SUPERCEDED MXD | Kendall Square

[stick n move]

Just saw this in person for the first time the other day. I was really surprised at how tall it is. It dominates the area. I thought it was just a seaport stump but its actually pretty tall in person.

 

[odurandina]

how tall will it be?

314'

the sister tower is still waiting to rise 396'.

 

[FK4]

Wow if the sister tower is even taller, that’s cool - I know the pictures on here don’t make it look very big, but from Mass General across the river, the current one already stands out as a fair degree taller than its neighbors.

 

[odurandina]

 

[Boston02124]

 

[sidewalks]

I've lived in Kendall for the last seven years. What almost nobody seems to be discussing is how outrageously these new projects are overwhelming the transportation infrastructure. We are putting twenty gallons into a five gallon bag. It used to be that I would cross over the Mass Ave Bridge and take a right down Memorial and would get all the way to Binney without traffic. Now, the traffic to get onto 93 extends several blocks past the Longfellow bridge. We aren't even close to full buildout and occupancy. Maybe fifteen years hence the driverless car revolution will make more efficient use of our streets, but it looks grim right now.

 

[Beton Brut]

^ THIS!

(and it's the unvarnished truth in many primarily residential/mixed-use neighborhoods across Greater Boston)

 

[Coyote137]

Also crush capacity on the Red Line here fairly often.

 

[sm89]

I've lived in Kendall for the last seven years. What almost nobody seems to be discussing is how outrageously these new projects are overwhelming the transportation infrastructure. We are putting twenty gallons into a five gallon bag. It used to be that I would cross over the Mass Ave Bridge and take a right down Memorial and would get all the way to Binney without traffic. Now, the traffic to get onto 93 extends several blocks past the Longfellow bridge. We aren't even close to full buildout and occupancy. Maybe fifteen years hence the driverless car revolution will make more efficient use of our streets, but it looks grim right now.

This was inevitable and is why they are full steam ahead on alternative modes of transportation. Cycle tracks on all the main corridors and bus line changes are all upcoming. People will still drive until we make the other modes more reliable and a better option. It doesn't make sense to own a car in this neighborhood anymore with everything soon to be within walking distance.

 

[sidewalks]

You say it doesn't make sense to own a car in Kendall? That's debatable. We aren't Manhattan. One can definitely survive without a car and there are certainly ways to make it work with uber and delivered groceries or other such creative options. It may well be cheaper. But we in East Cambridge and most of Boston lack the density to make a car unappealing for most people.

But the notion of devising a transportation system that relies on bikes for anything more than 5-10% of trips strikes me as wholly unrealistic. Not only are the seasons and climate highly problematic, a very high ratio of people are coming from a long distance. And others are either unable to bike physically or dependent on the car for family responsibilities.

In any event, both the Seaport and Kendall will be a nightmare if major efforts are not undertaken to resolve this issue. Technology may save us, but that is years off and highly uncertain.

 

[Beton Brut]

This was inevitable...

It wouldn't have been with intelligent regional transportation planning (dating back to the early 90s, concurrent to the Big Dig) and real leadership and cooperation among our elected officials.

 

[atlantaden]

Can anyone name a major American city that doesn't have these same traffic problem? And if there are any, what's their secret?

 

[bigpicture7]

Can anyone name a major American city that doesn't have these same traffic problem? And if there are any, what's their secret?

I work in Kendall. I simply do not expect to be able drive here. Maybe it's just me, but I completely agree with you atlantaden...my mental model is: thriving city = not being able to drive.

I am not saying our public officials shouldn't be going all-out to enhance infrastructure. But the pragmatic reality is that when a neighborhood becomes as hot as Kendall commerce-wise, you are going to go through an era of massive traffic.

That said, the new red line signals, trains, and revitalized longfellow should help un-choke the red line. People are using the improved bike lanes. MIT is funding transit and bikes for its thousands of employees next door. Etc. So it's not like nothing is being done. And yes, more needs to be done.

But if you must drive to Kendall, please expect traffic...and don't drive if you don't need to.

 

[34f34f]

I work in Kendall. I simply do not expect to be able drive here. Maybe it's just me, but I completely agree with you atlantaden...my mental model is: thriving city = not being able to drive.

I am not saying our public officials shouldn't be going all-out to enhance infrastructure. But the pragmatic reality is that when a neighborhood becomes as hot as Kendall commerce-wise, you are going to go through an era of massive traffic.

That said, the new red line signals, trains, and revitalized longfellow should help un-choke the red line. People are using the improved bike lanes. MIT is funding transit and bikes for its thousands of employees next door. Etc. So it's not like nothing is being done. And yes, more needs to be done.

But if you must drive to Kendall, please expect traffic...and don't drive if you don't need to.

Very good points. Especially since bike infra and bus improvements reduce driving needs for people within ~3 miles, and red line for people within ~20 miles.

Plus, there are a thousand homes coming online in the next few years within a mile of Kendall (Ames St, Mass+Main, Akamai phase II-III), which allows more people to forgo driving as their primary means of commuting to offices and labs in Kendall.

 

[FK4]

No. What people are saying upthread is that it would have been much better to plan ahead, and barring that, to recognize that the transportation infrastructure is completely overwhelmed in this area, to a degree that is 1) new, 2) NOT inevitable, and 3) in need of being addressed.

1. Time and again on this forum, I see posters ignoring the fact that for a good contingent of people, biking is just not realistic. It doesn’t work for the old, infirm, and it sure as hell doesn’t work for almost everyone between November and April, unless you’re a diehard. I’ve been that diehard, but I have zero expectation of winter biking as a principle viable solution to major congestion. Save your Denmark conparisons for another thread if you disagree.

2. Suggesting that short bike trips allow people living close by to get to work here is jejune. The housing stock close to Kendall is way out of reach, financially, for most people, and what’s affordable is very pricy per square foot. So, if you’re poor, OR if you have a family and don’t want to live in a matchbox, no go. The same applies to the T - it just doesn’t work for a lot of people, who sadly seem to be vilified for having the audacity to aspire to a backyard. Mind you, I mean the T, as is right now. Get your affordable house in Tewksbury? So drive 20 min to the station for an hour to N Station, then another 25 min rush hour slog of Orange to Red to get to Kendall? That sucks. It should be easier, but right now it’s not and it cavalier to suggest otherwise.

3. Almost none of the great new housing going up in Kendall is affordable. So that’s not changing much if you’re talking about growing a workforce other than the next generation of Martin Skreli’s.

4. It’s a lazy argument to just sit back and say, “this is a city, deal with the traffic”. We need real solutions here. Traffic and transit problems are significant quality of life problems. The city and state SHOULD consider these seriously, unless you’re totally fine with what San Francisco has become (a horrible shell of a place, if you ask me). We need MAJOR housing/zoning changes and visionary transportation plans that include road as well as rail projects that go vastly beyond restriping lanes for bikes and buses. Without more physical space for vehicles of all kinds, ain’t nothin gonna change.

 

[bigpicture7]

Wrong. What people are saying upthread is that it would have been much better to plan ahead, and barring that, to recognize that the transportation infrastructure is completely overwhelmed in this area, to a degree that is 1) new, 2) NOT inevitable, and 3) in need of being addressed.

1. Time and again on this forum, I am extremely frustrated by posters who just ignore the fact that for a good contingent of people, biking is just not realistic. It doesn’t work for the old, infirm, and it sure as hell doesn’t work for almost everyone between November and April, unless you’re a diehard. I’ve been that diehard, but I have zero expectation of winter biking as a principle viable solution. Save your Denmark conparisons for another thread.

2. Suggesting that short bike trips allow people living close by is jejune. The housing stock close to Kendall is either way out of reach, financially, for most people, and what’s affordable is very pricy. So, if you’re poor, OR if you have a family and don’t want to live in a matchbox, no go. The same applies to the T - it just doesn’t work for a lot of people, who sadly seem to be vilified for having the audacity to aspire to a backyard.

3. Almost none of the great new housing going up in Kendall is affordable. So that’s not changing much if you’re talking about growing a workforce other than the next generation of Martin Skreli’s.

4. It’s a lazy argument to just sit back and say, “this is a city, deal with the traffic”. We need real solutions here. Traffic and transit problems are significant quality of life problems. The city and state SHOULD consider these seriously, unless you’re totally fine with what San Francisco has become (a horrible shell of a place, if you ask me). We need MAJOR housing/zoning changes and visionary transportation plans that include road as well as rail projects that go vastly beyond restriping lanes for bikes and buses. Without more physical space for vehicles of all kinds, ain’t nothin gonna change.

Wow that is a lot of completely erroneous prejudicial sentiment. Myself and many colleagues hate biking; I live in a very affordable part of brighton and deal with an unnecessarily long commute on transit and on foot in order to access that affordability. And you can rest assured that I am not and will never work for a martin skreili-type.

Many of us slog it to kendall because we love what we do. You are right, kendall is not practical and it's not affordable. But it grew super fast. And it is a special place.

I am a progressive believer in planning, zoning, and infrastructure investment. But I saw how fast kendall happened, and I would not imagine it would have been realistically possible to keep up with an auto-centric mindset.

So, myself, and a shyt ton of other kendall workers, make concessions to avoid driving there. It's just what some of us are willing to do.

 

[FK4]

Wow that is a lot of completely erroneous prejudicial sentiment. Myself and many colleagues hate biking; I live in a very affordable part of brighton and deal with an unnecessarily long commute on transit and on foot in order to access that affordability. And you can rest assured that I am not and will never work for a martin skreili-type.

Many of us slog it to kendall because we love what we do. You are right, kendall is not practical and it's not affordable. But it grew super fast. And it is a special place.

I am a progressive believer in planning, zoning, and infrastructure investment. But I saw how fast kendall happened, and I would not imagine it would have been realistically possible to keep up with an auto-centric mindset.

So, myself, and a shyt ton of other kendall workers, make concessions to avoid driving there. It's just what some of us are willing to do.

Bigpicture, thank you for your perspective - but I’m not advocating making Kendall auto-centric. And I recognize that plenty of people are willing to make concessions to work there (I don’t know of whether you have a family or not, but your answer wouldn’t change my arguments). What I am saying is that the degree of concessions you outline SHOULD not be necessary. And we can quibble about what should have been done beforehand (I disagree, I think the transit needs should have been better anticipated, but I also hate when others judge the past), but regardless, here we are in 2018 and we have bupkiss for any state-level transit proposals other than bike lanes and maybe bus lanes, which is bullshit. And contrary to what you said upthread, that’s basically nothing being done. The city needs to grow and breathe and expand and it shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg and a brutal commute to work in it. And if it does - then it’s gonna be like manhattan or san fran. As I already said - we need VISION and major changes in planning - housing, roads, subways.

Ps- the skreli quip is in effort to disagree vehemently with the previous posters comment on all the housing going up in Kendall - which is for rich people and won’t change things for the common man. I’m actually more intimately acquainted with Kendall than you might think... and in no way see it as symbolic of evil pharma. That being said, the area need not simply be allowed to become available only for the CEO’s. Perhaps saying Henri Termeer would have been more appropriate.

 

[Gameguy326]

We have a (THE?) central business district and one line of rapid public transit that goes there. The answer is simple.

Build a light-rail* along the Grand Junction Rail to connect Allston-Cambridgeport-MIT-Kendall-Charlestown-North Station, and build bridges/underpasses along for cars them so the trolleys don't have to stop for traffic. That will give plenty more options of neighborhoods to live in to efficiently commute from.

*I'd say full train but it's hard to reroute tracks along that path.

 

[bigpicture7]

Bigpicture, thank you for your perspective - but I’m not advocating making Kendall auto-centric. And I recognize that plenty of people are willing to make concessions to work there (I don’t know of whether you have a family or not, but your answer wouldn’t change my arguments). What I am saying is that the degree of concessions you outline SHOULD not be necessary. And we can quibble about what should have been done beforehand (I disagree, I think the transit needs should have been better anticipated, but I also hate when others judge the past), but regardless, here we are in 2018 and we have bupkiss for any state-level transit proposals other than bike lanes and maybe bus lanes, which is bullshit. And contrary to what you said upthread, that’s basically nothing being done. The city needs to grow and breathe and expand and it shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg and a brutal commute to work in it. And if it does - then it’s gonna be like manhattan or san fran. As I already said - we need VISION and major changes in planning - housing, roads, subways.

Ps- the skreli quip is in effort to disagree vehemently with the previous posters comment on all the housing going up in Kendall - which is for rich people and won’t change things for the common man. I’m actually more intimately acquainted with Kendall than you might think... and in no way see it as symbolic of evil pharma. That being said, the area need not simply be allowed to become available only for the CEO’s. Perhaps saying Henri Termeer would have been more appropriate.

As is often the case, good dialogue reveals people are more aligned than they think. I can agree with your SHOULDs. I was not at all suggesting we be complacent with the lousy planning and present state of connectivity to Kendall. My main point was that Kendall was never going to work as an auto-centric commuter concept...there's just too much constraint, and too high a pace of growth compared to the pace that even well-intentioned public officials could have dealt with if the focus was on serving primarily cars.

I also agree that many of the people I work with deal with living/commuting situations that they shouldn't have to deal with. We won't get into my family situation here, but, yes, it is a factor and there is a complex web of tradeoffs/concessions/balancing acts there too. I can't read your mind about what you are implying, but I can guess that I likely agree that there are some SHOULDs not achieved by many workers' situations in that regard too.

I think GameGuy's suggestion about a circumferential light rail link between North Station and Allston would work wonders for a lot of people, especially with better connectivity at either end.

 

[sidewalks]

I think what we all agree upon is that, while increasing congestion was an inevitable result of positive growth, a concurrent effort needed to be made to address transit. Cambridge and Boston have a street system that is not designed to support widespread adoption of bus lanes. Bikes, given the climate, are not a realistic option for a significant share of the commuter population. What needed to happen (at minimum) was a commitment to increase the number of red line trains significantly. Anything else requires creativity beyond my pay grade. I'm not sure other solutions can be implemented without disproportionate cost. But more trains, is a no brainer.