Union Square Somerville Infill and Small Developments

[LtKije]

While I appreciate the public space, a building made of cinder blocks and exposed metal isn't the most inviting place I can think of.

As a neighbor who spends a lot of time here, I find it to be genuinely warm and inviting in all seasons. Most any materials, even cinder blocks, used in the right way, with the right form, are inviting. The form is good: enclosed, mix of greenery and hard scape, illuminated, some elevation changes, good visibility into store fronts. But I actually like the cinder blocks qua cinder blocks, they have some nice 3D texturing, and…there are no offset windows in colossal order! It’s an honest building and I like that.

 

[BronsonShore]

As a neighbor who spends a lot of time here, I find it to be genuinely warm and inviting in all seasons. Most any materials, even cinder blocks, used in the right way, with the right form, are inviting. The form is good: enclosed, mix of greenery and hard scape, illuminated, some elevation changes, good visibility into store fronts. But I actually like the cinder blocks qua cinder blocks, they have some nice 3D texturing, and…there are no offset windows in colossal order! It’s an honest building and I like that.

It's one of the best built spaces in Boston, and definitely the most underrated.

 

[#bancars]

It's one of the only areas where I think I can call this a true "winter illumination" - I used to be thrilled by the lights that the put up in Central Square in Cambridge, or the globes on trees around Union Square but, now, all those night time lights pale in comparison. We need more illuminations to get through the darkest of days.

Coming back from Tokyo last week really drove home how uninspiring and tame most holiday light displays in the Boston area are. They are few and far between here and usually just consist of simple static lights. In Tokyo it seemed every inner neighborhood had at least one massive showstopper light display / show, often with synced music, to say nothing of dozens of smaller light installations tucked away in quieter spots. It was so much fun and really livened up the city.

The illumination along the waterfront in Yokohama in particular was mindblowing--there were lights along at least a mile or two of waterfront, from the water all the way up to the roofs of nearby skyscrapers (as well as massive colored floodlights shooting up into the sky), that were all synced to a music program. Plus, many of the light displays were interactive--you could step on lights and they would change/evolve etc. E.g.

 

[shmessy]

Coming back from Tokyo last week really drove home how uninspiring and tame most holiday light displays in the Boston area are. They are few and far between here and usually just consist of simple static lights. In Tokyo it seemed every inner neighborhood had at least one massive showstopper light display / show, often with synced music, to say nothing of dozens of smaller light installations tucked away in quieter spots. It was so much fun and really livened up the city.

The illumination along the waterfront in Yokohama in particular was mindblowing--there were lights along at least a mile or two of waterfront, from the water all the way up to the roofs of nearby skyscrapers (as well as massive colored floodlights shooting up into the sky), that were all synced to a music program. Plus, many of the light displays were interactive--you could step on lights and they would change/evolve etc. E.g.

LOVE that vid - thank you! Yokohama looks like the South Boston Seaport on steroids.

 

[chrisbrat]

Coming back from Tokyo last week really drove home how uninspiring and tame most holiday light displays in the Boston area are. They are few and far between here and usually just consist of simple static lights. In Tokyo it seemed every inner neighborhood had at least one massive showstopper light display / show, often with synced music, to say nothing of dozens of smaller light installations tucked away in quieter spots. It was so much fun and really livened up the city.

The illumination along the waterfront in Yokohama in particular was mindblowing--there were lights along at least a mile or two of waterfront, from the water all the way up to the roofs of nearby skyscrapers (as well as massive colored floodlights shooting up into the sky), that were all synced to a music program. Plus, many of the light displays were interactive--you could step on lights and they would change/evolve etc. E.g.

That is beautiful (the video) and, in general, I agree that Boston -- overall -- needs to step up its nighttime illumination game.

The Common is very "classic" New England city winter, though, with the lights and tree. So much so that one recently conducted survey found Boston to be the most beautiful winter city in the world(!), over places such as Dublin, New York, Tokyo, Paris, Milan, etc. So... "less" can be more in some respects and Boston doing what it does is impressive in its own ways.

 

[393b40]

The Common is very "classic" New England city winter, though, with the lights and tree. So much so that one recently conducted survey found Boston to be the most beautiful winter city in the world(!), over places such as Dublin, New York, Tokyo, Paris, Milan, etc. So... "less" can be more in some respects and Boston doing what it does is impressive in its own ways.

Someone writes an article like this about every city every year... tourism boards love to get this stuff out there.

Nothing says beautiful Boston winters like dead trees and dog piss stained piles of snow. While you're enjoying that you can also enjoy the look of water stained concrete on some of are brutalist architectural monstrosities.

Late Spring/Summer/Early Fall are peak Boston weather months for beauty.

 

[shmessy]

Someone writes an article like this about every city every year... tourism boards love to get this stuff out there.

Nothing says beautiful Boston winters like dead trees and dog piss stained piles of snow. While you're enjoying that you can also enjoy the look of water stained concrete on some of are brutalist architectural monstrosities.

Late Spring/Summer/Early Fall are peak Boston weather months for beauty.

Dogs don’t piss on snow in other cities? I learn something new every day here!

.

 

[BronsonShore]

This could probably be it's own thread but, for a cold weather city, I actually think Boston sucks as a winter city. Cities in places like Germany, Canada, and Scandinavia do so much more to promote enjoyment of winter. I'm talking about things like man-made sledding hills with bars for the parents, public saunas, fire pits, and weeks-long winter carnivals. There have been som improvements in this area in recent years, but for the most part it just seems like Boston gives up for three months.

 

[bigpicture7]

This could probably be it's own thread but, for a cold weather city, I actually think Boston sucks as a winter city. Cities in places like Germany, Canada, and Scandinavia do so much more to promote enjoyment of winter. I'm talking about things like man-made sledding hills with bars for the parents, public saunas, fire pits, and weeks-long winter carnivals. There have been som improvements in this area in recent years, but for the most part it just seems like Boston gives up for three months.

I think it's, in part, a function of quantity of family residential in-city. Kids in particular need outdoor stuff to do. How many families with kids are in Boston's urban core(s)? In the cold-weather European cities I believe there are, relatively speaking, many more than here.
There are bright spots in/around Boston though. The recently-opened Toomey Park in Cambridge has a very well designed man-made sledding hill, and it's fairly packed (incl. with families) when there's snow. The sledding hills are a good litmus test, because tourists and suburbanites aren't going to schlep it to a random park in the city with snowsuits and sleds just to sled for an hour; the people that are there are locals.
All of this said, of course there is fun urban wintery stuff possible for tourists, adults, non-family residents, etc.; I am just hypothesizing why there is comparatively more overall outdoor urban winter activity in the international cities you mention.

 

[#bancars]

Dogs don’t piss on snow in other cities? I learn something new every day here!

.

Another observation in Tokyo--I saw dog walkers rinse off stuff their dogs peed on (e.g. bollards, fences, etc.) from water bottles they carried. Really wish that were the norm here...

 

[Plen-T-Pak]

Another observation in Tokyo--I saw dog walkers rinse off stuff their dogs peed on (e.g. bollards, fences, etc.) from water bottles they carried. Really wish that were the norm here...

That sounds more about the gesture than cleanliness.