Ugly Boston

Haha. Question for all you gangbangin forumers: do you rep NoBro or SoBro?

And no, I ain't talkin bout da Bronx.
 
Another building on Washington st in Dorchester,Used to be a nice looking building with some nice car details but then they painted it and has sat empty for years. building is much bigger than shown!
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The base of One Federal st
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Buildings faceing the Transportation Center loading dock in the back of building
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Not sure what this building on Washington st Dorchester is? It's been a mess for over 18 years that I driven by it!
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This next one is on Harrison ave So. End
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That last pic is a building that was auctioned 2 times in the last year or two, I think back to the same owners.

The previous proposal(about 2 years ago) was to restore the building to residential use, if they keep the retail they would move the entrance to Harrison Ave and put the garden back on East Springfield St. The hollow sidewalk on Harrison would be filled in and leveled. I'm not sure if there are any current plans. I'm going to the Harrison/Albany meeting tonight. I'll ask around. Joe V's restaurant had looked at this site recently.

Here's something I learned yesterday about Isaac Asimov

They moved to Boston in May 1949 to an apartment at 42 Worcester
Square, and quickly moved again in July to an apartment in the suburb
of Somerville. In May 1951 they moved to an apartment at 265 Lowell
Street, in Waltham, Mass. They moved two miles to the south to a house
at 45 Greenough Street in West Newton, Mass. in March 1956.
Click to expand...
That's a block from this bulding
 
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Funny how this thread is active tonight. I just came from a neighborhood meeting where the City of Boston's Inspectional Services Department discussed signage regulations.

From the Seville Theatre thread:

ablarc said:
Why do folks in East Boston do this to their storefronts?:

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No class at all.
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I think I offered a thoughtful reply to ablarc's question:

Beton Brut said:
A lot of this happened in the 70's; as the neighborhood went through a metamorphosis, the owners of the three-deckers (often the first floor unit had been converted to retail decades ago) added a "maintenance free" facade, often with smaller windows (to enhance security?). I does look cheap and totally without care for the streetscape. If aluminum siding and chain-link fences are residential blight, this look is certainly the retail district version. There's plenty of it in Dorchester, Roxbury , and parts of JP as well.
Click to expand...

The issue has stayed with me, and I really pressed the person from Inspectional Services. The ordinance says, the square footage of a business's signage cannot exceed 2-times of the street frontage (i.e. a 20' frontage is allowed a 40SF sign).

If a sign doesn't comply, the building owner, not the business owner, is ticketed and called into court. Anyone else think this is an obstacle to consistent enforcement?

I asked if there is any language in the signage ordinance that speaks to acceptable materials, quality of workmanship, colors, or any other constraints or guiding aesthetic principals. Is anyone surprised that the answer is no?

Ugly Boston, indeed...I'd rather throw my property-tax money in a hibachi than hand it over to these clowns.
 
Well, your alternative is a Meninobrand "Main Streets" program...they've got plenty of subsidized bronze and gold leaf to spare.
 
I believe the screen-grab ablarc posted is within the East Boston Main Streets program area.
 
I like this approach. Much more raw than the bucolic Pike.
 
Most everyone in Somerville, including the Mayor, would like to see the elevated section of this highway demolished. I hope that eventually happens rather than repairing it.
 
I agree that it's ugly but how would they handle the surface roads that run under it?
 
A big problem with eliminating the elevated highway through Somerville is that it is elevated in Charlestown and even if you depressed it in Somerville it would have to rise again toward the south end. Due to the many rail lines and bridges, it still seems that an elevated road is the best option.

Tearing it down would also be a bad idea since:

1) Rebuilding the road as an at-grade boulevard would cause too much of a bottleneck (even more than there is now) which would add even more pollution to the area.

and

2) There isn't sufficient public transportation options for the area to handle the loss of such a major artery. The Green Line extension will certainly help but central Medford and more northern towns will still be cut off.
 
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