The Alcott (née Garden Garage Towers) | 35 Lomasney Way | West End

Re: Garden Garage Towers (New West End building)

Draft Project Impact Report filed October 19, 2011
http://www.bostonredevelopmentautho...ocs/Garden Garage/DPIR/Garden Garage_DPIR.pdf

Equity Residential submitted a Draft Project Impact Report (DPIR) for the proposed Garden Garage Project in the West End. The DPIR is an expanded project filing with detailed technical analyses of project impacts like transportation, wind, and shadow.
Since the developer’s Project Notification Form (PNF) was filed in January 2011 several changes to the project have been made based on comments and community meetings. The placement of the building on the site was shifted to protect views of the Zakim Bridge and the Custom House Tower. View corridors for residents on the lower floors were improved. The project massing was decreased and smaller footprints for the two planned buildings were created. Twelve additional three bedroom units for family living were added. The pedestrian experience around the development site has been improved with wider sidewalks. More open space has been added to the project with room for a sports court, and bocce.
Public Comments on the filing can be submitted in writing to: Geoffrey Lewis, Senior Project Manager, BRA, Boston City Hall, Boston, MA 02201 by January 17, 2012.
Click to expand...

source: http://www.bostonredevelopmentauthoritynews.org/2011/10/20/dpir-filed-for-garden-garage-project/
 
Re: Garden Garage Towers (New West End building)

I like how the front page of this shows the Last Tenement still in place, complete with billboard.
 
Re: Garden Garage Towers (New West End building)

To save money it looks like they are proposing to just MOVE the new BU dorms over to the West End.
 
Re: Garden Garage Towers (New West End building)

Good God, do I hate the West End (cf., slides 32, 44, 46 and 50 of the DPIR ... I pretty much stopped flicking through after that). The entire area needs to be be bulldozed, the streetgrid restored, and the lot sizes and density of what was there before -- ideally with as much of the architecture that was there before, though more contemporary designs would be fine too -- returned.

I wish the city or any developers had the balls to start saying loudly and publicly that this entire "neighborhood" is a waste of valuable space in a city center ... and built on the architectural and urban-planning principles of one of the peripheral neighborhoods of an Eastern Bloc city.

And while this project will be a clear improvement over the garage there now, the neighborhood needs to be redone from scratch, with the huge park-size "blocks" between streets eliminated ... which the addition of hundreds of new residents will not make any easier.
 
Re: Garden Garage Towers (New West End building)

man, West End hate is just becoming cliche now...like hating George Bush or Michael Bolton...we know they suck but I just can't listen to anymore jabs or quips without thinking 'enough already'.
 
Re: Garden Garage Towers (New West End building)

itchy said:
Good God, do I hate the West End (cf., slides 32, 44, 46 and 50 of the DPIR ... I pretty much stopped flicking through after that). The entire area needs to be be bulldozed, the streetgrid restored, and the lot sizes and density of what was there before -- ideally with as much of the architecture that was there before, though more contemporary designs would be fine too -- returned.
Click to expand...

Itch -- that is not going to happen anymore than the clock will be wound back to the 1950's In fact you really don't want it to happen -- it would be just as bad as the original clearing of the West End. Like-it or not there are few thousand people both owning homes and renting -- but living in the New West End.

Can it be improved -- of course -- but not by wholesale demolition.

The best that can be accomplished is to slowly and gradually take advantage of what development opportunities present themselves, such as the red of the parking gargage. Thes sites can be re-ded to improve the human experience through street-level life and to grow organically a new successful community.

Over time this process will succeed as it has in other places in Boston, Cambridge and in increasingly Sommerville. Most of the places considered desireable neighborhoods today, such as the South End -- were derelict or at least much less desireable just a few decades ago.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Re: Garden Garage Towers (New West End building)

The proof of how badly the west end sucks is that no one is willing to live there.

I wish that someone from the west end was on the forum to give thier point of view.
 
Re: Garden Garage Towers (New West End building)

I work in the West End (Bowdoin Sq) and I hate it. The only advantage is the Whole Foods store and the fact that it is within walking distance to downtown. The streets are just waaaaaaay too wide and too many of the buildings are set back from the sidewalk. It gives the whole area a desolate vibe even though there are still quite a few people in the area.
The best parts of the area are the older buildings that are still standing. Far too few and far between though.
 
Re: Garden Garage Towers (New West End building)

BostonObserver said:
The proof of how badly the west end sucks is that no one is willing to live there.

I wish that someone from the west end was on the forum to give thier point of view.
Click to expand...

My guess is that more people live in the New West End even with its LeCorbusier style of isolated towers than live in the SPID now or according to current plans

There must be several thousand housing units in the new, old and oldest towers + the other buildings
 
Re: Garden Garage Towers (New West End building)

the housing in the west end is the CRP zone, that huge lanscraper on Staniford street, the blackstone, church housing, and that last old west end building...so I dont think people wanting to or not wanting to live there is an issue as none of those places lack for willing tenants...there is just no much available land to develop outside of that garage space

the west end is a peaceful quiet place to live in the heart of boston...the only downside of course is the massive use of land in the CRP zone
 
Re: Garden Garage Towers (New West End building)

SPID = SeaPort Innovation District

I can't recall who coined the term, but I believe it is primarily in use at ArchBoston and no place else.
 
Re: Garden Garage Towers (New West End building)

statler said:
I work in the West End (Bowdoin Sq) and I hate it. The only advantage is the Whole Foods store and the fact that it is within walking distance to downtown. The streets are just waaaaaaay too wide and too many of the buildings are set back from the sidewalk. It gives the whole area a desolate vibe even though there are still quite a few people in the area.
The best parts of the area are the older buildings that are still standing. Far too few and far between though.
Click to expand...

The Whole Foods is nice to have but sucks to get to. I was thinking about stopping in there midday today but it's set off of the street in a weird way, figured it wasn't worth my time to stop by. Or maybe I'm just lazy.
 
Re: Garden Garage Towers (New West End building)

BostonUrbEx said:
The Whole Foods is nice to have but sucks to get to. I was thinking about stopping in there midday today but it's set off of the street in a weird way, figured it wasn't worth my time to stop by. Or maybe I'm just lazy.
Click to expand...
Lazy. I forget what the commercial is for, but this reminds me of the one with people giving excuses for not going to the gym and one of them says "Wednesdays are weird".

I'd like to see Thoreau Path redeveloped into a street lined with buildings, but I suppose those tennis courts and parks around it are now sacred ground that cannot be touched.
 
Re: Garden Garage Towers (New West End building)

The city just finished a renovation of the walkway. Not into a "street" but significant changes, from what I read in the Boston Courant.

Of course, they don't have an online version, so it's as if it never happened.
 
Re: Garden Garage Towers (New West End building)

HenryAlan said:
SPID = SeaPort Innovation District

I can't recall who coined the term, but I believe it is primarily in use at ArchBoston and no place else.
Click to expand...

I used it in a post where the tem apperd about 5 or 6 times and I got timred of typing or even cuting and pasting and its appeared in a few posts by others

If you Google SPID South Boston Seaport you hit on the archBoston as one of the top URLs
 
Re: Garden Garage Towers (New West End building)

Bubbybu said:
the housing in the west end is the CRP zone, that huge lanscraper on Staniford street, the blackstone, church housing, and that last old west end building...so I dont think people wanting to or not wanting to live there is an issue as none of those places lack for willing tenants...there is just no much available land to develop outside of that garage space

the west end is a peaceful quiet place to live in the heart of boston...the only downside of course is the massive use of land in the CRP zone
Click to expand...

Buuby -- do you mean the Paul Rudolf Mass Mental Health Services building?

I've always thought that the location would be perfect for a major High or even Higher Tower complex with the functions relocated to near Dudley Sq.
 
Re: Garden Garage Towers (New West End building)

whighlander said:
Buuby -- do you mean the Paul Rudolf Mass Mental Health Services building?

I've always thought that the location would be perfect for a major High or even Higher Tower complex with the functions relocated to near Dudley Sq.
Click to expand...

I meant the building directly adjacent to the Longfellow Towers...the housing landscraper that was constructed by the Mass Archdiocese back in the late 90s. http://images.neighborcity.com/images/04/56/4e/bc.jpg

Though I agree the Rudolf/Lindeman/Services Building is huge waste of space
 
Re: Garden Garage Towers (New West End building)

BostonObserver said:
The proof of how badly the west end sucks is that no one is willing to live there.

I wish that someone from the west end was on the forum to give thier point of view.
Click to expand...

I lived in the West End from 2000 to 2006. Both in Whitter Place (near Science Park station) to Longfellow Place on Staniford Street. We left once we had our second child and there were no city schools we wanted them to attend, so we moved to the 'burbs. There are two groups in the West End - those that have lived there for years and want nothing to change, and those that have been there for a few years and would like a more lively area with more shops, services, etc.
 
Re: Garden Garage Towers (New West End building)

That's probably pretty true. Too bad we couldn't possibly know the numbers or ratio of the 2 groups.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top