Rose Kennedy Greenway

Any public space that relies on people paid to "animate" it with artificial "programming" is automatically a failure of execution, design, conception, or all of the above.

Find me a great public space anywhere that requires this kind of nonsense, whether those in charge are paid a lot or not.

As if they're remotely successful at carrying out their mandate, anyway...
 
Any public space that relies on people paid to "animate" it with artificial "programming" is automatically a failure of execution, design, conception, or all of the above.
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How many people would go to the Hatch Shell if there were no concerts there? I'm sure some of the people who create that programming are paid to do so.
 
czsz said:
Any public space that relies on people paid to "animate" it with artificial "programming" is automatically a failure of execution, design, conception, or all of the above.

Find me a great public space anywhere that requires this kind of nonsense, whether those in charge are paid a lot or not.

As if they're remotely successful at carrying out their mandate, anyway...
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Agree. I don't see the RKG as a performance space. It is a park.

For it to be populated on a regular basis, A) its oversight has to be wrested from the control of commercial abutters who want it to be their landscaped front lawn. And B) it needs to be graced with a sufficient density of residents living along it. More density of residential development is key.

But I don't think the City of Boston / BRA (currently) has the juice to see either A or B to fruition. So it's likely the Conservancy will be throwing $$$ at temporary programming to artificially activate the space.

As long as some party tents go up and some clusters of people can be photographed, a press release can be issued. That's the near future as I see it.
 
Ron Newman said:
How many people would go to the Hatch Shell if there were no concerts there? I'm sure some of the people who create that programming are paid to do so.
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Ron, that is the wrong analogy. Of course no one would go to the Hatch Shell if it had no concerts. But we're talking about a park, not an amenity within a park built for a specific purpose. So the real question would be "how many people would go to the Esplanade without the Hatch Shell?" - to which the answer is "plenty".

Of course, the Hatch Shell also draws lots more people to the Esplanade. Substantially more than any activity "programmed" by the Greenway Conservancy. Somehow, I bet it doesn't require a team of people each being paid a quarter-million dollars to achieve this miracle.
 
Citywide? hunt for BRA chief
By Paul Restuccia
Tuesday, March 29, 2011 - Updated 5 hours ago


Mayor Thomas M. Menino said yesterday the search for the next Boston Redevelopment Authority executive director would be local rather than nationwide.

?Maybe as far as Chelsea,? Menino said of his search to replace BRA chief John Palmieri, who announced last week that he is stepping down in May. ?I?m looking for someone with working knowledge of the city. It could be a professor from MIT.?

The mayor said he is seeking a BRA chief who is ?creative? and has ?lots of energy and commitment? and who is well-versed in how business works.

?I?m looking for someone who knows about business and how to bring new businesses to Boston and (who) can retain the businesses that are already here,? Menino said.

The mayor said his top priorities are redeveloping the former Filene?s site in Downtown Crossing and expanding the ?Innovation District? on South Boston?s waterfront.

He also said he would be happy if there were no further building inside the city?s Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway.

?All the projects they wanted to build there were a dream, but there was nothing behind the dream,? Menino said. ?Why do we have to build on it? It?s spectacular the way it is, as open space.?

Menino also talked of plans for a major retrofit of many of the city?s schools that were built in the 1960s and 1970s.

?Many of these schools are like concrete bunkers,? the mayor said. ?What I want to do is to open up those walls and make these schools healthy and beautiful.?

Menino spoke to the Herald after unveiling a new initiative that promises to create 10 units of housing that create more energy than they use. The city is seeking proposals for so-called ?energy positive? housing on three city-owned sites in Roxbury Highlands and Jamaica Plain.

?These projects represent the future of what we want to see in the city ? housing that gives back excess energy to the neighborhood,? the mayor said
 
Provincial suburban-oriented pol seeks like-minded stooge to crapify local development process. MIT professorship a plus, never having traveled beyond Chelsea a must. Well compensated position includes salary as well as multiple other business opportunities. Apply through your brother-in-law.
 
Wanted: Personal "Yes" Man.

The truth is already out. During my co-op class we had the head of the research department of the BRA come in to give a talk. The most interesting thing said was that the mayor would often come with a request for her department to write a speech outlining the things HE wants to mention on a development project. Menino MUST GO!
 
KentXie said:
Wanted: Personal "Yes" Man.

The truth is already out. During my co-op class we had the head of the research department of the BRA come in to give a talk. The most interesting thing said was that the mayor would often come with a request for her department to write a speech outlining the things HE wants to mention on a development project. Menino MUST GO!
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I wonder if Palmeri was forced out or tired of being the Mayor's bitch. I feel that what the Mayor said about the Greenway was a shot at Chiofaro's garage.

"He also said he would be happy if there were no further building inside the city?s Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway."

So you would rather keep an ugly garage than a development in that key location?

Then pump 75 Million to Fallon Fan Pier project and asking for another 200 Million for the convention center for the innovation district.

What about DOWNTOWN? It's dying.

What happened to Congress St development?
 
^KentXie

Your example demonstrates that it is all about public relations ? even the research dept. is co-opted.

The article states:

The city is seeking proposals for so-called ?energy positive? housing on three city-owned sites in Roxbury Highlands and Jamaica Plain.
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And then the Mayor comments as if the projects are a reality:

?These projects represent the future of what we want to see in the city ? housing that gives back excess energy to the neighborhood.?
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The Innovation District is another illusion. Every time five MIT grads with a website move east of the Fort Point Channel the City issues a press release. If they move to Back Bay, silence.
 
I don't understand these people. I love to see new buildings being built and new development occurring. They'd all prefer that everything remains exactly as it is for the rest of time. It doesn't make sense to me. I hate the Greenway.
 
I personally like the Greenway. I just hate how it is being used by people to dictate it's surrounding.
 
TheRifleman said:
I wonder if Palmeri was forced out or tired of being the Mayor's bitch. I feel that what the Mayor said about the Greenway was a shot at Chiofaro's garage.

"He also said he would be happy if there were no further building inside the city?s Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway."

So you would rather keep an ugly garage than a development in that key location?
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No. The garage isn't inside the Greenway. The mayor is referring to the failed New Center, Boston Museum, and YMCA projects that were to be built inside the Greenway.
 
Ron Newman said:
No. The garage isn't inside the Greenway. The mayor is referring to the failed New Center, Boston Museum, and YMCA projects that were to be built inside the Greenway.
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Then we should start to liquidate the Greenway Conservancy out of the state budget if nothing is going to get built inside the Greenway?

Either selloff the parcels to the private industry or subcontract the entire Greenway to a Landscaping company and save the taxpayers money.

I actually like the idea of a indoor Greenway House maybe we can get a private corporation to build out.
 
What's the chances that, somewhere on the Greenway, they could do something like this?

street-painting-cave-01.jpg
 
I don't think there's enough of a pedestrian concrete expanse on the RKG to have that drawn. That guy has done amazing stuff on sidewalks all over the world. I always StumbleUpon his stuff.

Going back to the "Greenway House" idea - it's a great idea! There's a greenhouse in Faneuil Hall already, but it would be a neat opportunity to possibly relocate.
 
TheRifleman said:
Citywide? hunt for BRA chief
By Paul Restuccia
Tuesday, March 29, 2011 - Updated 5 hours ago


Mayor Thomas M. Menino said yesterday the search for the next Boston Redevelopment Authority executive director would be local rather than nationwide.
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To me this means Menino already has someone inline and has to go through the motions of a search.
 
KentXie said:
What's the chances that, somewhere on the Greenway, they could do something like this?

street-painting-cave-01.jpg
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Wow, that's just what the shoddily-built, crumbling tunnels under the Greenway will probably look like in 20 years.
 
Arborway said:
Wow, that's just what the shoddily-built, crumbling tunnels under the Greenway will probably look like in 20 years.
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Except there will still be parking garages and a six lane highway up top, rather than the comparative pedestrian and street cafe paradise depicted in the photo.
 
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