Porter Square Infill and Small Developments

The steeple was a tack on from the last renovation of the church. They're replacing it with a steeple more historically accurate with the original.
 
By the way ... this one sports some nice EIFS that is detailed to look like concrete with its tie cones unfilled. This makes anyone who has a modernist bone in their body creak with discomfort. I am sorry I have to look at this one every time I need a bag of oreos.

cca

Ps. sorry for all the jargon ... see two posts down for a less opaque (and quite accurate) translation. Sorry for the techni-speak its hard to hit the right tone here sometimes.

cca
 
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cca said:
By the way ... this one sports some nice EIFS that is detailed to look like concrete with its tie cones unfilled. This makes anyone who has a modernist bone in their body creak with discomfort. I am sorry I have to look at this one every time I need a bag of oreos.

cca
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I don't know what this says. BostonBred? ;)
 
Cone ties are used to connect the opposite sides of form work together, so the pressure of the concrete doesn't blow them out and to keep the forms the proper distance apart.

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http://www.advanceconcreteform.com/product_detail.php?id=603&cid=39

form3.jpg

http://edificerex.blogspot.com/2007/11/piggies.html

When the forms are removed, the ends leave a little hole in the concrete.

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http://www.peri.com/en/solutions/products/formwork-systems/wall-formwork/maximo.cfm (#3)

To replicate such a feature in EIFS foam is a bit weird to say the least, as it's replicating a flaw, and being unnecessary is what would offend a modernist.
 
Saw this poster outside a real estate office near Porter;

YVEXwRd.jpg


800k for 1,000 square feet, plus a condo fee! What a steal! :rolleyes:
 
pixelsand8 said:
Saw this poster outside a real estate office near Porter;

YVEXwRd.jpg


800k for 1,000 square feet, plus a condo fee! What a steal! :rolleyes:
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That is nuts! Exhibit A that we need more transit oriented units in Cambridge.
 
Eh, it's new construction in an area without a lot of new construction. There are enough people willing to pay a premium for that. Especially if it has 2 baths.
 
underground said:
Eh, it's new construction in an area without a lot of new construction. There are enough people willing to pay a premium for that. Especially if it has 2 baths.
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Exactly. Which is why we need more units. There are enough people willing to pay for it. The demand is there.
 
underground said:
Eh, it's new construction in an area without a lot of new construction. There are enough people willing to pay a premium for that. Especially if it has 2 baths.
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All the market rationale in the world doesn't mean it's not absurd.
 
pixelsand8 said:
All the market rationale in the world doesn't mean it's not absurd.
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I don't know if people overspending to satisfy their personal preference is absurd. I paid more for my place in the North End than I would have for a similar place in Southie or even a larger place with a yard in Medford. Is that absurd?
 
This actually begins to confirm a hunch I've had, which is that the burgeoning bike culture here (lanes, Hubway, etc) is changing property values based on a new location calculus. When I lived in Porter Sq 5 or 6 years ago, it would have been hard to define the area with a straight face as part of the "dense urban core" considering it was clearly a subway ride or at least a long walk away from what most people would consider core Boston or even core Cambridge. Bike connectivity has certainly changed that perception, and with areas like Porter being quite dense (as with much of Somerville, North Brookline, Brighton, Southie, etc) thinking of these areas as "urban core" and pricing them as such (especially with new "luxury" construction) becomes a lot more realistic now.
 
Porter also has a very high walk score. You can live there without a car and walk to everything you need day to day. And it's an easy T or bike ride to Kendall or downtown for work.
 
underground said:
I don't know if people overspending to satisfy their personal preference is absurd. I paid more for my place in the North End than I would have for a similar place in Southie or even a larger place with a yard in Medford. Is that absurd?
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The cost of housing in this city and surrounding areas is absurd, period. I'm not saying it's wrong to drop almost a million dollars on a modest condo. I might do it I had that kind of money and loved the place. I'd still find it absurd, and a lot of people who maybe aren't doing that well financially are struggling as a result. Not everybody is a high paid medical or tech worker, and those who aren't shouldn't be forced to shack up with roommates well into their 40's (no pro-market rationale in response please, I'm not interested in debating this).
 
Ron Newman said:
Gourmet Express, the 24-hour convenience store and fast-food place at the corner of Mass. Ave and Upland Road, is closing permanently in just a few hours. Everything in the store will be auctioned off on site at 11 am this Wednesday, April 2. The store will be demolished to make way for a 26-unit residential development. Although the new building will have a first-floor storefront, it's unlikely that Gourmet Express will return to the site.

I have mixed feelings about this. A 26-unit apartment or condo building is obviously a better use of land directly across from a subway station .... but a 24-hour fast-food joint is a nice neighborhood amenity that I and other folks will miss.
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GE is gone, it's been demolished. The footprint of the building and the adjacent parking lot seems like a lot of land for a building with only 26 units especially since it is literally across from the Porter T stop. Memo to Cambridge pols: boutique responses to a severe housing crunch is not leadership.
 
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