Roxbury parcels 9 & 10 | Melnea Cass Blvd | Roxbury

I think they made the right choice about keeping the trees. I keep looking at it on Google Maps and those four trees are the only thing that keeps that corner and that bus stop from being horrible. I wish they didn't cut the units but the trees aren't the only reason that happened
 
I'd rather have a building that stretches to the lot line and gives a proper, urban corner and have them build a larger bus stop and plant trees along the street (as they plan to) than this bastardized plaza that no one will will use. Parks on busy corners have bad air quality and don't get used. Put the green space behind the building, seclude it, make it a useful pocket park.
 
curcuas said:
I'd rather have a building that stretches to the lot line and gives a proper, urban corner
Click to expand...

They'd have to narrow Melnea Cass if they ever want this to be a "proper urban corner". Personally, I like the new design. It's warmer and more inviting than the previous proposals and it fits with what the location is now: a parkway. Furthermore, considering that Tropical Foods will always have that big parking lot in front of it, its not like this stretch is ever going to have a Boylston-style streetwall. I'd be quicker to complain about a lack of urban-ness within Nubian Square, but this is on the edge of it. I do wish they'd add like 1 or two more floors to the main, yellow/white building to maximize the housing as much as possible, but I don't dislike the plaza and I like that they're keeping the trees.
 
I'd be willing to wager that plaza is never used. Your point about Melnea Cass being a parkway only reinforces the sheer uselessness of it. The BCDC pictures are pretty clear how this is a step back. I do agree the surface lot by tropical foods is not ideal and this proposal improves that situation slightly, but the plaza is unnecessary for that improvement.
 
curcuas said:
I'd be willing to wager that plaza is never used. Your point about Melnea Cass being a parkway only reinforces the sheer uselessness of it. The BCDC pictures are pretty clear how this is a step back. I do agree the surface lot by tropical foods is not ideal and this proposal improves that situation slightly, but the plaza is unnecessary for that improvement.
Click to expand...

Melnea Cass screams for middle reservation transit and a great tree canopy. Might as well send a Silver Line branch down the haul road past the tunnel ramp to the bypass road (transit and trucks only maybe?), put a small dedicated diagonal jog over the pike on the mass ave connector and right into a dedicated center running reservation right to Ruggles to prevent mixed running on frontage road. Or I guess maybe just widen all of that for dedicated buses. Is that crazy level or normal pitches?
 
The tree canopy is already pretty good. On the West side, it needs more buildings fronting it and trees alongside it, but that's no major makeover. Transit seems natural but there's....no need for it (no bus lines use it!), which has been a big issue in planning redesigns.
 
curcuas said:
The tree canopy is already pretty good. On the West side, it needs more buildings fronting it and trees alongside it, but that's no major makeover. Transit seems natural but there's....no need for it (no bus lines use it!), which has been a big issue in planning redesigns.
Click to expand...

Compared to the other parkways, I'd say the tree canopy is quite poor but certainly better than most city streets, I guess. As for transit though, I guess that's the point. Seems like a relatively simple layup for real BRT connecting to Ruggles, and the Seaport. The MBTA should be forward thinking there and creating TOD opportunities and value capture from developments like this all along the corridor.
 
atlantaden said:
19 residential units are cut, but, happily, four mature pear trees were saved??? There is a housing crisis in this town, something is seriously wrong with the process that allows this.
Click to expand...
It doesn’t have to be either / or. The abysmal zoning and NIMBY empowerment in Boston doesn’t mean that preserving certain amenities like trees in important areas are stupid or misguided. The housing crisis isn’t gonna be solved by those 19 units. The ONLY answer is a citywide change; otherwise, it’s all just piecemeal discussions that don’t amount to truly meaningful change.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top