Rose Kennedy Greenway

Downtown will surely look a lot better once they remove this ugly expressway:

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...What? What do you mean it's already been removed in that photo?
 
That Scar sure didn't heal very well.....

These pictures couldn't illustrate any clearer how Boston is completely missing the opportunity to develop and create an active neighborhood downtown. These Wharf parcels should all be developed.
 
TC said:
That Scar sure didn't heal very well.....

These pictures couldn't illustrate any clearer how Boston is completely missing the opportunity to develop and create an active neighborhood downtown. These Wharf parcels should all be developed.
Click to expand...

I think the new axis -- neighborhood, social scene -- is going to be from downtown across the Fort Point Channel into the South Boston waterfront. There was/is nowhere near enough land on the east side of the Greenway to do much of anything.

I almost think you could fit the North End into these parking lots (if you include the Annex and the Post Office lot).

2-20-08_boston_stock_4106-122%20copy.jpg
 
Christopher Columbus Park made sense when the Artery was still there. The aerial in Czsz' post really calls into question having both that park AND the Greenway parcel adjacent to each other. (That shot also screams for a cement windmill, lighthouse and orange golf balls.)
 
An easy fix that could partially mitigate the feeling of the greenway being an island strangled by traffic is to allow parallel parking along the curb of the surface artery. Parked cars, do buffer the sidewalk from the street. Parking on both sides would be best, but will probably not going to happen as I believe this would leave one lane for moving traffic in each direction. I vaguely recall earlier plans for the the surface artery featuring at least 4 lanes in each direction, but this was opposed by WalkBoston. and the surface artery was whittled to 3 lanes in each direction. As currently built, its a roaring traffic sewer.

On a side note, this is, in my opinion, what makes Congress Street in Govt. Center feel so hostile to pedestrians - 6 lanes of traffic whizzing by inches away from the sidewalk. Before my time in Boston, I think parking was allowed on Congress Street during the week, but was removed to accomodate faster moving traffic.
 
Christopher Columbus park is well-used in warm weather. Working in the area, I very much appreciate having it there. The park has a summer concert series, which should be expanded.
 
Imagine for a moment what this shot will look like with all of the bullfinch traingle plots filled in...I think that alone will change the entire feel of the area and REALLY bring some continutiy between Bullfinch and the North end...

briv said:
Downtown will surely look a lot better once they remove this ugly expressway:

2-20-08_boston_stock_4106-104copy.jpg


...What? What do you mean it's already been removed in that photo?
Click to expand...
 
my opinion is there's NO WAY the greenway will remain the same. they'll revamp it, tweak it, and add things to it. Right now there's nothing there that can't be undone. its like a test product. Whenever the state gov and city gov can get out of debt and in better financial times, there'll be money to revamp it.

and in czsz's photo, that aquarium parking garage screams to be developed into something at least as tall as international place. but they gotta make some parking for suburbanites to come into town and visit our crappy aquarium with the carload of kids.
 
The Aquarium doesn't need parking (it's even a short walk from South Station), but the residents of Harbor Towers need to have their existing parking kept in whatever development replaces the garage. (Unless the developer wants to buy out Harbor Towers completely and tear them down, which would be my preference.)
 
I rather see the Harbor Towers reclad and the ground floor and surrounding landscaping completely redone...
...unless a new developer can get 'as of right' permitting to build as high as the current towers.

I don't like the buildings themselves but as structures they do make a nice addition in the skyline from the harbor.

And that fucking pool has got to go. The sooner, the better. One of the worst uses of urban space in the city.
 
Many families will forgo the Aquarium if they can?t drive in. Our public transit is inconvenient from many suburban locations and even where it is convenient, many families won't take their kids on the T. Families want to drive in and park and I don?t blame them. If I had kids I wouldn?t want to drag a bunch of kids on the orange line, especially on the way home from a day out when they?re passed out and you?re holding all the shit they needed to buy.
 
on the way home from a day out when they?re passed out and you?re holding all the shit they needed to buy.
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I've seen an amazing amount of this on the Needham Line.
 
nico said:
Many families will forgo the Aquarium if they can?t drive in. Our public transit is inconvenient from many suburban locations and even where it is convenient, many families won't take their kids on the T. Families want to drive in and park and I don?t blame them. If I had kids I wouldn?t want to drag a bunch of kids on the orange line, especially on the way home from a day out when they?re passed out and you?re holding all the shit they needed to buy.
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I don't know about this. The commuter rail is always an option for many suburbanites. It's a Train ride which is part of the attraction to little ones, and the Aquarium is an easy walk from both North and South Stations. I've known lots of people who have made a day out of taking the CR in, grabbing a bite to eat and walking around Quincy Market, then going to the aquarium, seeing the animals, an IMAX movie, then heading home. Suburbanites feel that the CR is much safer than the subway (even though I've seen my fair share of undesirables on the Middleboro/Lakeville line... esp. in Brockton), and they can pick a departure and return time that fits their schedule. I don't think too many people will avoid the aquarium if it's not as accessible by car. They WILL forgo it if renovations aren't made in the next decade, but that's a different story.
 
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i think rico made a great point. alot of people who go to the aquarium are from malden, lynn, revere, dedham, cambridge, newton,quincy, braintree, weymouth etc. These people would all take the subway and not the commuter rail. I see parents take their kids on the subway and even if they have two little ones, you can see the concern on their face. Not having a parking lot near the aquarium WILL stop people from coming. Its just a fact. Nearly every museum/aquarium and the like have parking lots/garages and there's a very good reason for it.

Even if you take the commuter line, having 5 or 6 kids with them still makes it tough. Families go to the aquarium and the kids bring their friends and etc. you always see one or two parents and 5 kids. Its just too much of a hassle to tote around young kids like that. they get tired, they have to go to the bathroom, they fight, they get lost. you need a parking lot or the crappy aquarium will suffer.
 
I always thought train rides were an adventure for young kids, something that adds to the fun of their trip.
 
train rides are great for kids...but one needs to be realistic about how a lack of parking might affect use of the aquarium. Parents may not have the time or patience to coordinate a trip to the aquarium by train. It's just a heck of a lot easier to put four kids in the back of a minivan and hop on route 93...I don't have kids but for sanity's sake I'm sure I would like the option to park if I were in such a predicament.
 
Ron,
Have you taken one of these "fun adventurous trips" as an adult? You'd be better off riding Trans Siberian Railway to Omsk in a sack full of petulant porcupines!
 
I don't disagree that it's EASIER to take a minivan to the garage and park there, but how many of these suburban families making a day trip do you think only go to the aquarium? They walk over to Quincy Market, maybe the Common, and do other things, they literally, "make a day of it." As a result, the parents are prepared to be walking with their kids everywhere and they know their children's limits; they know when they get tired, they know when they can't carry their own stuff, they know how far their kids will wander off.

If these are day trips during the week, it's usually a group of soccer moms taking their pre-kindergarten kids as a group (4-5 kids per 2 adults) if it's weekend trips, it'll be elementary school kids with mom and dad (2-3, maybe 4 kids per 2 adults). I know this because this is what my family and our family friends all did when we were younger. The train is a fun adventerous trip for the kids. It's not as bad as people are making it seem either as the train is relatively empty on weekends and kids can only go so far on a train car.

Again, yes it's easier to drive, but it's not a killer task to take the commuter rail in for a day at the aquarium, you only have to be a moderately alert parent and it'll be a relatively easy day. I did one of these trips with my girlfriend and her 6 and 9 year old brother and sister a year ago and it wasn't hard at all.

Worst case, if they want to drive so bad they'll park at another nearby garage, it's not like it's an impossibly far walk from any other garage. I think we're going overboard in saying that attendance at the museum will take a major hit if the garage is taken down. The aquarium is it's own worst enemy, not parking.
 
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