If it's any consolation to you guys, Boston's a paragon of permissiveness to height compared to where I am now--Portland, OR. We have people in our downtown fighting against six stories because they'd "ruin neighborhood character", even when there are taller buildings everywhere. It's tooth-and-nail against the NIMBYs, here, and the relative vacancy of the downtown here--and its general sense of poor health--is reflective of it.
PLAN: Downtown
- Thread starter Equilibria
- Start date
stick n move
Superstar
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2009
- Messages
- 11,970
- Reaction score
- 18,401
It does look like portland has done a wonderful job with their south waterfront redevelopment looking from the outside in. Its not finished yet but judging by the direction theyre headed with the latest batch of low rise apartments that have gone up its going to come out great imo.
Last edited:
On the ground, it's quite different. It's not entirely dead, by any means, but it is separated from the rest of the city by I5, and it's far enough from the rest of downtown that the vibe is more "special development district" than being meaningfully representative of the pace or normalcy of development generally speaking in the city.
stick n move
Superstar
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2009
- Messages
- 11,970
- Reaction score
- 18,401
-From the globe
“When it comes to development, Boston has a reputation as a city that can’t get out of its own way.
A thicket of zoning regulations, “overlay plans,” and community process seemingly without end has often meant delays measured not in months but years — even as financing windows that were wide open one year shut down tighter than a drum the next. (Just for fun, Google Fan Pier and Pritzker.)
A little over a year ago, Mayor Michelle Wu brought the city’s planning process under the direct control of City Hall for the first time in decades.
Now, at a time when Downtown Boston still has too many empty office buildings, too many vacant storefronts, and not nearly enough housing, those city planners have — well, a plan — a Big Picture plan for jumpstarting development. It may not be perfect, and it’s still riling lots of folk who do live downtown, but it starts with the premise that big isn’t necessarily bad, especially downtown.
“This is about the larger future of what downtown can be,” Boston’s Chief of Planning Kairos Shen told the editorial board. “Already there are more people moving downtown. It has grown from a strictly 9-to-5 district to a more livable place.”…..”
www.bostonglobe.com
Boston’s downtown has nowhere to go but up
But only if the pearl clutching can be overcome.
“When it comes to development, Boston has a reputation as a city that can’t get out of its own way.
A thicket of zoning regulations, “overlay plans,” and community process seemingly without end has often meant delays measured not in months but years — even as financing windows that were wide open one year shut down tighter than a drum the next. (Just for fun, Google Fan Pier and Pritzker.)
A little over a year ago, Mayor Michelle Wu brought the city’s planning process under the direct control of City Hall for the first time in decades.
Now, at a time when Downtown Boston still has too many empty office buildings, too many vacant storefronts, and not nearly enough housing, those city planners have — well, a plan — a Big Picture plan for jumpstarting development. It may not be perfect, and it’s still riling lots of folk who do live downtown, but it starts with the premise that big isn’t necessarily bad, especially downtown.
“This is about the larger future of what downtown can be,” Boston’s Chief of Planning Kairos Shen told the editorial board. “Already there are more people moving downtown. It has grown from a strictly 9-to-5 district to a more livable place.”…..”
Boston’s downtown has nowhere to go but up - The Boston Globe
But only if the pearl clutching can be overcome.
www.bostonglobe.com
citydweller
Active Member
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2019
- Messages
- 438
- Reaction score
- 684
Let's make downtown great again
This is an oddly inaccurate picture. 1 Lincoln at 350'? Millennium Tower is too low, Ritz Carlton Towers too low, 1 Beacon too high, One Boston Place too low
This is an oddly inaccurate picture. 1 Lincoln at 350'? Millennium Tower is too low, Ritz Carlton Towers too low, 1 Beacon too high, One Boston Place too low. Hard to figure where they came up with these numbers.
-From the globe
Boston’s downtown has nowhere to go but up
But only if the pearl clutching can be overcome.
Boston’s downtown has nowhere to go but up - The Boston Globe
But only if the pearl clutching can be overcome.
This is an oddly inaccurate picture. 1 Lincoln at 350'? Millennium Tower is too low, Ritz Carlton Towers too low, 1 Beacon too high, One Boston Place too low. Hard to figure where they came up with these numbers.