Radian (Dainty Dot) | 120 Kingston Street | Chinatown

Mike said:
"I think that this building should be taller," said Tony Yee, president of Chinatown Main Street. "Boston is like the corn fields compared to every other city."

Of the historic Dainty Dot building, Yee said: "If I had my way, I'd take a bulldozer and plow it down."

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:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:


someone get him on here!
 
will there ever be a project that happens in Boston that goes unopposed?

It's a great way for people to get their 15 minutes of fame even if the fame is just confined to the local neighborhood and stops a project that has benefits for the greater neighborhood.
 
Project Oppostion

"will there ever be a project that happens in Boston that goes unopposed?"

democracy is messy. but if we don't allow voices to be heard, we risk losing our own voice to someone else who decides what's best for us. at its best, democracy is about who's voice is louder and smarter. So if you care about it, act up.
 
Re: Project Oppostion

riserise said:
democracy is messy. but if we don't allow voices to be heard, we risk losing our own voice to someone else who decides what's best for us. at its best, democracy is about who's voice is louder and smarter. So if you care about it, act up.
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Quoted For Truth
 
"I think that this building should be taller," said Tony Yee, president of Chinatown Main Street. "Boston is like the corn fields compared to every other city."
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Holy shit!! I just recovered from a temporary coma, my body just isn't used to taking such a blow. Seriously though, I know there are people out there who support Boston's growth (look at this forum), they just keep silent. I almost want to write a thank you letter to this Tony Yee, we need people like him to speak up and break Boston's image as an wholly anti-change city.
 
Re: Project Oppostion

riserise said:
"will there ever be a project that happens in Boston that goes unopposed?"

democracy is messy. but if we don't allow voices to be heard, we risk losing our own voice to someone else who decides what's best for us. at its best, democracy is about who's voice is louder and smarter. So if you care about it, act up.
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I actually would love to go to meetings such as the one they talk about in that article. Unfortunately for me, I'm currently at school in South Carolina and will be here until late June (damn Maymester and Summer Sessions). Maybe if one of you guys go to one of those meetings you can take a laptop and I can listen in and participate in the meeting Via webcam. :D
 
seriously though, i need to start going to these meetings. I never hear about them though till its to late. Maybe we can add a section to the wiki with upcoming community meetings?
 
I was there...the mood was actually 50/50. Half liked it and half didn't. If we want things to happen in our city the way we want them to, then you need to get involved. Get out there and speak up!
 
Re: Tower

Mr. Jones!

We most certainly can wish them away! And this building would, I don't know, set a sort of modern glassy style for the Green way, which would kind of be right. I thought the design was good for the waterfront because it resembles a sail. The zoning regulations exist for much less other than to make me unhappy.
 
Other than just attending meetings, are there any other things we as a public can do to assist this project? I'd like to cry louder for this project than anyone will against it.
I've worked in Chinatown for the past six years, and something seriously needs to be done in this area. For the most part, it is absolutely disgusting.
 
^Those zoning restrictions and height limits were meant to be broken.

This project is located very close to One Lincoln and One Financial...tell me, why is this 'too' tall?

My only concern would be the shadows cast on the Chinatown park (and yes, I'm serious this time).
 
In defense of Chinatown nimbys, I think its understandable that the neighborhood often feels under siege. Of the four surviving pre-20th century residential neighborhoods downtown (North End, Beacon Hill, Chinatown, and Bay Village) its hard to imagine development of this scale being proposed, never mind implemented, in any other than Chinatown. One can disagree as to whether the Ritz development (or even Kensington) lie within Chinatown proper, or whether the new towers within Chinatown (Park Essex, Metropolitan) are positives or negatives for Chinatown. What is difficult to imagine is a developer proposing a building of 29+ stories within the boundaries of the North End (North Washington/ Commercial/ Atlantic/ Cross), Beacon Hill (Cambridge/ Charles River/ Beacon/ Bowdoin) or Bay Village (Charles/ Stuart/ Arlington/ Tremont), although there is precedent in Bay Village with the Raddisson. The Dainty Dot building, at least to me, clearly lies within Chinatown proper.

That being said, I like the Dainty Dot proposal and hope it gets built!
 
It's hard to imagine that you would compare these neighborhoods. Chinatown should be under siege.
 
nico said:
It's hard to imagine that you would compare these neighborhoods. Chinatown should be under siege.
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I think this looks like it'll be a great project, but I don't understand why you would say Chinatown should be under siege.
 
One thing the neighborhoods have in common is that they are inhabited by people. Its reasonable that people in one neighborhood where the dominant residential form is brick buildings of 5 stories or less would wonder why 29+ story buildings get proposed for their vacant lots, while the vacant lots in the 6 closest neighborhoods sharing those characteristics (North End, Beacon Hill, Bay Village, South End, Back Bay north of Boylston, and Charlestown) do not get 29+ story buildings.

I'm all for this building and others like it on other vacant lots in Chinatown.

But I'm also not opposed to comparable buildings going up in vacant lots in the other 6 neighborhoods. The difference is, it probably isn't going to happen in these places. It is because of this double standard that I can sympathize with the nimbys in the case.
 
Space is needed for growth in the city, and this is the most obvious choice. It's adjacent to Downtown/South Station, and much of it is not well kept to say the least. Forget about what happens at night; the place is filthy during the day.
Concerning the buildings, not nearly all the buildings are 5 story brick buildings. In this very small neighborhood, there are mid-rise residential buildings along the pike, and Kneeland St. There's also a newer mid-rise on Harrison Ave. Along with larger buildings belonging to NEMC and TUFTS. The neighborhood is intertwined with the theater district, and it's got great public transportation access, that would facilitate the growth.
Chinatown could/should be bustling b/c of its location, but most people avoid it. (Please don't even argue this point.)

And as far as the other neighborhoods, they are truly historic; not just old. They are more successful, drawing people in from the surrounding areas, and they are well kept. The people (especially in Beacon Hill) have seriously deep pockets that help prevent developers from building there. Still, developers are trying to build bigger on the outskirts of these neighborhoods.
 
...and it's only 29 stories. It's not like where proposing 250 stories like in Dubai.
 
Chinatown could/should be bustling b/c of its location, but most people avoid it.
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Depends on your definition of bustling. On evenings and weekends, there is more pedestrian activity in Chinatown than in Downtown Crossing and the Financial District, and at all times of the day and the week there is more pedestrian activity than in Beacon Hill, Bay Village, the West End and the Leather District.

I never intended to suggest I'm unaware of why high rise development is attracted to Chinatown (location relative to transit being the big one, lack of $ and clout being the other), I'm just saying I'll cut the nimbys a break on this one.

This is also the last true ethnic/immigrant enclave remaining in Boston Proper (I lived in the North End from '95 to '04, and that no longer qualifies), and I think Boston could be poorer for losing it.
 
Perhaps the city is poorer but it's not like this was their's from the start. The land wasn't filled in and then given to Chinese immigrants. Cities change, and cities must change to stay alive. In NYC Chinatown has actually consumed Little Italy. They still put it on the maps but if you go down there it is just storefronts for the tourists. And they have Mexicans making the food too.

If they really wanted to keep the feel, couldn't they just build new (tall) buildings that had a Chinese look to them with East Asian design elements?
 
Exactly van. My mother comes from a large NE family, and as a kid I worked in family businesses in the NE..some still there. My cousins/uncles still operate restaurants there, and by operate I mean play cards and collect money. I don't think Boston is poorer for having less Italians in the NE, just as it don't think it got poorer when Irish and Jewish immigrants left the neighborhood before.
I don't understand why we have to preserve any one ethnicity in a neighborhood. Integrating different aspects of various cultures that enhance the city of Boston is great, but ensuring that a neighborhood remains of one ethnicity is a PC form of segregation. This isn't EPCOT, its a US city. As time changes, demands change, and I think it's time to change zoning in Chinatown to reflect that.
 
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