Rose Kennedy Greenway

I was chuckling over the footpaths being erroneously marked and then given street names, then I realized what was going on...
 
Yea, the scale isn't 1:1, but it was quick and dirty. Done in haste and anger.
 
In all seriousness, how long before the new 'neighbours' would have the Haymarket shut down due to all the traffic, crowds and smells? Two weeks? A month tops...once they realize that it's a weekly event?

And yes, it took me a double-take before I realized something was wrong with that photo.
 
People also have to understand that this bill is more than just Chiofaro's proposal. The implications of passing this bill is that all future developments will be restricted and snuffed out, whether there is demand for it or not, whether the developers can build it on all private funds or not. Unless Boston remain stagnant for the rest of the future, it is safe to say, if height is curtailed in and around the Financial District or near parks, that developers will soon push into low-rise neighborhoods, into the North End, into Beacon Hill, etc.
 
You know what I'd like to see on the Greenway? A Nimby Museum. It would be four feet tall, and be constructed of clear mesh that causes no shadows or wind resistance. Of course, an adjacent parcel will need to be paved over for a parking lot - certainly that's unfortunate, but every building in a downtown district with amazing transit access must ensure it has ample parking.

One highlight of the museum will be x-ray binoculars which allow day-trippers the ability to "see the sea!" through the Harbor Garage and Harbor Towers, and also a live video feed showing how much fun Harbor Towers residents have in their private seaside pool and garden. The pi?ce de r?sistance will be Ned Flaherty's unfinished manifesto against highway emissions poison. But the real centerpiece will be irony, as six lanes of traffic whiz around it.
 
Rember this study? He must have just ripped it up when it didn't say what he wanted it to.



FREDERICK A. KRAMER AND LYNN WOLFF
Greenway in need of density

By Frederick A. Kramer and Lynn Wolff | June 15, 2009
AT RECENT public meetings about the Rose Kennedy Greenway, attendees have voiced their concern about the vital importance of new and strategically programmed activity to bring life to the open spaces that stretch from Chinatown to the North End. "There's no food market," one said. "There are few places to sit and have lunch outdoors, and there's a dearth of public shelter from the cold or rain or snow," said another.

The question is, does the Boston Redevelopment Authority, which has hired a consulting team to study and recommend design principles and guidelines for the built environment abutting the Greenway, have a bold plan to achieve activated parks, ones that create opportunity for - and benefits from - cafes, park benches, and a diverse mix of uses for the space that office workers, residents, and visitors will populate day and night?

An analysis of successful and failed open spaces shows that the key to a vibrant park or streetscape is density and the provision of activity along the space's edges - the very thing the Greenway study must embrace.

Boston is a city where density belongs, and beautiful open space without density will lead to the type of space where people won't want to be at any time of day or year.

It will, of course, be crucial to encourage density in bold and innovative ways, providing strong and vibrant open space edges that are open to pedestrian and vehicular access and view corridors. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to not only knit the Greenway to adjacent built environments, but to leverage its value to make a vital connection to Boston's waterfront, another valuable and distinctive open space in our city.

Poorly sited density and impenetrable bulk, driven by an overstated concern about shadows and a historical fear of tall buildings, can do more damage than good. A weak-kneed and timid density, often caused by fears about height, shadow, and "canyonization," will undermine the goals of bold architecture and elegant tall buildings. These could not only activate the Greenway's ground plane with dynamic uses but allow sunlight and views to and from the open spaces whose very heartbeat derives from new density and activity.

When well-designed and accessible to a range of transit and an intensity of uses, density creates a synergy with open space, much like the buildings that rim Central Park. The Greenway risks being the type of grand space between buildings that won't see the activity it deserves.

At a time when the growth of our cities through sustainable building practices such as transit-oriented development, live-work districts, and well-conceived development projects is being heralded, a Greenway study that embraces density and partnerships with landowners and visionary development professionals is critical.

The Greenway's return on the public's investment will only be achievable with a carefully crafted relationship between the Greenway study team and the public and private development community. The study, which unfortunately might not emerge until after the mayoral election, should support a rich diversity of abutting uses activated by a thoughtful and bold vision for density and height. While we should congratulate the mayor and the BRA for finally initiating a planning process that looks at the entire area, in this debilitating recession we can only plead for an expeditious process. It should be one that encourages development soon with design guidelines and conclusions that welcome density rather than suppress it.

Frederick A. Kramer is president of a design firm, ADD Inc., and chairman of the Urban Land Institute Boston Council. Lynn Wolff is president of Copley Wolff Design Group, a landscape design firm, and program chairman of the Urban Land Institute Boston Council.
 
Mayor Thomas M. Menino said the height restrictions on these particular properties are intended to prevent shadows and strong winds thrown off by tall buildings from making the Greenway a cold, uncomfortable place. Tall buildings would also create a wall that would block pedestrian access and views to the city?s waterfront, Menino argued.
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So much bull shit. So much bull shit.

?The idea has always been to have a connection between the downtown and the waterfront, and that?s what we?re trying to protect.??
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YOU DON'T DO THAT WITH A PARK YOU FAT FUCK.

But he argued taxpayers who spent billons of dollars removing the old elevated Central Artery should not have the Greenway ruined by developers trying to maximize profits with the tallest building possible.
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Instead it will be ruined by moron environmentalists and corrupt politicians.
 
Menino said:
Tall buildings would also create a wall that would block pedestrian access and views to the city?s waterfront, Menino argued.
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As opposed to short buildings, which are transparent and immaterial, so pedestrians can see and walk right through them.
 
It's fun to preach the choir. I love doing it myself. But what can we do beyond drowning this thread with anti-Menino vitriol (which we should continue to do nonetheless)?
 
He'd just delete the email. I suggest mailing a hardcopy (on shred-resistant paper)
 
Shepard said:
He'd just delete the email. I suggest mailing a hardcopy (on shred-resistant paper)
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I'm actually thinking about calling the BRA as a concerned taxpayer and asked them why are you giving 20 million dollar tax breaks to Liberty Mutual. And not working with this developer to create jobs. The Greenway Study claims we need more denisty. They will probably hang up on me but at least I called.
 
Shepard said:
He'd just delete the email. I suggest mailing a hardcopy (on shred-resistant paper)
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Don't you think his yes-men, toadies and ass-lickers keep him from being even aware that opinions like ours are out there --and they're pure, because they're motivated not by profit but by genuine citizen concern?

And by a vastly more sophisticated understanding of the real urban design issue (though I guess you can't come right out and say that).
 
This proposal has a big arch to let sunlight in and 400ft giants a good view.
 
Do the lots that are exempt from the new height restrictions happen to belong to the Mayah's buddies?
 
BRA Won?t Budge Building Height Requirements Along Greenway
By Paul McMorrow

Banker & Tradesman Staff Writer
Today

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Read More
To see a slideshow of the "Greenway District Planning Study" from the BRA's meeting, click here. The Boston Redevelopment Authority has dealt stinging setbacks to developers of two key parcels along the Rose Kennedy Greenway, but has also opened the door to significant density at three others.

The BRA unveiled preliminary height guidelines for new developments along the Greenway last night. The new height limits, which may eventually be incorporated into city zoning, trend lower along the park system's waterfront side, and higher on the side adjacent to downtown.

Kairos Shen, the BRA's chief planner, said last night the guidelines had been crafted to protect the Greenway, which was created after the demolition of the elevated Central Artery.

Development height decisions were made on the basis of shadow impact on the Greenway, without considering the economics of development, Shen added.

"This is not about financial feasibility, it's about long-term value for the city, and for the adjoining properties," Shen said. "The market isn't interested in building a city the way we are. It is not the responsibility of the city to make feasible projects that would otherwise be infeasible."

Shen held up Rowes Wharf as a model for development along the water, and said the city was willing to wait years, if not decades, for developers to build on that scale.

The night's biggest loser was the Chiofaro Co.'s bid to replace the Harbor Garage with a pair of towers that would top 600 feet. Shen indicated that any development on that site would be on the scale of 200 feet tall.

Chiofaro has repeatedly said the redevelopment's economics demand significant density, and he may leave the garage in place if he can't get it.

"If the guidelines will not permit an economically feasible project, we will have to forego the notion of city building and look at all of our alternatives purely as real estate investors," said Chiofaro, who paid $153 million for the garage site.


The new height limits are also uncharitable to the Hook family, owners of a burned lobster operation at the foot of Northern Avenue. The Hooks are joint venturing with the Beal Cos. to redevelop the pier site, but the Greenway limits could cap building heights at the site at 125 feet. It is currently zoned for 155 feet.


"We're more negatively affected than anyone," said Edward Jager, a Hook family attorney.


The BRA is leaning toward allowing significant height on three Greenway sites, including the Government Center Garage. The preliminary guidelines would allow towers of 400 and 600 feet on the garage site, opening the door to 2.9 million square feet of office, residential and retail development.


The BRA would allow a 52-story, 600-foot residential tower on the block bound by Congress, High and Pearl Streets. That development site is two blocks away from Chiofaro's International Place. Nine different owners control the buildings at the site of the proposed 600-foot tower.

The city would also green-light a 29-story, 350-foot tower above the NStar parcel adjacent to the 99 High St. office tower. Both projects would involve tricky land assemblages and vertical construction over existing low-rise structures.


Two other Boston development veterans could also stand to gain from the Greenway guidelines. Ron Druker controls an 18,400-square-foot Chinatown building that the BRA has ticketed for a 14-story, 285,000-square-foot residential and retail redevelopment. The city is encouraging the redevelopment of Chinatown's Lincoln Street parking garage, which is controlled by Boston's Intercontinental Real Estate.
 
Two other Boston development veterans could also stand to gain from the Greenway guidelines. Ron Druker controls an 18,400-square-foot Chinatown building that the BRA has ticketed for a 14-story, 285,000-square-foot residential and retail redevelopment.
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Did someone say something about Menino's buddies?
 
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