UMass Boston Residence Hall 1 | Columbia Point | Dorchester

FK4 said:
Schmessy- to be clear, I want more dorms for UMB. No question about that.

And - you can point to many neighborhoods that are “cleaned up” - doesn’t mean it’s better for everybody, it just means the yuppies driving thru can feel safer in their cars (yes, a bit of hyperbole, but still, just looking nicer and reducing crime doesn’t mean the whole city actually benefits).
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Wuuuut?

"..... just looking nicer and reducing crime doesn’t mean the whole city actually benefits."

:confused:

You're right FK4, not EVERYONE in the city benefits when Boston is beautified and crime is reduced. We really need to look out for the Harold Browns and Whitey Bulgers of society.
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Well, we can debate the finer points, if you want, but I think it’s obvious what I meant:
1) “clean up” has unintended consequences like gentrification and
2) making it so that the yuppie guy driving home to Brookline doesn’t have to feel scared doesn’t always translate to meaningful change on the ground.

Go on all you want about how much nicer northeastern “looks” - and I’ll agree, it looks great. They did an especially nice job with landscaping and plant lighting (in particular - I’m being serious, it’s my favorite aspect and an underrecognized gem) and it’s a delightful foot trip from one end to another on a warm night. The surrounding neighborhoods are all cleaned up. Restored buildings, now condo conversions and infill... Looks grrrrreat. But- what happened to all the people that used to live there?

But I know you were intentionally being hyperbolic... or maybe you thought I wasn’t being being the same... since surely you by rote don’t simply think that sweeping the streets of scum = meaningful change for all citizens? I’m well aware of the importance of not romanticizing poverty, crime, “good old days when it was hard but real”, etc, but let’s not act like Mission Hill and Fenway aren’t nearly totally wiped free of the denizens who once suffered the consequences of the same societal ills, the loss of which you are seemingly a little overly triumphant about?
 
FK4 said:
Well, we can debate the finer points, if you want, but I think it’s obvious what I meant:
1) “clean up” has unintended consequences like gentrification and
2) making it so that the yuppie guy driving home to Brookline doesn’t have to feel scared doesn’t always translate to meaningful change on the ground.

Go on all you want about how much nicer northeastern “looks” - and I’ll agree, it looks great. They did an especially nice job with landscaping and plant lighting (in particular - I’m being serious, it’s my favorite aspect and an underrecognized gem) and it’s a delightful foot trip from one end to another on a warm night. The surrounding neighborhoods are all cleaned up. Restored buildings, now condo conversions and infill... Looks grrrrreat. But- what happened to all the people that used to live there?

But I know you were intentionally being hyperbolic... or maybe you thought I wasn’t being being the same... since surely you by rote don’t simply think that sweeping the streets of scum = meaningful change for all citizens? I’m well aware of the importance of not romanticizing poverty, crime, “good old days when it was hard but real”, etc, but let’s not act like Mission Hill and Fenway aren’t nearly totally wiped free of the denizens who once suffered the consequences of the same societal ills, the loss of which you are seemingly a little overly triumphant about?
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".....I’m well aware of the importance of not romanticizing poverty, crime, “good old days when it was hard but real.......”

Great, so what's your argument?

In the meantime, the reality is this:

https://www.baystatebanner.com/2016/11/09/city-studies-changing-boston-demographics/

"......In terms of the city’s racial and ethnic makeup, proportions have changed dramatically over the past several decades. In 1970, the city was 80 percent white, about 16 percent black, less than 3 percent Latino and less than 2 percent Asian. By 2010, the city had flipped to solidly “majority-minority,” where whites had dropped to 47 percent of the population while blacks made up 22 percent, Latinos 17.5 percent and Asians 9 percent.

The BPDA data showed how racial and ethnic groups are concentrated geographically. The black/African American population in 1970 predominantly lived in Roxbury and in neighboring parts of Dorchester and Mattapan; in 2010 the black population was still concentrated, but had increased throughout Dorchester, Mattapan and Hyde Park. Latinos barely register on the map in 1970, but today are concentrated largely in East Boston and Jamaica Plain....."

The whole "endangered population" argument makes no sense, unless you believe LIMITING that population to the confines of just one or two neighborhoods was somehow "liberating" for them.

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I am going to go back to being happy that the public Uni kids have a housing option.

I just wish there were more public school options. In NYC, the CUNY system is really big and has a lot of great academic programs... plus a lot of it is now free for NYC lower and middle class residents.
 
Czervik.Construction said:
I am going to go back to being happy that the public Uni kids have a housing option.

I just wish there were more public school options. In NYC, the CUNY system is really big and has a lot of great academic programs... plus a lot of it is now free for NYC lower and middle class residents.
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It was once entirely free, they only started making people pay when they were desegregated.
 
coleslaw said:
It was once entirely free, they only started making people pay when they were desegregated.
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It looks like it was last free from 1970 to 76. Tuition was added as part of the budget crisis of the 70s.

When Tuition at CUNY Was Free, Sort Of – CUNY Newswire
http://www1.cuny.edu/mu/forum/2011/10/12/when-tuition-at-cuny-was-free-sort-of/

I guess I think of umass boston as being the city's CUNY. Obviously 1 campus instead of multiple like CUNY, but Boston is a far smaller city.
 
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It's cheap but it's a dorm so who cares. They did okay here; reminds me of the Fagus Werk by Gropius and Meyer.
 
Steve, this is a great set of photos! Now that BeeLine has stopped, maybe this can get the forum back on track
 
The photos remind me that I wish they would come up with a use for the old pump house. Really intriguing shell of a building!
 
When basically all of the old school is torn down and all of the new buildings are left this might actually be a pretty nice school. In the mean time its a pile of garbage and really bad right now with all of the utility construction going on, but its sloooowly getting better. Although a couple other times that it started to get a little better it got worse so well see. Some people are all pissy about the dorms affecting the "culture" or whatever of this school. What culture lol? The commuter school culture where its a bunch of zombies who get the hell in and get the hell out? Change it. That is nothing to hang on to. Yes the students generally work and go to school here thats cool but don't hang on to some fake pride about it being a commuter school. Having people actually live here will make this school suck less and thats a good thing and something to be happy about. Plus this will theoretically open up 1000 rooms in dorchester or the surrounding neighborhoods. Thats great news. That along with actually keeping some people on campus so its not so much of a commuter/zombie school/ghost town I think will give this school much more pride and generally be a better place to be. Right now it is the EPITOME of a commuter school. Which that is what this school is, but I don't see any negatives of also allowing people to live here along with helping out Dorchester. Huge win in my book.
 
stick n move said:
When basically all of the old school is torn down and all of the new buildings are left this might actually be a pretty nice school. In the mean time its a pile of garbage and really bad right now with all of the utility construction going on, but its sloooowly getting better. Although a couple other times that it started to get a little better it got worse so well see. Some people are all pissy about the dorms affecting the "culture" or whatever of this school. What culture lol? The commuter school culture where its a bunch of zombies who get the hell in and get the hell out? Change it. That is nothing to hang on to. Yes the students generally work and go to school here thats cool but don't hang on to some fake pride about it being a commuter school. Having people actually live here will make this school suck less and thats a good thing and something to be happy about. Plus this will theoretically open up 1000 rooms in dorchester or the surrounding neighborhoods. Thats great news. That along with actually keeping some people on campus so its not so much of a commuter/zombie school/ghost town I think will give this school much more pride and generally be a better place to be. Right now it is the EPITOME of a commuter school. Which that is what this school is, but I don't see any negatives of also allowing people to live here along with helping out Dorchester. Huge win in my book.
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Amen. Some patrons want to "keep 'em down on the farm". How about letting these kids soar? Ever thought about the reason why so many tech buildings now emphasize comingling and socializing - - to enhance the brainpower and learning of the inhabitants. THAT is why living at a university has so many long-term benefits for a student.

I fully understand why some at UMass Boston will always need to commute - - but why not give the UMass Boston student an option? Why force one's fond remembrances of commuting down their throat? Let 'em have the option.
 
Exactly. I go here and have met verrrry few people who actually have anyyyy pride in the school whatsoever. We all see it as just a means to an end. College should be more than that imo, and it was at my first school. I went straight from the Marines to this school a couple years ago and I don't want it to just be such a snooze fest here, doesn't have to be Umass Amherst, but damn is this place zombie land. Everyone lives allll over the place that goes here so even living in dorchester I only knew a couple people who went to school and lived near by. The dorms should open more rooms up in dorchester and also keep more students in the area so you can actually get some longer lasting friendships outside of school from going here vs just classroom acquaintances that you rarely see again. This place really robs a lot of the college experience I think. It is geared towards commuting I get that, but there can be both. I think it can have a healthy amount of commuters and students who live there. If they can pull this off I think eventually with more and more new buildings this could become one of their better Umass campuses vs the hot garbage it is now campus-wise and student interaction-wise. Also if they can develop the bayside expo center site this area will be much better for students. Maybe they could add some dorms down there as well. If there were these dorms up by the school, some more new ones built again soon, then the expo center developed and maybe dorms there too you would have a pretty built up peninsula that would be a great place for student life and the school would benefit a lot and be a much better place to go. It already has great transit, but thats literally all it has right now.
 
stick n move said:
Exactly. I go here and have met verrrry few people who actually have anyyyy pride in the school whatsoever. We all see it as just a means to an end. College should be more than that imo, and it was at my first school. I went straight from the Marines to this school a couple years ago and I don't want it to just be such a snooze fest here, doesn't have to be Umass Amherst, but damn is this place zombie land. Everyone lives allll over the place that goes here so even living in dorchester I only knew a couple people who went to school and lived near by. The dorms should open more rooms up in dorchester and also keep more students in the area so you can actually get some longer lasting friendships outside of school from going here vs just classroom acquaintances that you rarely see again. This place really robs a lot of the college experience I think. It is geared towards commuting I get that, but there can be both. I think it can have a healthy amount of commuters and students who live there. If they can pull this off I think eventually with more and more new buildings this could become one of their better Umass campuses vs the hot garbage it is now campus-wise and student interaction-wise. Also if they can develop the bayside expo center site this area will be much better for students. Maybe they could add some dorms down there as well. If there were these dorms up by the school, some more new ones built again soon, then the expo center developed and maybe dorms there too you would have a pretty built up peninsula that would be a great place for student life and the school would benefit a lot and be a much better place to go. It already has great transit, but thats literally all it has right now.
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In my area, if Virginia can do George Mason University and Maryland can do UMBC (both around 50-50 commuter-residence), then there is no reason why UMass Boston can't pull itself up to 50-50 commuter-residence and thrive.
 
I really do not like the aesthetics here, BUT this is strong design work and well done. I give it a big thumbs up. Good job design/construction/client team.

cca
 
This is similar to Northeastern's West Village.
 
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