The city that Tom built

Ron, let's add some color to that list: Beijing, Kyoto, Seoul, Buenos Aires, Rio, Dubai, Capetown . . . .
 
Point taken, except that Dubai doesn't belong on any such list.
 
^ I don't know about that! What's your definition of "world class"?

In terms of GDP, Boston is way ahead of all those cities you mentioned, except Chicago.
 
^Sorry. I don't know how that happened. I was responding to post #20.
 
I am so happy that Sunday's article is causing a stir.

Challengers denounce Menino?s grip on development

Promise hands-off approach on projects
By Michael Levenson and Donovan Slack

Globe Staff / August 25, 2009
All three mayoral challengers lashed out yesterday at Mayor Thomas M. Menino for wielding too much control over development in the city and pledged to take a hands-off approach that would let residents and urban planners play a greater role in guiding the shape of Boston.

?It should never be about one person and, unfortunately, in Boston, over the last 16 years, it has become about one person,?? City Councilor Michael F. Flaherty said.

?The job of the mayor is not to sit there and to micromanage the outcome,?? Councilor Sam Yoon said.

South End businessman Kevin McCrea was sharper, saying ?when one person controls every single thing in the city, the name of that is called a dictatorship.??

The challengers were responding in part to a report in Sunday?s Boston Globe that described how Menino has used his considerable power to shape nearly every facet of the built city, putting his stamp on home additions in the neighborhoods and skyscrapers downtown.

Menino?s power and passionate interest in development have led to some successes - a boom that created office towers, hotels, and condos, along with thousands of jobs and millions in new tax revenue. But his tight grip also led to criticism, that the city lacks a strong vision for its future and that developers who want city approvals must bow to Menino and shower him with campaign donations.

The mayor has said donations do not influence his decisions and he makes no apologies for his close grip on development. Voters, he has said, elected him to make decisions.

Yesterday, Menino?s spokeswoman, Dot Joyce, said the mayor prioritizes residents? concerns. ?He?s made it quite clear that community involvement is number one, and always has been, and buildings need to be in keeping with the neighborhood in which they reside,?? she said.

But all three challengers, who are scheduled to face Menino in the first of three debates tomorrow, have put together extensive plans to fix what they call a broken development process. All want to abolish the Boston Redevelopment Authority, a quasi-public planning and development agency, that they say follows the mayor?s orders instead of independently analyzing construction proposals.

McCrea said he would create a planning agency under the control of the City Council, which would have the power to approve projects.

?If Harvard says we want to build a six-story biolab in the heart of Allston, then that has to get approved, and Mark Ciommo has to vote on it,?? he said, referring to the city councilor from Allston and Brighton.

Flaherty said the current system allows the mayor to take credit when projects succeed but escape accountability by pointing to the semiautonomous BRA when things go wrong. He and Yoon said they would create a planning agency under the mayor?s control.

?The mayor?s role, as leader, should be to use the incredible power of that office, from a legal and statutory point of view, to ensure that the system is accountable and effective,?? Yoon said.

All three challengers also said Boston needs a set-in-stone citywide plan that lets developers and residents know what can be built, where. Under that system, developers could build within the guidelines without seeking the mayor?s approval.

?You shouldn?t need to show Tom Menino your front-door plans before you get a permit,?? McCrea said.

?As a city we need to let go of this old, completely outdated system that lets one person control all development, whether downtown or in the neighborhoods,?? Yoon said.

Flaherty said a citywide plan would ?restore predictability and accountability to planning and development.??

Menino has dismissed citywide zoning codes, saying he needs the flexibility and discretion to govern Boston?s diverse and changing neighborhoods. He defended the current system, saying in a statement yesterday: ?This model is more efficient, has been very successful, and provides greater benefits to taxpayers and businesses alike.??

There was no word yesterday on the results of a review of Menino?s campaign donations. Menino?s campaign treasurer, David Passafaro, had pledged to return $2,000 and review another $7,250 after the Globe reported Sunday that Menino took the money despite pledging to reject donations from developers while they had projects pending before the city. Passafaro did not return messages yesterday.

Michael Levenson can be reached at mlevenson@globe.com, Donovan Slack at dslack@globe.com.
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? Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
Click to expand...

link: http://www.boston.com/news/local/ma...s_fault_menino_on_boston_development_process/
 
Let's just make this easy. After the big 4, every city in the world is tied for 5th best in it's own rite. Fortunately we live in relatively close driving distance to NYC. Good enough for me.
 
Boston can be #1. It doesn't matter the size of a city. Boston has alot of good things going for it. It's History, Best Colleges, and the best Hospitals. Thats a great start.

Get rid of the politicians, slash city & state jobs and let private industry flourish we might end up making it on the list someday.
 
Menino can't be faulted for keeping Boston out of the top 5 cities in the world. That's rediculous. To oversimplify things a bit, it's when Boston has tried aping "world class" that we've lost some potentially wonderful neighborhoods. "World class" means an elevate expressway? Build it! "World class" means urban renewal? Tear em' down!

"World class" means as much open space as the sahara desert? Get that elevated freeway down and lay some grass!

Boston is - and should be considered as - something different. "Boston class." Something unique.

Menino would have been a true forward-thinking Mayor if he had recognized "Boston class" and advocated for a real, functioning neighborhood in the Seaport. Small footprints. Narrow(er) streets. Are blocky office buildings going to bring suburbanites back? No. Will real neighborhoods? Yes. Opportunity missed.

City rankings are stupidly competitive and ultimately irrelevant. Take pride in where you're from and look to improve it to best leverage the city's unique strengths. Moving up rankings doesn't necessarily help a city or its residents in any meaningful way.
 
The current zoning flexibility is the sort of reductio ad absurdam that one sees with flexible systems.

The original intent was not ignoble. Predicated on the idea of "the city as a people benefits machine", the current zoning philosophy formed in the 60's to promote linkage to better the lot of poorer citizens.

Master planned zoning equates with settled property rights; those who wish to build may do so as of right. A flexible, discretion based plan, i.e. one deeply reliant on special permits, gives more authority to the executive, especially in a government where the executive tightly controls the permit granting authority.

Master planned zoning means no linkage, since there is no reason for a party with settled rights to offer anything. Discretionary systems encourage "voluntary" linkage payments, since
without the blessing of the executive, a permit applicant has no expectation of approval. To the extent that the discretionary system relies upon variances (as opposed to special permits), it empowers neighborhood groups to exact payment. This is because the law of variances, when interpreted correctly, makes it difficult to justify a grant. The grant of a variance is eminently impeachable in court. Neighbors who have legal standing to appeal a grant of an expensive project can name their price.

Theoretically, the system is self regulating. In flush times, the profit motive allows for architectural improvement dictated by the executive, as well as economic concessions to neighborhoods. In poor times, since the chance of profit is gone, nothing is built, so nothing of low quality will be built.

It is this latter point that hints at one of the two major weaknesses in the theory. The interstitial period between the polar economic moments of boom and collapse is the most dangerous time. For example, in consideration of lower labor and material costs, and counting on a relaxation of capital restrictions, a developer can foresee a future profit. Deftly manipulating political pressure, in the form of electoral desire for construction jobs, the developer presents a plan of little architectural merit with no linkage. The executive acquieses to political pressure, approvals are rendered, and taken to the capital markets in time for the revival.

The system has similar flaws on the down side of the boom, viz. Filenes.

The other potential weakness is, of course, the executive's taste in architecture. The system has no actual or theoretical checks and balances here. And, I suspect that master planning is a Hobbesian effort to rectify any perceived deficiency in that regard. Gulliver and the Lilliputians?
 
I was at a neighborhood meeting in the Fenway a couple months ago and someone of some stature (can't remember who) said, "Zoning is a blueprint, nothing more. It's a great place to start." I was very surprised. I thought it was the "law". I mean that, sincerely.

Is it? Should it be?
 
Best post of the year so far. Thanks Toby.
 
Thanks, Stat.

Ah, Jimbo, you put your finger on it as always. Zoning is the law. The abstract question is: how much, if any, discretion does the law (zoning) delegate to permit granting bodies? If a zoning scheme is meticulously drawn out in exacting detail, with few special permit provisions, it is indeed a rigid guideline as to what may be built. Very little discretion there, and (theoretically) a builder knows where he stands right from the beginning. If the law (zoning) delegates discretionary authority to permit granting authorities, that delegation is also law. In that latter situation, one could somewhat imprecisely say "zoning is just the blueprint...a great place to start". The finished product will not be according to the initial "blueprint", as would be the case in the rigid zoning approach, but will be the result of the exercise of discretion by the special permit granting authority.

Zoning, rigid or flexible, is the law. It is a matter of how the law is carried out!

As a footnote, a poorly drafted zoning code can have the effect of creating discretion where none was intended, putting the final result into the hands of the executive and/or the judiciary.
 
Zoning is the presumption of the ignorant that they know what they are doing.
 
What I am SEEING hear is that Bostons peeples need the LINKAGES so I SHOW you what I am SAYING hear about this NEEDSYfolks:

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Dude, you used 'interstitial' in a sentence. I've seen that maybe once, somewhere in Ronald Dworkin...
 
"Interstitial" is a turtle neck wearing critic's favorite word to confuse 1st year design students.

Circa fall 198x

"blah Sert blah interstitial blah blah Hayes blah blah" -jackass critic

"interstitial?, word is unfamiliar please enlighten if you do not mind?" -Lurker

"A lengthy and snide lecture on my 'intelligence' and the decline in quality of design students from the 'golden' 1960" -jackass critic

"So as we arrive at the point, you mean space in between other spaces?" -Lurker

"How observant" -jackass critic

"Why not just state that?" -Lurker

"*Sigh* Your drawings are dirty, you should ink everything!" -jackass critic
 
Turtle necks? No such useless frippery for Toby! Yes,the turtle neck does soak up beer when it runs down one's chin. But I recommend a silk cravat, preferably spotted. You can unfasten and wring the drink out of it into your mouth without getting up off the ground. To quote the critics, form must follow function.
 
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