Fenway Corners (Red Sox) | 1 Jersey Street | Fenway

The sentiment of people over on UHub seems to be some anger over the permanent closing of Jersey street to vehicle traffic. It's quite a key route to Brookline Ave up from lower Fenway and closing it makes quite a mess. I understand game-day closure, but with the messy existing layout, full-time closure seems a bit inappropriate.

Any thoughts?
 
Bananarama said:
The sentiment of people over on UHub seems to be some anger over the permanent closing of Jersey street to vehicle traffic. It's quite a key route to Brookline Ave up from lower Fenway and closing it makes quite a mess. I understand game-day closure, but with the messy existing layout, full-time closure seems a bit inappropriate.

Any thoughts?
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Didn’t the Globe article say that Ross Way would be extended to Brookline Ave? Presumably that will line up directly with the Overland/Maitland corridor, which is a more direct shot for traffic. Then, Jersey can become pedestrian-only and it’s a wash.
 
nick said:
Didn’t the Globe article say that Ross Way would be extended to Brookline Ave? Presumably that will line up directly with the Overland/Maitland corridor, which is a more direct shot for traffic. Then, Jersey can become pedestrian-only and it’s a wash.
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Good point! Missed that part.
 
DBM said:
Gee, you think that has anything to do with the fact that there are more than [checks notes] ... THREE major commercial property owners in DTX?
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That's where coordination and leadership by the City would be needed. The City had a grand plan for Downtown Crossing in the mid 1960's, and it would have been implemented if not for Federal urban renewal funding drying up at the time. A similar initiative (but smaller in scale) would be the catalyst for coordinated and guided development at Downtown Crossing similar to the proposed Red Sox/Fenway development,
 
Charlie_mta said:
That's where coordination and leadership by the City would be needed. The City had a grand plan for Downtown Crossing in the mid 1960's, and it would have been implemented if not for Federal urban renewal funding drying up at the time. A similar initiative (but smaller in scale) would be the catalyst for coordinated and guided development at Downtown Crossing similar to the proposed Red Sox/Fenway development,
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In the general sense I agree with you--but, if the criteria here is, "why isn't there more of a push for Downtown Crossing to have 'European'-style outdoor cafe seating activating the streetscape and creating a more vibrant intimate feeling," the fact is, there already was a ton of that, pre-pandemic, without any concerted strategic City planning (that I know of). It just happened to be diffused, and not in a row. But I counted all the outdoor cafe seating one day pre-pandemic during a recent summer because I was struck by how many I could find:

Roche Bros., Pret A Manger, Cafe Nero (Summer St.), MAST, Marliave (Bosworth Pl), Ruth's Chris (Old City Hall), SIP, Cafe Nero, LX Legal Crossing (Washington St.), Tatte Bakery (Washington St & Summer St).

That's ELEVEN outdoor cafes DTX had pre-pandemic. That said, maybe you were thinking of some different criteria/objective?
 
Bravo to this proposal for the idea of closing Jersey St. They're the ones who will suffer a massive cost if it's a bad idea, as it'll render their properties much less valuable. Traffic calming and pedestrian streets are a clear example of where the City should "follow the money" and build narrow, pedestrian oriented streets and shut others. Incidentally, Fan Pier is somewhat similar.
 
DBM said:
In the general sense I agree with you--but, if the criteria here is, "why isn't there more of a push for Downtown Crossing to have 'European'-style outdoor cafe seating activating the streetscape and creating a more vibrant intimate feeling," the fact is, there already was a ton of that, pre-pandemic, without any concerted strategic City planning (that I know of). It just happened to be diffused, and not in a row. But I counted all the outdoor cafe seating one day pre-pandemic during a recent summer because I was struck by how many I could find:

Roche Bros., Pret A Manger, Cafe Nero (Summer St.), MAST, Marliave (Bosworth Pl), Ruth's Chris (Old City Hall), SIP, Cafe Nero, LX Legal Crossing (Washington St.), Tatte Bakery (Washington St & Summer St).

That's ELEVEN outdoor cafes DTX had pre-pandemic. That said, maybe you were thinking of some different criteria/objective?
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I was thinking of what you said here, but also a need to develop a street life ambience similar to what I see in the Fenway renderings, plus more of a night life in addition to the daytime cafe activity. The main problem with DTX is there is no big draw nearby. The proposed Fenway development obviously has a gigantic draw, Fenway Park. When the original Downtown Urban Renewal project was proposed in the 1960's, it was anchored to a new major league stadium near South Station, with DTX connected to it by an elevated moving sidewalk along Summer Street. Nothing like that exists for DTX. As has been said on the DTX thread, the key to invigorating DTX is for the City to enable/encourage a vibrant night life and entertainment scene there.
 
Charlie_mta said:
The main problem with DTX is there is no big draw nearby ... As has been said on the DTX thread, the key to invigorating DTX is for the City to enable/encourage a vibrant night life and entertainment scene there.
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I'm sorry for the ongoing derailment from the Fenway proposal--I'll stop after this--but, this is ridiculous. The big draw was everywhere in DTX, pre-pandemic. The three theaters and the AMC cinema. The half-dozen hotels. The dozens of upscale trendy restaurants that had emerged by the 2010s. The dozens of bars. Had you even been in DTX on a Friday or Saturday night just once in the 2010s pre-pandemic? The vibrancy from all the diners, theatergoers, hotel patrons, bar-hoppers, club-goers was intense.

Given that the Sox only activate Fenway for 81 days a year (and zero days between October-April), I would bet the total entertainment spend in normal years in DTX--

all bar receipts,
all upscale restaurant receipts,
all dance club/lounge receipts,
all theater receipts (AMC, Opera House, Paramount, Orpheum),
all retail shopping receipts that took place on the same trip that someone also went to a movie or theater show,
all hotel stay receipts year-round from tourism guests
all Freedom Trail or similar historic tour receipts through DTX
all receipts from said Freedom Trail tourists making purchases at Old South, Old State House

--vastly exceeds the Red Sox-generated economy in Fenway.

This is if "DTX" is defined as everything east of Boston Common, west of PO Square, north of Boylston, south of City Hall Plaza. Your geographic definition of "DTX" may be much narrower, and therein perhaps lies all the difference?
 
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Equilibria said:
Jut noticed that this appears to show a three-story team store in the CLT building in the middle. Either that, or it's the much-anticipated Red Sox Hall of Fame and Museum.
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I noticed that too, and based off the ceiling heights and the programming the rendered in, my money's on a Red Sox venue of some kind.

Excited to see more CLT being proposed.
 
kingofsheeba said:
Roaming the comment section, we have the NIMBY, in it's natural habitat. Complaining about lack of a library in the plans. The NIMBY, is about to be devoured by the carnivorous "reasoned commenter" in the comment response belowView attachment 9966.
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“How about a community center?” I guess the NIMBY has never been to the Fenway Community Center that The Viridian opened literally one block south of here at Boylston and Jersey. 🙄
 
I’m sure the Red Sox want this to be a year round destination - that’s where the real money is. Didn’t at least one of the new buildings in this area include community space already
 
This is pretty amazing. It's like they targeted every parking lot and truly dilapidated structure, leaving everything that's actually usable, nice and historic. I may be missing something, but this looks like development done right...
 
DBM said:
I'm sorry for the ongoing derailment from the Fenway proposal--I'll stop after this--but, this is ridiculous. The big draw was everywhere in DTX, pre-pandemic. The three theaters and the AMC cinema. The half-dozen hotels. The dozens of upscale trendy restaurants that had emerged by the 2010s. The dozens of bars. Had you even been in DTX on a Friday or Saturday night just once in the 2010s pre-pandemic? The vibrancy from all the diners, theatergoers, hotel patrons, bar-hoppers, club-goers was intense.

Given that the Sox only activate Fenway for 81 days a year (and zero days between October-April), I would bet the total entertainment spend in normal years in DTX--

all bar receipts,
all upscale restaurant receipts,
all dance club/lounge receipts,​
all theater receipts (AMC, Opera House, Paramount, Orpheum),
all retail shopping receipts that took place on the same trip that someone also went to a movie or theater show,
all hotel stay receipts year-round from tourism guests
all Freedom Trail or similar historic tour receipts through DTX
all receipts from said Freedom Trail tourists making purchases at Old South, Old State House

--vastly exceeds the Red Sox-generated economy in Fenway.

This is if "DTX" is defined as everything east of Boston Common, west of PO Square, north of Boylston, south of City Hall Plaza. Your geographic definition of "DTX" may be much narrower, and therein perhaps lies all the difference?
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Apparently you haven't noticed that the Sox activate [have activated] Fenway for:
ice hockey [Pro and college]​
popular music concerts​
some various college sports​
some sort of downhill ice racing​
several charity events on the field​
CVOVID-19 Vaccinations​
​
from the FSM linked-in web page​
​
​
Fenway Sports Management (FSM) is a global sports and entertainment marketing agency that represents blue-chip brands and elite athletes, and produces world-class events on sports' biggest stages.​
​
Fenway Park Special Events: From world-class soccer to professional and college hockey to intimate concerts in the bleachers, Fenway Sports Management conceptualizes, produces, and promotes marquee sporting and entertainment events at Fenway Park, including the Fenway Bowl, Red Bull Crashed Ice at Fenway, Citi Frozen Fenway, AIG Hurling Classic & Irish Festival, Polartec Big Air, High School Football, and select concerts.​
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​
 
itchy said:
This is pretty amazing. It's like they targeted every parking lot and truly dilapidated structure, leaving everything that's actually usable, nice and historic. I may be missing something, but this looks like development done right...
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Amazing is an understatement. In the letter of intent, the WS states that this project will be 2.1 million square feet of commercial , residential, retail and restaurant, and other uses. It's like squeezing two Prudential Towers into this area.
 
Two more renderings from this article: https://www.fastcompany.com/9063527...arking-lots-are-about-to-get-a-major-makeover

1-90635270-turning-baseball-stadium-parking-into-a-neighborhood-at-bostonand8217s-fenway-park.jpg

Van Ness looking East across Jersey street, so that would be still open to traffic but heavily pedestrianized.

3-90635270-turning-baseball-stadium-parking-into-a-neighborhood-at-bostonand8217s-fenway-park.jpg

Intersection of Brookline and Jersey at the North end of Jersey.

Look at that height!

Current view for context:
brook.JPG
 
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