Somerville Infill and Small Developments

chrisbrat said:
this is just down the street from me and it's amazed me ever since it closed that it REMAINED vacant. a giant parcel in frickin somerville -- yeah, yeah, i get that it's winter hill and not davis square, but still -- just sits there, doing nothing, for 11 years?!?! i'm very happy to finally see movement on this. will be happier when i see demo and construction begin for real.
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Same here.

Winter Hill has the potential to be a very cool neighborhood. Mixing this new development with the other building and 5 retail spaces that just opened on Temple and Broadway will give the neighborhood a nice mix.

There are already some great cheap eats and markets along with Winter Hill brewing. I hope that the retail mix in this new project will liven up the area and add some balance in options.
 
i was not at all encouraged that the first announced tenant of the new building at temple/broadway (which, itself, is an ugly prefab blob) is.... a nail salon.

winter hill has lots of nail and hair places. winter hill brewery was a great addition and sarma (if you consider that to be in winter hill) is, of course, top notch, but enough with the pizza places (5 on a 1/2 mile stretch of broadway. i love leone's and mama lisa, but ENOUGH) and salons.

a sit-down restaurant, another bar, some retail that's NOT some budget cell phone store, not yet another bank or drugstore.

i don't understand why they ever closed the bickford's. that was always hopping. then they tried that fancy, overpriced italian place which was totally tone-deaf to the neighborhood (also, it never works when you take a former mcdonalds, ihop, etc -- any building that clearly served a very different purpose -- and then plop a new sign on and try to pass it off as "high end"), and now it's... an urgent care center. exciting!

i don't want to over-fancify the neighborhood -- and for what it's worth i hope when the larger star market area is redone they leave winter hill liquors -- but, yeah, it's really weird for such a wide swath of one of the most in-demand cities in the area (hell, in the country) to be so barren.
 
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chrisbrat said:
i was not at all encouraged that the first announced tenant of the new building at temple/broadway (which, itself, is an ugly prefab blob) is.... a nail salon.

winter hill has lots of nail and hair places. winter hill brewery was a great addition and sarma (if you consider that to be in winter hill) is, of course, top notch, but enough with the pizza places (5 on a 1/2 mile stretch of broadway. i love leone's and mama lisa, but ENOUGH) and salons.

a sit-down restaurant, another bar, some retail that's NOT some budget cell phone store, not yet another bank or drugstore.

i don't understand why they ever closed the bickford's. that was always hopping. then they tried that fancy, overpriced italian place which was totally tone-deaf to the neighborhood (also, it never works when you take a former mcdonalds, ihop, etc -- any building that clearly served a very different purpose -- and then plop a new sign on and try to pass it off as "high end"), and now it's... and urgent care center. exciting!

i don't want to over-fancify the neighborhood -- and for what it's worth i hope when the larger star market area is redone they leave winter hill liquors -- but, yeah, it's really weird for such a wide swath of one of the most in-demand cities in the area (hell, in the country) to be so barren.
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I suppose winter hill has been seen as "less sexy" due to the lack of transit options. With the GLX rebooted, a lot of potential has been "unlocked", so to say.
 
absolutely. when/if the gilman square station finally materializes (near sarma, down the hill from city hall and about a five-minute walk to the very area of broadway we're talking about) it'll be a whole different ballgame.
 
A box! Deviously disguised as four boxes. Cunning.
 
Wow, those renders are gorgeous just like.... Manhattan's Upper West Side!

Great to see Somerville raising it's glass!


 
Well it isn't genius but given their emphasis on Somerville context it could have been wrapped in vinyl siding with a paved over front yard used for parking.
 
odurandina said:
Wow, those renders are gorgeous just like.... Manhattan's Upper West Side!

Great to see Somerville raising it's glass!


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Not saying I like this proposal architecturally but lets be clear what the criteria are:

  • This cannot be like a South End or Brooklyn brownstone. Non of those buildings are ADA accessable and if they are they are because of a very expensive renovation
  • If it was straight up brownstones, the board would roundly criticize it for not having ground floor retail, which this proposal doe.
  • This building builds out to the street faces and buries the parking behind. Good right?!
  • This is has strong density. Good right?
  • Could it look better? Yes. Is there an econmic drive to do such a thing? No. Is there any other reason someone developing multfamily housing needs to live up to some standard. No, there is no mechinism for that. So, overall we are getting better than bad.
 
cca said:
Not saying I like this proposal architecturally but lets be clear what the criteria are...
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In comparison to the incompetent contextual gestures and artlessly applied materials we see in East Boston, this is soft focus Corbusian porn.
 
Almost all of those "beautiful" UWS walkups on the cross streets are hacked up into small, dark, run down apartments, charging $3500 for a 1 bedroom and a kitchen the size of phone booth, with barbie doll sized appliances.

Sorry, went apartment hunting recently and it is depressing.
 
Beton Brut said:
In comparison to the incompetent contextual gestures and artlessly applied materials we see in East Boston, this is soft focus Corbusian porn.
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I would not even go that far. Nothing about this gets my pulse up. I was just trying to make clear why we can't just keep building the stuff we are so nostalgically in love with.

cca
 
Let's take a look at Union Square and the new Bow Market on the hottest day of the year!

Obligatory They don't make 'em like they used to shot:
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. . . But they do rehab 'em pretty well:
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Now let's get to work on these underappreciated beauties:
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Union Square has something of a blue/grey color scheme going on. That's probably not an intentional reference to the Civil War, but we should start a rumor that it is:
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Hooray for small urban spaces!
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And finally we arrive at the market:
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Kinda has a post-apocalyptic feel on 98 degree days:
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Another anchor draw in addition to the brewery would help. Maybe this will be it?
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Seriously?
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Thankfully, Remnant Brewery built this nice little patio around the corner:
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. . . But the connector between the main courtyard and patio could use some work:
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Oh, here's where the people are:
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Pictured: The Exam Room 2 (a delicious New England IPA) and a table that, like the rest of the market, could use a little wear and tear:
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The market needs some time to settle in, and isn't fair to judge it when it hasn't even reached full occupancy. Regardless, you can see the future here: this is a wonderful development. Union Square is Boston's next great urban place.
 
BronsonShore said:
Union Square is Boston's next great urban place.
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Union has a loooong way to go but yes it certainly could be quite the place. Been to Bow Market. It's a bit boutiquey for anything I would want but I'm sure it will work out. Doubtless though the usual suspects here will whine and crap their diapers that it's too "white".
 
BronsonShore said:
Let's take a look at Union Square and the new Bow Market on the hottest day of the year!
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Thanks for the tour. Good stuff. (Wouldn't mind if the photos were a bit larger though.)

Brad Plaid said:
Union has a loooong way to go but yes it certainly could be quite the place. Been to Bow Market. It's a bit boutiquey for anything I would want but I'm sure it will work out. Doubtless though the usual suspects here will whine and crap their diapers that it's too "white".
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Someone made a joke and you've now carried your bitching onto a second thread. Perhaps there is a support group you could join instead of posting here?
 
BronsonShore said:
Let's take a look at Union Square and the new Bow Market on the hottest day of the year!
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Thanks for this! I love Union and would argue that it has "arrived" as a great urban space already. Can improvements be made? Of course. And they will. But it's already a great spot.

How does the Remnant compare to Lamplighter, Aeronaut, Bone Up, Nightshift, etc. as far as the brews and the atmosphere? I have yet yo check out Bow market yet, but I'm looking forward to it.
 
Lrfox said:
Thanks for this! I love Union and would argue that it has "arrived" as a great urban space already. Can improvements be made? Of course. And they will. But it's already a great spot.
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No question its a great spot as is. But its still a little sleepy compared to similar peer squares like Davis, Coolidge, and Harvard. The Green Line and the additional density from the Boynton Yards and Prospect Street developments should take care of that.

Lrfox said:
How does the Remnant compare to Lamplighter, Aeronaut, Bone Up, Nightshift, etc. as far as the brews and the atmosphere? I have yet yo check out Bow market yet, but I'm looking forward to it.
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In terms of atmosphere, it needs some time (it still smells like brand new construction, for one thing). It's a deceptively large space but it's broken up into smaller areas that will keep it feeling intimate, more like a pub than a traditional tap room--or hell, almost a coffee shop (there were several people reading/working when I was in there on a weekday afternoon). The beer itself was great, up there with Nightshift, IMO.
 
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