The Problems With Building in Boston

[TheRifleman]

For the life of me, I can't understand how a sane person could look at the plans and say, "Nah, I like what we have much better." I'm not aware of a more unattractive, obtrusive structure in the city of Boston.

The developers should be thanked for their willingness to demolish such a disaster of a building.

It's called Jealous Politicians that feel they deserve a CUT of everything in the city. Do you really believe the Neighborhood groups have that much say. They can rant and rave but if the money is paid to the right people then development will be built.

Why do you think Boston has been suppressed in the last 16 years.
With all the MONEY from the COLLEGES & HOSPITALS. BOSTON should be #1 City in the world.

 

[TheRifleman]

Re: Gov't Center Garage Redevelopment

The city is practically bankrupt. Needs for more federal money which will come out of taxpayers pockets. Too bad the colleges who own most of the land in BOSTON don't pay Taxes.

The city of Boston has always been mismanaged but since the big dig bill, costs for everything have begun to just spin out of control. The realty is without MIT, Harvard BU, BC Ect. this city would be Detriot located on the Atlantic Ocean.

 

[Justin7]

Re: Gov't Center Garage Redevelopment

The city is practically bankrupt. Needs for more federal money which will come out of taxpayers pockets. Too bad the colleges who own most of the land in BOSTON don't pay Taxes.

The city of Boston has always been mismanaged but since the big dig bill, costs for everything have begun to just spin out of control. The realty is without MIT, Harvard BU, BC Ect. this city would be Detriot located on the Atlantic Ocean.

You've completely changed track and haven't answered my question.

Every city in the country is practically bankrupt. What planet are you living on?

You complain that the schools don't pay taxes, but claim the city would be Detroit without the schools. Ok.

Hell, and why not take away the Atlantic Ocean while you're at it? Then it could be Detroit in Michigan. Yes, if you took away the things that make Boston Boston, it would no longer be Boston. Insightful.

 

[TheRifleman]

Re: Gov't Center Garage Redevelopment

You've completely changed track and haven't answered my question.

Every city in the country is practically bankrupt. What planet are you living on?

You complain that the schools don't pay taxes, but claim the city would be Detroit without the schools. Ok.

Hell, and why not take away the Atlantic Ocean while you're at it? Then it could be Detroit in Michigan. Yes, if you took away the things that make Boston Boston, it would no longer be Boston. Insightful.

Colleges don't pay taxes but they do make the city a better place with all the property they own and maintain. With all the money Boston Generates it should be the best city in the world. What makes this city amazing is it leads the world as the capital of EDUCATION. Now take a look at our own PUBLIC schools. They are a disaster. Public School Teachers can't even feed themselves. Boston should be leading PUBLIC education in the country but our politicians seem to follow bettering themselves instead of bettering a community.

When the BIG DIG Budget first came out the city officials were talking 100million dollars. After the project was complete it cost 20 Billion with lawsuits,stolen materials and a dead pedestrian after our city officials lead the way. Do you know how much 20 BILLION DOLLARS was in the 80's? You must be living on a different planet to see that this city is TAXING EVERYBODY into the grave. That is why it is suppressed.
Everything that gets built looks like a BOX in this city. Our architectural roots cannot open their minds and look towards a better future. Instead Summer St. looks like WWII scene in Saving Private Ryan.
Take a walk downtown and everything is for LEASE. BOSTON had gone backwards.

The only areas that have made unbelievable strides were cambridge, somerville, Allston. The reasons the schools. MIT, Tufts, Harvard have made those areas priceless. But they have priced out the average joe and he continues to pick up their tab because the politicians don't know how to manage the cities coffers.

So the entire point to this ranting is cut the politicians out of the game and you will see your city flourish with private investments that want to make a better city.

 

[Ron Newman]

Re: Gov't Center Garage Redevelopment

I don't understand your proposal. Can you be more specific?

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

Re: Gov't Center Garage Redevelopment

So the entire point to this ranting is cut the politicians out of the game and you will see your city flourish with private investments that want to make a better city.

I agree with you up to a point. I think the best way for the city to flourish is for a checks-and-balances type system where the market, city, and citizens all watch each other. Letting the market run wild will only end up hurting in the end (which is exactly why we are in this economic mess). But we also need a political system that is more open and flexible while at the same time able to keep the market in line when things start to get crazy. Citizens also have a large stake in the city but one of the reasons I think NIMBYs have so much power is that they yell so loud that the politicians jump into line regardless of whether the NIMBYs are in the right. A more open process would calm the masses, though we also need a system that accounts for the loud minority.

 

[belmont square]

Re: Gov't Center Garage Redevelopment

What makes this city amazing is it leads the world as the capital of EDUCATION. Now take a look at our own PUBLIC schools. They are a disaster. Public School Teachers can't even feed themselves. Boston should be leading PUBLIC education in the country but our politicians seem to follow bettering themselves instead of bettering a community.

School performance is driven largely by the income and education level of students' families. If the current student body of Weston High School relocated to Dorchester High, and vice versa, their respective post-graduation fates would likely change very little.

In Boston, and in most other major cities, the vast majority of school age children come from low-income families. Those families of higher incomes in cities often choose to send their children to private schools or move to the suburbs b/c they either 1) do not want their children to go to schools populated primarily by low-income children or 2) do not want their children to be educated in schools that perform poorly (which is due in large part to point 1).

So, which big city school system with similar demographics would you say has schools that are not a disaster? And, why would the presence of elite universities, drawing faculty and students overwhelmingly from other nations, states, or municipalities than the city of Boston have more than a marginal impact on the performance of public schools in Boston?

 

[czsz]

- Boston has huge financial, health care, and technology sectors. It's hardly driven by academia alone.
- The Boston school system is really no worse than New York's, but it's a lot better than many others.
-Corrupt politicians have a lot of say over what gets built here, but they've also turned over the scraps of that decision-making process to ignorant, ad hoc groups of locals who strip down a lot of potential architectural innovation...or even sense

What was the point of this thread again?