Massachusetts General Hospital Building For The Third Century

I just hope MGH can find some short-term use for the gas station property if they close it. Empty buildings blight a street more than gas stations do.
 
Does anyone know why urban gas stations in the US still typically follow the suburban style of large corner lots with overhead roofs and mini-marts? Are there laws or economics at play that make the curbside setup (popular in Italy and elsewhere) viable?

IMG_0554.JPG
 
Who would want that curbside gas station in front of their building? It would be convenient as long as it was in front of someone elss's building.
 
TomOfBoston said:
Who would want that curbside gas station in front of their building? It would be convenient as long as it was in front of someone elss's building.
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I wondered the same thing when I saw those in Paris, and when I got back I asked an urban planning professor, who told me it was gas station safety laws requiring certain setbacks from the roadway.
 
That what I figured, but it still doesn't make sense. If it's not a safety hazard in Europe, how is it a safety hazard in the US?
 
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My guess is based on history: 50 years ago, it was a service station, not a gas station, with an office, restrooms, and a couple of garage bays. Time and market forces have replaced these amenities with convenience stores. Also, consider capacity and traffic safety in the equation. The business model in the photo above could work, but I think there'd be traffic safety concerns...
 
stellarfun said:
Lot size is a bit over 6,000 sq ft.

If the interest in selling was dictated by a forthcoming need to replace the underground tanks, then the station may close sooner rather than later.

(There's also a 239 Cambridge St. in Allston, which again only underscores how confusing Boston can be with duplicate street names in different parts of the city. Must drive the map programmers at Google and similar sites nuts.)
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They should do what they do when they run out of phone numbers. Add a number.

Make 239 Cambridge Street "A" 8239. Make 239 Cambridge Street "B" 9239 Problem solved.
 
Not a good idea -- people expect street numbers to be monotonically increasing.
 
Isn't a gas station in the Fenway now a burger place until the site is developed. Tasty Burger?
 
Two more possible reasons why there are not such in the U.S.: insurance premiums on the buildings adjacent, and utilities underground interfere with finding a place to put the underground storage tanks.
 
Environmental regulation for the containment for spilled gasoline. There need to be drains with separators to keep any gasoline from mixing into storm water and draining to waterways.
 
^^Which leads back to the question of why isn't any of that a problem in Europe?
 
^^From the picture, it looks like there are only a couple of stations. My thoughts is that in the US, since it is much more car oriented that Europe is, requires more stations and thus requires more space.

Also, it may just be different regulations between countries.
 
statler said:
^^Which leads back to the question of why isn't any of that a problem in Europe?
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The US has tighter clean water laws and emission standards than most of the EU. If you've ever been stuck in French traffic you'd notice a difference from traffic here.
 
My guess is that the station probably doesn't meet current Italian regulations, but was set up before they were passed, and was either (a) grandfathered in or (b) the laws were just never enforced. This being Italy, I'd imagine it's the latter situation.
 
I highly doubt there's more of 50 of those types of stations worldwide. I've never seen them anywhere, and I've been to a lot of places (including many cities in Europe)
 
BarbaricManchurian said:
I highly doubt there's more of 50 of those types of stations worldwide. I've never seen them anywhere, and I've been to a lot of places (including many cities in Europe)
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Theres got to be 50 in the greater rome region alone. They were everywhere when I was there in 2009.

Here a cambridge style one

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...=Xl3zDfE7Hoo-bTXtkQ5u1Q&cbp=12,316.78,,0,6.57

And heres another one chiling on the sidewalk

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...=M0GPDxZ5A8MCNaY_x6QpfA&cbp=12,117.59,,0,11.2
 
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