Let's Make Boston More Fun

[jamespatriots1]

I think there's sooo much that can be done.... everything from putting ornamental facades on hideous old brutalist buildings like city hall and christian science center, to putting a plan together to fight stodgy NIMBY'ism that is threatening MUCH needed new projects... one guy at a meeting last week went full on psycho about how putting up a hotel near fenway would leave a line of sight for a gunman and the greed of these developers is sickening that they would do that. One woman was saying how rerouting comm ave around her building for 100 feet long will kill her with toxins... while she leaves between comm ave and beacon st. It's ridiculous.

Boston needs happy hour back, it needs a 3:30 last call... and yeah that will chill out fights and idiots because it makes drinking less of a big deal and people can pace themselves.

Boston needs to invite in world class nightlife groups to create bars, clubs, lounges and spaces that are world-class.

Boston needs more festivals like Montreal, that will allow it to let loose and be attractive to the next generation who can choose where they lived based on job market and how fun it is.

Boston is getting smoked in the fun competition. Seaport will help a bit, but not enough. We don't have any pool parties in this city or lake parties the way chicago or detroit do. There's hardly any rooftop pools in the city. We just got a $2.5B casino "resort" WITHOUT A POOL. Yet I just went to cape neddick maine in september and they had one indoor and two outdoor pools that were packed.

Boston has some embarrassing glaring holes in it and I'd like to put together a plan of how to ameloriate those and put that powerpoint public and try to get 100k signatures. Anyone want to help?

 

[393b40]

/r/boston is that way. Good luck.

 

[HelloBostonHi]

one guy at a meeting last week went full on psycho about how putting up a hotel near fenway would leave a line of sight for a gunman and the greed of these developers is sickening that they would do that.

I saw a bunch of comments in the online public comment period for that project say the same thing. People can't seriously think that we can no longer build tall buildings because people might shoot out of them... Right? Isn't that the definition of letting the terrorists win? Plus Fenway is already full of tall buildings that overlook Fenway Park and believe me they aren't hard to get in to. I suspect it's just the nimbyism going for whatever they can to stop a project.

 

[Massachoicetts]

I will be more than happy to work with you honestly.

Please DM me for my information, because I would love to see something like this come to surface. Anything helps; good idea here.

 

[JohnAKeith]

Why not just move to a different city where they have these things and leave Boston the way it is/

I think there's sooo much that can be done.... everything from putting ornamental facades on hideous old brutalist buildings like city hall and christian science center, to putting a plan together to fight stodgy NIMBY'ism that is threatening MUCH needed new projects... one guy at a meeting last week went full on psycho about how putting up a hotel near fenway would leave a line of sight for a gunman and the greed of these developers is sickening that they would do that. One woman was saying how rerouting comm ave around her building for 100 feet long will kill her with toxins... while she leaves between comm ave and beacon st. It's ridiculous.

Boston needs happy hour back, it needs a 3:30 last call... and yeah that will chill out fights and idiots because it makes drinking less of a big deal and people can pace themselves.

Boston needs to invite in world class nightlife groups to create bars, clubs, lounges and spaces that are world-class.

Boston needs more festivals like Montreal, that will allow it to let loose and be attractive to the next generation who can choose where they lived based on job market and how fun it is.

Boston is getting smoked in the fun competition. Seaport will help a bit, but not enough. We don't have any pool parties in this city or lake parties the way chicago or detroit do. There's hardly any rooftop pools in the city. We just got a $2.5B casino "resort" WITHOUT A POOL. Yet I just went to cape neddick maine in september and they had one indoor and two outdoor pools that were packed.

Boston has some embarrassing glaring holes in it and I'd like to put together a plan of how to ameloriate those and put that powerpoint public and try to get 100k signatures. Anyone want to help?

 

[George_Apley]

This thread title HURTS.

 

[DBM]

Boston has some embarrassing glaring holes in it

It certainly does!:

1.) Still no foreseeable plan on the near-term horizon to ameliorate the abrupt closure of the Long Island Shelter and the crisis that has resulted around the Mass & Cass area as a result, 5 years or so in to the ongoing catastrophe
2.) A brutal housing crisis creating a crushing rent burden for many Bostonians, with not nearly enough assistance to help folks who want to stay in their apartments find a way to do so if they've exhausted all other alternatives
3.) A brutal transportation crisis viciously intertwined with the housing crisis, both caught in a perverse feedback loop of worsening commutes driving up housing prices in the closer suburbs creating more congestion as more folks have to "drive until they can afford [to buy]" in the land beyond I-495, etc., etc.
4.) Not a single piece of infrastructure installed yet to attempt to ameliorate the worst of sea level rise, with seas rising now 4 mm a year in Boston.

But, yeah, let's make an all-out push for restoring happy hour and getting a rooftop pool on every building, because, you know, we're just hemorrhaging population these days and thus clearly losing out in the global competitiveness index, as defined by happy hours and rooftop bars...

 

[Charlie_mta]

Every city is different. Chicago has spectacular night life and music, as well as less NIMBYism, compared to Boston. But Boston has its unique charm. Some would call it provincial, but, hey, it is pretty unique.

 

[jamespatriots1]

This thread title HURTS.

sorry bud, hurts that Boston is so anti-fun and behind the times, but it's getting a little better and hopefully we can make a change and make it fun and attractive to the next generation and livable and safe for all

 

[393b40]

sorry bud, hurts that Boston is so anti-fun and behind the times, but it's getting a little better and hopefully we can make a change and make it fun and attractive to the next generation and livable and safe for all

1. Boston is already livable.
2. Boston is already incredibly safe.
3. Boston is not "fun" for some definition of "fun".

Boston is not behind the times just because it doesn't cater to your particular interests.

Pro-tip: When you want to get support for something from people close to the thing you want to change don't start off by telling them how shitty said thing is because it automatically puts everyone on the defensive.

 

[jamespatriots1]

1. Boston is already livable.
2. Boston is already incredibly safe.
3. Boston is not "fun" for some definition of "fun".

Boston is not behind the times just because it doesn't cater to your particular interests.

Pro-tip: When you want to get support for something from people close to the thing you want to change don't start off by telling them how shitty said thing is because it automatically puts everyone on the defensive.

Pro-tip: Don't ever assume that what someone is proposing is out of someone's personal preferences. I don't like to party. I wouldn't be at the pool or the club, but tens of thousands would be, spending money, happy, attracting talent to Boston to pay for the bleeding hearts' beloved social services in the form of taxes.

1. It's not that livable. See traffic, housing prices, prices of goods, quality of housing
2. Yes it's safe, but increasingly less so and it's totally drug infested, which doesn't factor in to the crime stats the same way, but those are deaths and wasted lives.
3. It's not fun.

 

[jamespatriots1]

It certainly does!:

1.) Still no foreseeable plan on the near-term horizon to ameliorate the abrupt closure of the Long Island Shelter and the crisis that has resulted around the Mass & Cass area as a result, 5 years or so in to the ongoing catastrophe
2.) A brutal housing crisis creating a crushing rent burden for many Bostonians, with not nearly enough assistance to help folks who want to stay in their apartments find a way to do so if they've exhausted all other alternatives
3.) A brutal transportation crisis viciously intertwined with the housing crisis, both caught in a perverse feedback loop of worsening commutes driving up housing prices in the closer suburbs creating more congestion as more folks have to "drive until they can afford [to buy]" in the land beyond I-495, etc., etc.
4.) Not a single piece of infrastructure installed yet to attempt to ameliorate the worst of sea level rise, with seas rising now 4 mm a year in Boston.

But, yeah, let's make an all-out push for restoring happy hour and getting a rooftop pool on every building, because, you know, we're just hemorrhaging population these days and thus clearly losing out in the global competitiveness index, as defined by happy hours and rooftop bars...

1. More commerce= more tax dollars for your beloved social services

2. New building is what I want. Supply goes up, price comes down.

3. I'd love more commuter options, but those are very hard to do and can take a decade and cost billions. The T sucks.

4. We've got plenty of time to address global warming projects.

 

[393b40]

1.

Pro-tip: Don't ever assume that what someone is proposing is out of someone's personal preferences. I don't like to party. I wouldn't be at the pool or the club, but tens of thousands would be, spending money, happy, attracting talent to Boston to pay for the bleeding hearts' beloved social services in the form of taxes.

1. It's not that livable. See traffic, housing prices, prices of goods, quality of housing
2. Yes it's safe, but increasingly less so and it's totally drug infested, which doesn't factor in to the crime stats the same way, but those are deaths and wasted lives.
3. It's not fun.

The first two are not unique to Boston so sure they can be better but I'm not sure we're losing anyone of significance because of it. All our peer cities are equally expensive. Most are about the same safety wise and (or worse).

Third point, you keep saying that like you believe it. You defined fun as "happy hour" and late last call along with more bars and clubs. That's the kind of perspective I would expect from a certain age demographic but it's really just a form of fun not the end all be all of fun. And the if we're really losing people in this city (we're not) because they can't get a drink at 3am then maybe that's for the best. It's such a minority of people that are out that late anyways, it's not worth inconveniencing everyone else in the city for a few hundred or thousand night owls. People move to places because of the opportunities not because they can drink discount liquor or snag a beer at 3am.

I have a hard time taking anyone seriously who calls liberals "bleeding hearts". Reading more of your replies and also the lack of post history here and I smell a subtle troll.

 

[Arlington]

Who is the intended audience for the presentation?

Will the audience need to be persuaded what the problem is? In public policy, I would say that very often the hard part is agreeing on a problem and its prioritization

Livable, fun, built out, & attractive, are all "good" (enough), but others might have higher competing priorities like: affordable, safe, & sustainable.

What budget, authority, need, and timing will the intended audience have for implementing the proposed solution?

 

[bakgwailo]

Pro-tip: Don't ever assume that what someone is proposing is out of someone's personal preferences. I don't like to party. I wouldn't be at the pool or the club, but tens of thousands would be, spending money, happy, attracting talent to Boston to pay for the bleeding hearts' beloved social services in the form of taxes.

Non of this seems to matter as the City of Boston is experiencing quite a large population boom - people seem more than happy to move here already, unlike, say Detroit even though Detroit has "pool parties". As for the attack on "bleeding hearts", well, now we know you are trolln'.

1. It's not that livable. See traffic, housing prices, prices of goods, quality of housing
2. Yes it's safe, but increasingly less so and it's totally drug infested, which doesn't factor in to the crime stats the same way, but those are deaths and wasted lives.
3. It's not fun.

1. So all of the problems of an already extremely successful city
2. So it is becoming less safe, although you also admit that there is no evidence in that in stats
3. Millions would seem to disagree with you here

 

[statler]

Uh oh, someone got their hands on their dad's copy of Atlas Shrugged.

 

[kmp1284]

Sounds like you’d be a lot happier not living in Boston. This city’s never going to be what you want it to be and I think the vast majority would prefer the status quo to your “vision” so why don’t you focus your energy on finding a place that better fits your lifestyle and ideology.

 

[Massachoicetts]

Happy Hour Ban pulls out a lot of money and fun from the city

 

[Charlie_mta]

The new Hub on Causeway complex and the accompanying revival of that area should pump up the nightlife, bar and music scene. Also the developments in the Kenmore Square area, and the Union Square area with the GLX opening. The trend is upward in several metro area locales.

 

[HenryAlan]

You defined fun as "happy hour" and late last call along with more bars and clubs.

Don't forget swimming pools, lots and lots of party pools!

I have a hard time taking anyone seriously who calls liberals "bleeding hearts". Reading more of your replies and also the lack of post history here and I smell a subtle troll.

Not so subtle, really.