South Station Tower | South Station Air Rights | Downtown

citydweller said:
Am I the only one that thinks the exterior of South Station could be substantially improved by a simple power-washing. The moldy green crud just needs to go. just saying.
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Yesterday when I saw the latest photos on here, the same thought occured to me about South Station needing a power washing, or maybe even a sand blasting first, then a power washing.
 
Charlie_mta said:
Yesterday when I saw the latest photos on here, the same thought occured to me about South Station needing a power washing, or maybe even a sand blasting first, then a power washing.
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Hopefully after the current construction is done. (Probably a wasted effort during construction.)
 
JeffDowntown said:
Hopefully after the current construction is done. (Probably a wasted effort during construction.)
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I suspect that's what'll happen. They're not going to complete a massively expensive project commanding top-dollar rates for both residential and office and then be like, "Oh, uh... yeah, just kinda try to ignore the base of this building on the way to your luxe accomodation in the tower."
 
chrisbrat said:
I suspect that's what'll happen. They're not going to complete a massively expensive project commanding top-dollar rates for both residential and office and then be like, "Oh, uh... yeah, just kinda try to ignore the base of this building on the way to your luxe accomodation in the tower."
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They are going to be dodging homeless drug addicts and sweaty commuters as it is
 
Suffolk 83 said:
They are going to be dodging homeless drug addicts and sweaty commuters as it is
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Y'all must be frequenting a different South Station than the one I use.

The station is filthy and has multiple instances of shoddy upkleep, but "homeless drug addicts?"

There are homeless people in the city, yes, and some do seek shelter or comfortable seats in a public train station -- just like in every big city. You think homeless drug-users are a problem in Boston? Visit San Francisco, Nashville, L.A., NYC -- way worse in other places, I assure you, if you haven't, yourself, been lately (I've been to the four cities I referenced within 2023, heading back to L.A. next week).

"Sweaty commuters?!?!?"

It's a transportation hub, so, yes, there are bound to be commuters. I suppose in the summer, or if the A/C isn't functioning on a train (or, I dunno, if a commuter is coming from an exhausting hot-yoga or cross-training session w/o showering) some of them may be sweating. And?
 
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As a sweaty commuter, I agree with Suffolk 83's assessment. I know our situation is not as bad as I've witnessed firsthand in Seattle, but yes, it's bad, and South Station is a great example. There're semi-permanent encampments in and around the main station, stretching all the way down the street to Dewey Square, sometimes in nooks of the subway entrances, sometimes on the steam access panels, sometimes with stolen shopping carts full of personal items being trucked around. I am a housing-first leftie - that does not mean I think it's at all appropriate for the headhouse of a train station (or worse, the sidewalk outside of it) to serve as a de facto homeless shelter because of lack of other options or unwillingness to utilize other options. It's a disgrace - I'm disgusted by the City and people in it treating the current situation as acceptable or sustainable. A drug-addicted or mentally ill homeless person under a blanket over a Veolia manhole on the sidewalk is not a humane, compassionate solution to the problems they're facing. Building luxury residences on top of that status quo is like something out of a dystopian parody like Robocop.
 
chrisbrat said:
Y'all must be frequenting a different South Station than the one I use.

The station is filthy and has multiple instances of shoddy upkleep, but "homeless drug addicts?"

There are homeless people in the city, yes, and some do seek shelter or comfortable seats in a public train station -- just like in every big city. You think homeless drug-users are a problem in Boston? Visit San Francisco, Nashville, L.A., NYC -- way worse in other places, I assure you, if you haven't, yourself, been lately (I've been to the four cities I referenced within 2023, heading back to L.A. next week).

"Sweaty commuters?!?!?"

It's a transportation hub, so, yes, there are bound to be commuters. I suppose in the summer, or if the A/C isn't functioning on a train (or, I dunno, if a commuter is coming from an exhausting hot-yoga or cross-training session w/o showering) some of them may be sweating. And?
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I wasn't trying to make any value statement or comparison about the station whatsoever, just merely pointing out its not some uber luxury area and any expectation of that will never, ever be realized. If you dont see the people I described in my previous post there than I can confidently say you very rarely visit it.
 
Boston has it by far the best of any major metro city with regards to homelessness. NYC and SF are beyond acceptable for society and many cities in warmer climates, the Houston's, Miami's, etc have gotten worse. Don't even think about LA, where there are neighborhoods now for the homeless. It's very sad. Boston should be proud.
 
Gunner02 said:
Boston has it by far the best of any major metro city with regards to homelessness. NYC and SF are beyond acceptable for society and many cities in warmer climates, the Houston's, Miami's, etc have gotten worse. Don't even think about LA, where there are neighborhoods now for the homeless. It's very sad. Boston should be proud.
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We are running just a bit behind in that department. It gets worse all the time though…so will probably catch up to the other cities.
 
Nibbles O’Plenty said:
We are running just a bit behind in that department. It gets worse all the time though…so will probably catch up to the other cities.
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Yes, and Germany was just slightly losing the war in April 1945.

Boston's estimated homeless population, 2022: 1,545.
NYC's estimated homeless population, 2022: 68,884.
LA's estimated homeless population, 2022: 69,144.
SF's estimated homeless population, 2022: 7,754 (p. 14 of PDF)

The Boston-to-SF comparison is particularly apt, given how roughly equivalent their population bases are: municipal Boston is 80% of municipal SF's population (654k vs. 815k). Yet it has only an estimated 20% of SF's estimated homeless population.

As for NYC and LA... I mean, come on. There is no known model of the universe in which Boston's homeless population, adjusted on a per-capita basis, ever comes remotely close to theirs, given how many orders-of-magnitude larger their estimated homeless populations are.

In the immortal words of The Fugitive: "do you want to change your bulls--t story, sir?"
 
A few pics walking to South Stating from the Seaport via Congress and Summer Streets this evening. Given the cloudy day and flat light, these pictures are as nice as post #3,386.

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DBM said:
Yes, and Germany was just slightly losing the war in April 1945.

Boston's estimated homeless population, 2022: 1,545.
NYC's estimated homeless population, 2022: 68,884.
LA's estimated homeless population, 2022: 69,144.
SF's estimated homeless population, 2022: 7,754 (p. 14 of PDF)

The Boston-to-SF comparison is particularly apt, given how roughly equivalent their population bases are: municipal Boston is 80% of municipal SF's population (654k vs. 815k). Yet it has only an estimated 20% of SF's estimated homeless population.

As for NYC and LA... I mean, come on. There is no known model of the universe in which Boston's homeless population, adjusted on a per-capita basis, ever comes remotely close to theirs, given how many orders-of-magnitude larger their estimated homeless populations are.

In the immortal words of The Fugitive: "do you want to change your bulls--t story, sir?"
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It has gotten worse in even the past couple of years. If it is put up with…you will get more and more of it. The West coast cities are much different and have better weather…people flock to those places…because it was not frowned on to live in the streets. Boston is not gravitated to as much. Luckily, residents tolerance for this may be changing because things have gotten so bad. New York is flocked to as well, but it is what it has been for decades now. A troubled, huge place that has gone out of control lately. Their homeless situation has been a problem for a few decades. As I said, the situation will get worse in Boston. I live downtown and see it happening. As for the numbers…are not familiar with how they do them in other places…but here we do it in the middle of Winter, when there are fewer people living on the streets. So no, I will not change my story, maybe just adjust it. It is not a numbers contest. The problem could become as bad, if not the numbers. It is nothing that I want to happen.
 
We dont need to constantly compare our city to any place else, thats just insecurity.
 
Nibbles O’Plenty said:
It has gotten worse in even the past couple of years. If it is put up with…you will get more and more of it. The West coast cities are much different and have better weather…people flock to those places…because it was not frowned on to live in the streets. Boston is not gravitated to as much. Luckily, residents tolerance for this may be changing because things have gotten so bad. New York is flocked to as well, but it is what it has been for decades now. A troubled, huge place that has gone out of control lately. Their homeless situation has been a problem for a few decades. As I said, the situation will get worse in Boston. I live downtown and see it happening. As for the numbers…are not familiar with how they do them in other places…but here we do it in the middle of Winter, when there are fewer people living on the streets. So no, I will not change my story, maybe just adjust it. It is not a numbers contest. The problem could become as bad, if not the numbers. It is nothing that I want to happen.
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Most cities do their count in the dead of winter.
 
I wonder if we could focus on the architecture and engineering of this building. I don't want to diminish the suffering of unhoused people, and I think we all know about that. But I come here to talk about buildings. I go to other places to talk about social risk factors of urban living.
 
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