Longwood Place (Simmons Residential Campus) | 305 Brookline Avenue | Longwood

shmessy said:
With all due respect to your belly button, this is a savvy and forward thinking move by Simmons and great for Boston’s future.

Given lower birth rates, the college age population in America is shrinking. We can either be a victim (and Boston is probably the most exposed re college industry) and wait for that negative demographic wave or “SKATE TO WHERE THE PUCK IS GOING”. So how about Simmons gets to make a mint on the land sale, gets to consolidate its dorms to its campus proper - eliminating the extra cost and security headaches of having the kids several blocks away AND Boston gets 1.75 million more square feet of labs/residential/offices to allow more productive people to live I. The Longwood Medical Area (smart growth near the workplace!) Its win-win. Simmons can then upgrade its campus and save money at the same time, thus keeping it going (and perhaps, more competitive for the future). THINK. Does this all not give Simmons a great opportunity to increase its Nursing program????? What do you think nurses make today? Tomorrow???? What do you think the market demand for nurses is????? Played well, this is a goldmine opportunity for Simmons.
Click to expand...
I agree 100%.
 
shmessy said:
With all due respect to your belly button, this is a savvy and forward thinking move by Simmons and great for Boston’s future.

Given lower birth rates, the college age population in America is shrinking. We can either be a victim (and Boston is probably the most exposed re college industry) and wait for that negative demographic wave or “SKATE TO WHERE THE PUCK IS GOING”. So how about Simmons gets to make a mint on the land sale, gets to consolidate its dorms to its campus proper - eliminating the extra cost and security headaches of having the kids several blocks away AND Boston gets 1.75 million more square feet of labs/residential/offices to allow more productive people to live I. The Longwood Medical Area (smart growth near the workplace!) Its win-win. Simmons can then upgrade its campus and save money at the same time, thus keeping it going (and perhaps, more competitive for the future). THINK. Does this all not give Simmons a great opportunity to increase its Nursing program????? What do you think nurses make today? Tomorrow???? What do you think the market demand for nurses is????? Played well, this is a goldmine opportunity for Simmons.
Click to expand...

I would agree that it is probably a win for Simmons, but, I don't think things are that dire for higher-ed. Even with the lower birth rates (which has been a trend for a long time now), I doubt there will be any stop to immigration to make up for it, or the influx of international students to fill in the seats.
 
bakgwailo said:
I would agree that it is probably a win for Simmons, but, I don't think things are that dire for higher-ed. Even with the lower birth rates (which has been a trend for a long time now), I doubt there will be any stop to immigration to make up for it, or the influx of international students to fill in the seats.
Click to expand...
International student enrollment peaked in the 2015-16 school year and has been trending down since then. Recent political dynamics and immigration restrictions plus COVID have made studying in the US much less appealing for students from other countries and continents (especially students from Asia). (See, e.g.,: https://www.fwd.us/news/international-student-enrollment-trends/). As international student enrollment has been dropping in the US it's been increasing in countries like Canada and Australia.

International student migration has always been a HUGE source of benefits for the US and driver of the US economy. We should be eternally grateful that so many of the world's best and brightest students want to come here, study here, and make their mark on the world here. Hopefully the drop of the last five years is an anomaly and student migration to the US will pick up again and keep growing in the future, but this is far from a sure thing. If politics and policies do end up decreasing in the long term the number of international students with the desire and ability to come study and work here, that would be an enormous error on our collective part.
 
bakgwailo said:
I would agree that it is probably a win for Simmons, but, I don't think things are that dire for higher-ed. Even with the lower birth rates (which has been a trend for a long time now), I doubt there will be any stop to immigration to make up for it, or the influx of international students to fill in the seats.
Click to expand...

I think we are due for a bubble burst with the continual rise of the cost of education, the lack or return for many and many high tech industries now longer even requiring degrees (just training and certs) they used to justify the cost with the campus experience..and the time with faculty...and facilities, but they still charged the same when Covid came knocking...I think it will have its day
 
ctsketch said:
I think we are due for a bubble burst with the continual rise of the cost of education, the lack or return for many and many high tech industries now longer even requiring degrees (just training and certs) they used to justify the cost with the campus experience..and the time with faculty...and facilities, but they still charged the same when Covid came knocking...I think it will have its day
Click to expand...

Sure, but you can't waltz into a 6 figure nursing job without a degree.

In the case of Simmons, if they grow their nursing school - - smack next door to the one of the pre-eminent medical neighborhoods on earth - - well isn't that an historically great bet for the future? Talk about a plumb opportunity.......Nurses are already making 6 figures, and with the increasing demographics of our aging population.........even with increased robotics, etc. our economy is going to be STARVING for nurses - - if Simmons (and BU, etc) don't fully leverage their opportunity (and if Boston doesn't leverage the opportunity for international healthcare tourism), then shame on them all for being so shortsighted. This is our version of underground oil.

POUND THE ADVANTAGE.
 
Last edited:
This is what BU and Northeastern have been doing. The secular forces mentioned above are bad for other colleges, not ones in Boston...
 
shmessy said:
Sure, but you can't waltz into a 6 figure nursing job without a degree.

In the case of Simmons, if they grow their nursing school - - smack next door to the one of the pre-eminent medical neighborhoods on earth - - well isn't that an historically great bet for the future? Talk about a plumb opportunity.......Nurses are already making 6 figures, and with the increasing demographics of our aging population.........even with increased robotics, etc. our economy is going to be STARVING for nurses - - if Simmons (and BU, etc) don't fully leverage their opportunity (and if Boston doesn't leverage the opportunity for international healthcare tourism), then shame on them all for being so shortsighted. This is our version of underground oil.

POUND THE ADVANTAGE.
Click to expand...

oh there will always be careers that need that degree, mine included, but I am not saying college will disappear, just that enrollment will drop as some of the other degrees become less necessary for gainful employment
 
ctsketch said:
oh there will always be careers that need that degree, mine included, but I am not saying college will disappear, just that enrollment will drop as some of the other degrees become less necessary for gainful employment
Click to expand...

I have no idea why you are focusing on colleges in general. We are talking this particular development on Brookline Ave. ADVANTAGE part for this particular school - Simmons!!!!

Many colleges will fail. The ones that survive will be the ones that are WELL-PLACED and are smart enough to grab their opportunity.

How do you view a college next to the Longwood Medical area if it greatly increases its nursing program, given this century's demographics? How obvious is this????

My alma mater - Brandeis - with all it's Poetry majors will go the way of the dinosaur - - but Simmons???? If it quintuples its nursing school, burping out $100K+ nurses? Shame on Simmons if it doesn't grasp this silver platter.
 
Last edited:
And my mind went from Burping out Nurses to Tripping Billies.
 
Good: Fenway/Kenmore/Longwood should develop a skyline cluster.
 
This is a big step backward.

Moving from an aesthetically pleasing ensemble, filling its space well in the streetgrid, to the architectural equivalent of Mos Eisley Cantina: an awkward hodgepodge incomprehensibly filling its space.
 
itchy said:
Moving from an aesthetically pleasing ensemble, filling its space well in the streetgrid, to the architectural equivalent of Mos Eisley Cantina: an awkward hodgepodge incomprehensibly filling its space.
Click to expand...

Welcome to 21st century urban architecture. It's all crap
 
I am delighted by the project overall but only a little torn on the aesthetics. Daylighting the Muddy River as it turns out was a great idea.
 
393b40 said:
Welcome to 21st century urban architecture. It's all crap
Click to expand...
I don't understand the need to create four very differently designed buildings without a good reason. And then to tout "open space" and "permeability" as the reasons for having these building separated. If I understand, three of them will be lab buildings, and therefore might benefit from cohesive architectural design. And really, I know I'm in the minority, but I really don't care how tall they are. Is there a need for another Kenmore Sq in the Fenway (aside from the medical buildings which are just utilitarian; it's the interiors that count there).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top