving renovations, will serve as a dual “community gathering space and information center” when it reopens in early 2025.

www.thecrimson.com

âIt shouldnât be this difficultâ: Why fixing up a kiosk in Harvard Square is costing millions and taking years - The Boston Globe

The structure that once housed Out of Town News has languished in construction purgatory. Now, Cambridge says its next act will begin soon.

www.bostonglobe.com