Lofts at Lower Mills

[scarabrad]

Folks,

Great website. Very informative.

Check out: www.loftsatlowermills.com

The final phase of redevelopment of the Baker Chocolate Factory is well underway. Yet another piece of the puzzle comes into play in Lower Mills. With the old Baker project, development on the two mill buildings next to Extra Space Storage into condos, a new condo building with retail and restaurant space being built at street level (http://bp2.blogger.com/_NewOgjaWPIU...AIk/B2f0kUP5akM/s1600-h/MiltonDevelopment.jpg), renovations to the streetscape of Lower Mills and numerous proposed developments in Milton Central Village, looks like this area may finally come into its own. Not to mention a brief walk to the Mattapan "High Speed" (sic) Trolley line right to Ashmont (also undergoing development).

FYI.

SR

 

[pelhamhall]

Check out the pics section of that web site - there's a picture of the Zakim bridge! It must be accidentally linking to the wrong file tree directory wrong on the designer's computer or something. These lofts are as far away from the Zakim bridge as Newton, Lynn and Winchester. They are really beautiful when you see them in person - there's a real sense of funky urbanity - but given their location on the southern tip of Boston/border of Milton, they are really a suburban, not urban, location.

Here are some pics I posted a few weeks back on the photo of the day thread - I think this is Phase I of this same project? Somebody correct me if I'm wrong:

 

[scarabrad]

It is YOU who stands corrected!! The photo on the developer's website is a picture of the bridge spanning the Neponset River at night...alright, lame joke. Not sure why the developer threw that one in there.

Yes, very much borderline suburban/urban...but in reality, one is only 10 minutes by car, 20 minutes by train to downtown Boston. I have even walked to and from Boston along the shoreline on beautiful days. I live in lower Mills and consider it a really convenient and cool location and a fraction of the cost to live closer to downtown Boston.

Those photos are indeed Phase I of Baker.

 

[pelhamhall]

Welcome to the board - there are a few of us from Dorchester doing our best to change the perception that all Dorchester has to offer is crime.

Lower Mills is one of those places that is worth a day trip, people who don't know/understand all the various neighborhoods that make up the umbrella term of "Dorchester" would be very, very surprised at how many amenities there are and the architectural character throughout the area.

 

[scarabrad]

Not so sure about the day trip quite yet, but when I have invited friends from outside the area into Lower Mills, I have done my best to show them the general area and make use of the local establishments (DBar, Ashmont Grill, Esprit du Vin, Icecream Smith, etc). I really do think that it is only a matter of time and establishing a critical mass of vested residents of Lower Mills before this area becomes self-sustaining as regards amenities, restaurants, public space development and maintenance, etc. I would like to see the Shaws upgraded as regards quality of produce, seafood, customer service, cleanliness, but I suppose this will come when a sufficient number of people demand it.

I am in agreement about DOT and Lower Mills. I would have a very hard time thinking about living elsewhere. My wife and I and our 2 kids find it a very enjoyable place to live and play, with all the truly necessary amenities. Granted, a few more restaurants/gourmet shops would be nice and continued redevelopment and revitalization is mandatory...we're willing to be somewhat patient. Developments like those previously mentioned (and the Schoolhouse at Lower Mills [www.schoolhouseliving.com]) can only help.

 

[Milton]

Dorcester Lower Mills (where the Baker Chocolate Factory lofts are) and Milton Village border each other. Along with the Baker expansion, there is some good development going on across the street on the other side of the Neponset River in Milton. If this all comes off as planned, it would be very good for the area.
www.theresidencesatmiltonvillage.com
Two of the buildings are nearly done and the third, and largest one, is yet to start. The area these developments surround is great. The river runs fairly swiftly through here and there are pedestrian bridges that will be restored. Lower Mills intself has seen some nice change in recent years as well. The Red Line "high speed" trolley also has a stop here. The addition of the proposed restaurant will be very welcome in the Milton area. There also a convenience store around the corner that is being redone as a cafe of sorts, I think it will be called Metamorphis. As a resident, I'm very hopeful that all of this will all turn out as envisioned.

 

[JimboJones]

This sounds like a cool project. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

I have a couple questions:

I have a question:

How is <strike>DNA lofts</strike> Lofts at Lower Mills able to provide such excellent, quality homes in such a great location at such low prices and do I need to act fast in order to not miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?

 

[statler]

^^ We really need <strike> tags here. They are so much fun to use.

 

[Lrfox]

I love it.

 

[Boston02124]

Lower Mills

cartooned!

 

[ablarc]

They are really beautiful when you see them in person - there's a real sense of funky urbanity - but given their location on the southern tip of Boston/border of Milton, they are really a suburban, not urban, location.

Agreed, but what really makes this area suburban is the uninvolving sidewalk-level experience. Once you get through gawking at the gorgeous architecture, there's nothing more to engage you on foot. It's best experienced from a slow-moving car.

You can find subcenters with urban characteristics in some American Cities --New York's Forest Hills, Washington's Alexandria, Philadelphia's Chestnut Hill-- but they're rarer than hen's teeth. Let's hope future development in Lower Mills feature more retail with better sidewalk access.

 

[pelhamhall]

Ablarc - I agree with you, but at least we are at least moving in the right direction.

I've said it before, but it bears repeating: The biggest problem all of these funky little neighborhoods face is the umbrella "Dorchester" brand that hangs over them.

By calling this massive land area "Dorchester" the safe, boutique neighborhoods are all tarnished by the urban blight and the nightly news crime reports from the West Dorchester/Blue Hill Ave area. That small part of Dorchester tarnishes the whole Dorchester brand.

Dorchester is the size of the following neighborhoods combined:

- The Fenway/Kenmore
- Back Bay
- Beacon Hill
- West End
- North End
- South End
and
- South Boston

All of those, combined

Imagine if we had to refer to those neighborhoods as just one name... there would be much less clarity to outsiders as to what's what and where's where.

I'd like to see the Dorchester name retired completely and let each neighborhood have its own unique name, identity and persona. Instead of just massive "Dorchester" we'd now have:

- Savin Hill/Columbia
- Field's Corner
- Ashmont
- Neponset
- Lower Mills
- West Dorchester

Each neighborhood would be allowed to forge its own identity, and outsiders looking in would see boutique neighborhoods that they otherwise would have passed over.

 

[Boston02124]

^Don't forget my crime ridden neighborhood CodmanSq(Dorchester Center)!^

 

[ablarc]

^ Good idea. How do you get it implemented?

Email Menino? Email BRA?

Your above post is the letter; just email it to the powers-that-be.

 

[belmont square]

It's already happend with Mattapan (originally a village of the town of Dorchester before annexation). Any idea why Mattapan is not referred to as Dorchester, but the rest of the villages are?

 

[Ron Newman]

I sympathize with the suggestion, but people don't seem to have any trouble understanding that Cambridge and Somerville are both made up of dissimilar parts. Why is Dorchester different?

 

[ablarc]

^ Cambridge and Somerville don't have bad reputations.

 

[pelhamhall]

The reason Ron is that Dorchester used to be a separate town, just like Somerville or Cambridge.

Being part of a larger city has made the neighborhood identity the third layer of the "where do you live question"

Example 1:
The town: Somerville
The neighborhood: Davis Square

Example 2:
The town: Boston
The neighborhood: Dorchester
The sub-neighborhood: Savin Hill

It is politically impossible to get the politicians to go along with this. Maureen Feeney does not want her turf divided, and you get into class and race wars when you try. So I turned my attention to the group that matters - realtors. Working with the major Dorchester realtors, I am slowly bringing them around to stop using the word "Dorchester" altogether - but it's tough. MLS doesn't list "Ashmont" as a neighborhood, for example. The Boston Globe and Boston.com list properties under "Dorchester". It's a huge problem, it's very confusing, and it strips away all the uniqueness of the little neighborhoods, like Lower Mills.

 

[Ron Newman]

for Lower Mills, do the realtors use "Dorchester, Milton Line"? This is a common formulation in real estate advertising for Cambridge, Somerville, Medford, etc.

 

[pelhamhall]

Oh realtors get as creative as they can!

But my point is that the structure, the institutional paradigm is such that you can't avoid it. In MLS, Boston Homes, boston.com and other search engines the "South End" is a specific category you can click on. "Dorchester" is a category you can click on. But "Lower Mills" is not.

I know in MLS you can click "Somerville-Davis Square" for example, but for Lower Mills you have to click on "Boston-Dorchester" and suddenly the search results lump the boutique brick-and-beam loft homes in Lower Mills with tenements of West Dorchester and the triple deckers of Field's Corner, and the Victorian mansions of Savin Hill.

Most people will never, ever consider living in this loft project in Lower Mills because they will say "I am not going to live in Dorchester - ever." The Dorchester brand is so badly tarnished that it has stripped away the uniqueness of Lower Mills and infected it with the crime and blight that is miles and miles away in an entirely different neighborhood.