Seaport Neighborhood - Infill and Discussion

The Seaport has been packed most weekends during covid. It's near downtown, the views are incredible, and there's pretty good retail/restaurant density. The new buildings may be imperfect, but a lot of them are a heck of a lot more interesting than what's going up elsewhere.
 
I think it's the ocean walk. It really ties the whole thing together.
From all remaining parcels the biggest missing piece is parcel G - it's right in the middle of everything and really needs to get going..
 
Alright... I can't help myself. Back in January, Strong Towns shared an article titled Boston's Costly Missed Opportunities written by a freelancer out of Cambridge that talks about the Seaport and Suffolk Downs.

Reading the article (twice) gave me a micro tantrum. kz1000ps', atlantaden's, and others' recent posts about the neighborhood--coupled with my own personal and professional accounts of how it's turned out (including baring witness firsthand as recently as this weekend)--reminded me of the very LONG comment I shared on that article months ago, which I stand by today. See below:

As a Massachusetts planner, I feel personally and professionally obliged to respond to this misleading, ill-informed history-telling.
1. Development throughout Boston's Seaport is still under construction. Criticizing the urban fabric of a construction site as if it were the final product is like eating the birthday cake before the chef has even put on the icing: it isn't done yet! Hating on the neighborhood today for "huge roads and superblocks that continue to make up the area?" Robertson's own 1999 proposal has more surface area dedicated to vehicular travel, less green/park space acreage, and lower real estate tax generation per acre than what the neighborhood's evolved into 21 years later.
2. Manhattan's Stuyvesant-Town is a textbook example of 'Towers in the Park'--HYM Development's Suffolk Downs redevelopment is not. The land use plan for the development includes 10.15M sq. ft. of residential uses, 5.2M sq. ft. of commercial, 450k sq. ft. of retail, and 400k sq. ft. of hotel. Reducing your remarks about the open space plan as "40 acres will be left as 'green space'" is disingenuous to Strong Towns readers: there are activated spaces designed for this development, including purposefully designed open spaces like the Central Common that will restore Belle Isle Marsh wetlands destroyed by the original race track and mitigate very real flooding concerns during major storms.
3. RE affordable housing at SD (which is consistent with the City's 13% inclusionary zoning policy requirement), please don't write as if 1,430 units is some sort of missed opportunity. As for the parking: in a new neighborhood of 10,000 housing units and a total 16.2M sq. ft. of total development that maximizes the ridership potential of two existing heavy rail transit stations, fills in critical shared use path gaps that will connect the regional network, establishes two new bus routes on site, and commits to 12 new bike share stations throughout the site, the 6,760 parking spaces you cite suggest nothing. The reality is that this development's design is for all users. And despite the large parking space number, it in fact demonstrates one of the lowest parking ratios of any new development in a major city, speaking more to the sheer magnitude of the site and how intense the plan.
4. RE a network of connected parks and greenways: The Harbor Way pedestrian spine, paseos of the recently completed Echelon Seaport, and the knitting of the Harborwalk are there and they're happening. Martin's Park connecting seamlessly with the Boston Children's Museum; the protected bike lane network installed down Summer Street & Seaport Blvd; Pier 4 Park and the Seaport Green; the recently proposed (approved?) development for Channelside Lot that brings additional green space to Wormwood Street that you mourned in your above rendering?
5. I find it incredibly ironic that a writer on Strong Towns of all places mourns a "never-built bridge, a never-built dock, and never-built linear park" along a channel with no fewer than 3 existing bridge crossings AND 1 more (Northern Avenue) that is approved. Strong Towns condemns wasteful infrastructure spending, especially in places where the demand hasn't been demonstrated yet. You're talking about a vision that connects a USPS facility (***completely out of city leadership's decision-making, BTW) and a parking lot (again, queued up for redevelopment very soon). Don't put the cart before the horse.
As for the dock and linear park, Fort Point Pier is smack there today adjacent to the GE Corporate HQ off Necco Street, and the mostly completed Fan Pier development nearby has added additional dock space to the neighborhood. There is a linear park there along Fort Point Channel, and it is part of the Harborwalk Network and connects to the burgeoning South Bay Harbor Trail network inland.
6. The author suggests that developments like Suffolk Downs, Dorchester Bay City, and Seaport development demonstrate as negatives. That "the failure of Boston planners to reestablish its traditional patterns of building and development have left the city poorer, both aesthetically and as a place to live." By numerous objective metrics available, this statement is false. The AAA-bond-rated City of Boston has one of the most resilient property tax bases in the country. Among a highly-skilled labor force, an incredibly diversified economic base, and a laser focus on improving the throughput of people and goods, Boston has experienced dramatic population growth, increased demand for housing/commercial/high tech real estate, and--as a result--increased value across its built environment. Planners reconnected the city with its waterfront; they've strategically negotiated tax policies for employers that had domino effects on enabling local companies to grow and lure new companies to concentrate in their heart. Planners have laid the groundwork for further transformative public realm improvements that not only continue to enrich the experience of living, working, and visiting Boston, but also invite the investment of developers large and small to meet needs and demands of a flourishing city.
The success of Boston planners to establish stronger, strategic, and more resilient patterns of building and development have made the city richer.
Strong Towns
followers should take note.
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kz1000ps said:
OK it's settled: next thing I do is spend some meaningful time down there, particularly on the ocean walk. Thanks for clueing me in 🍻
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Just leave your negative attitude at home when you come on down and you'll be fine. Enjoy an outdoor brew while you're at it if it's nice enough outside (y)

Edit: If your disdain is with buildings like the new Hampton Inn / Homewood Suites or whatever they call it, then I will happily join you in the hate parade
 
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The Harborwalk is a grand slam. Pure and simple. Were it not for the Harborwalk that area would be Crystal City, VA. I have nothing against glass buildings, but several in a row is just stultifying.

The Harborwalk makes that district a world-class neighborhood. It rights a lot of the wrongs there. The folks behind Harborwalk deserve a huge credit. I love going to the Seaport now, and it is still getting better.
 
Love all the recent pics, guys - thanks, from all the Massholes and ex-pat Bostonians for whom this forum is the best visual fix of back home.

I'll just leave this here and brace for the blow-back: I really love International Place, and these views only reinforce my love.
 
Strong Towns is all about traditional development patterns and human-scaled buildings. I could see them having issues with the Seaport in that the building footprints are too large and it's being built essentially all at once. This means that the retail spaces will typically be large and have high rents and will generally attract national chains. That hasn't entirely been true in the Seaport, thankfully.
 
kz1000ps said:
Honest question asked in a Seinfeld voice: who are these people? Maybe I shouldn't be surprised, but I am surprised by how many people are out and about on a nice day. Are they all residents? Do they work there and come visit on the weekends? South End-ians wanting some Harborwalk action? Or is it just that the area has that new car smell and the trendy folk are drawn there? Are the harbor-facing parks that nice? Am I overthinking this and the area has simply reached a critical mass and this is perfectly normal for this kind of density??

I have a lot of disdain for the sterile new buildings there, and maybe that's kept me from really appreciating how people have taken over the streets and parks (that plus I wasn't down there at all 2015-20). I was there a month ago on a very sunny and warm day and I low-key couldn't believe how bustling the area was. Seaport, I guess I didn't know you had it in you.
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There is a large disconnect between the online perception of the Seaport and the reality on the ground. More than a few people in Boston have completely written off the Seaport as a neighborhood - including certain City Councilors and mayoral candidates - while many more consider the Seaport the place to be right now in the city. With nice weather like this past Saturday it is a guarantee that the Seaport will be street-to-street packed with people and multiple hour wait times at the restaurants.
 
Smuttynose said:
The Seaport was hopping yesterday
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Looks great! I wasn't there on Saturday, but biked through significant parts of the city, and it was like that everywhere. The Esplinade was so packed, that I actually considered dismounting and walking, because it was proving challenging to weave through all the people. Same for the North End, Cambridge, Emerald Necklace. Every corner of the city was crowded in a way that I'm not used to seeing.
 
SuffolkHeights11 said:
There is a large disconnect between the online perception of the Seaport and the reality on the ground. More than a few people in Boston have completely written off the Seaport as a neighborhood - including certain City Councilors and mayoral candidates - while many more consider the Seaport the place to be right now in the city. With nice weather like this past Saturday it is a guarantee that the Seaport will be street-to-street packed with people and multiple hour wait times at the restaurants.
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In my experience, the most vocal Seaport critics ("It's so soulless and lifeless!! Where are the parks!?! Absolutely nobody goes there!!") are the same people who haven't actually stepped foot in the district in years. The Seaport has its shortcomings, but the strawman image it's all-too-often made out to be does not comport with reality.
 
SuffolkHeights11 said:
There is a large disconnect between the online perception of the Seaport and the reality on the ground.
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JumboBuc said:
In my experience, the most vocal Seaport critics ("It's so soulless and lifeless!! Where are the parks!?! Absolutely nobody goes there!!") are the same people who haven't actually stepped foot in the district in years.
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jl326 said:
Just leave your negative attitude at home when you come on down and you'll be fine. Enjoy an outdoor brew while you're at it if it's nice enough outside (y)
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Got it. Thanks for the reality check 🍻
 
I've been pleasantly surprised by the Seaport. It's not what I would have built if I had SimCity mayoral powers, but its a pretty nice district which interacts well with the water and its neighboring Fort Point.

However, if the office market doesn't return in the next 5-10 years... it will be a lot less vibrant. The whole Echelon ground-floor experience could be a special area if demand goes back up, but if it stalls out or stagnates I'm really not sure what will happen in the district.
 
393b40 said:
I've been pleasantly surprised by the Seaport. It's not what I would have built if I had SimCity mayoral powers, but its a pretty nice district which interacts well with the water and its neighboring Fort Point.

However, if the office market doesn't return in the next 5-10 years... it will be a lot less vibrant. The whole Echelon ground-floor experience could be a special area if demand goes back up, but if it stalls out or stagnates I'm really not sure what will happen in the district.
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Very true and a valid concern re: retail, especially given how long it takes for retail space to be filled. Supposedly, a number of the retail spaces at Echelon are spoken for, though I don't know how "official" that is and things could always change. On a somewhat related note, I'm very saddened with the permanent closure of the Icon Showplace theater. Great spacious comfortable seating, seat warmers, non-sticky floors, tons of aisle room so that you don't have to move for others even with your seat fully reclined and your feet up.. sigh..
 
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