Worst Proposed Development

[briv]

Please choose one. Polls close 11:59pm on Monday Feb. 25.

A list of all previous winners can be found here: http://www.archboston.org/awards/

In no particular order:

1. Forest Hills Village

2. D St Parking Garage

3. 45 Stuart Street

4. Fenway Center

5. South Coast Rail

6. No Award

 

[bigeman312]

1 - Housing near transit on empty lots.
3 - Housing downtown and near transit on parking lot.
4 - Housing near transit over an Interstate and on parking lots.

So, that leaves D St. Parking Garage, South Coast Rail and No Award. I think I'm going with 2, D St. Parking Garage.

 

[czsz]

Can we get images for these please?

 

[AmericanFolkLegend]

D Street garage kills me.

 

[BostonUrbEx]

I would so go for South Coast Rail, but that's been proposed for ages. Need to look at this year's awful developments, and it is hands down the D St project.

 

[datadyne007]

No award. Grasping at straws here.

 

[Brad Plaid]

Why is Fenway Center here? There may be a discouraging amount of parking proposed but overall this would be a great win. If this is actually built though in it's cheapy looking second iteration instead of the original beautiful design then I would vote this as Worst Value Engineered Satanic Abomination.

 

[Coyote137]

I'm curious what the problems are with the South Coast Rail proposal. I did a search for threads on it, but didn't find anything.

(I've been out in Portland, Oregon for a few years, so I've clearly missed a lot. I'll likely be moving back to Boston in the fall, however, to pursue a master's in urban planning.)

 

[Matthew]

It's a political football that gets tossed around for votes. Basically the cost is excessive at nearly $2 billion, the ridership projections stink, and the expected journey time is barely competitive with driving. Also it's been NIMBYed to hell by single tracking segments sure to keep service from ever being reasonably frequent.

In other words: it's state of the art American commuter rail.

 

[Justin7]

Write-in: Repairing the Bowker overpass.

 

[BostonUrbEx]

Whew! What a close one! Makes me feel like my vote was the deciding factor.

 

[czsz]

I can't believe an expansion of mass transit was almost voted "Worst Proposal" on this forum. I know some people think it's a misallocation of resources, but worse than a giant parking garage?

 

[BostonUrbEx]

I can't believe an expansion of mass transit was almost voted "Worst Proposal" on this forum. I know some people think it's a misallocation of resources, but worse than a giant parking garage?

The project is technically a hotel, I believe. But incredibly heavy on the parking component.

 

[HenryAlan]

I can't speak for how others made the decision, by I picked SC rail for three reasons.

1. I think it kills more viable transit projects
2. I don't think the other projects are as damaging outside of their specific location
3. Some of the other projects I actually like, or at least would have a meh type of a reaction

 

[HalcyonEra]

I can't speak for how others made the decision, by I picked SC rail for three reasons.

1. I think it kills more viable transit projects
2. I don't think the other projects are as damaging outside of their specific location
3. Some of the other projects I actually like, or at least would have a meh type of a reaction

I felt the same way and voted the same way

 

[davem]

Yeah, the idea behind SCR is great. The execution of that idea is a boondoggle. The other proposed projects, even the garage, can be fixed in the future. You can never get $2B in public money back, nor can you undo negative public perception of commuter rail being expensive, or undo every other project that needs_to_be_done being constantly thrown to the bottom of the pile because of SCR (see: red-blue connector, B-line improvements, blue to lynn, every other simple proposal out there).

 

[datadyne007]

I have a strong feeling there's more demand for South Coast Rail than what is being polled and projected. I'm originally from the Southcoast (Freetown near the NB line) and I really feel that the demand is there. Middleboro/Lakeville is too much of a hike for many in Freetown and New Bedford (I like public transit, so I drove over and parked), but many many people living there work in Boston (many are doctors and businessmen/women). I'm also not convinced that the Southcoast is a bedroom community for Providence instead of Boston, as it is commonly thought to be.

 

[Commuting Boston Student]

I have a strong feeling there's more demand for South Coast Rail than what is being polled and projected. I'm originally from the Southcoast (Freetown near the NB line) and I really feel that the demand is there. Middleboro/Lakeville is too much of a hike for many in Freetown and New Bedford (I like public transit, so I drove over and parked), but many many people living there work in Boston (many are doctors and businessmen/women). I'm also not convinced that the Southcoast is a bedroom community for Providence instead of Boston, as it is commonly thought to be.

There's absolutely a strong demand for fast, frequent, well-managed service between Boston and Fall River, Boston and New Bedford, and Providence and Fall River.

Unfortunately, none of those adjectives are appropriate for South Coast FAIL.

If there ever was a time and a place where the phrase "better to have nothing than to do something" was more appropriate than here, I don't know where it would be. This project literally has a cost-benefit ratio in the negatives at this point.

I'm shocked and disappointed that a parking garage of all things was voted worse. (By one vote!) We can always knock the garage down, we're never getting a second chance at "South Coast Rail" once we blow the first one.

 

[davem]

There's absolutely a strong demand for fast, frequent, well-managed service between Boston and Fall River, Boston and New Bedford, and Providence and Fall River.

Unfortunately, none of those adjectives are appropriate for South Coast FAIL.

If there ever was a time and a place where the phrase "better to have nothing than to do something" was more appropriate than here, I don't know where it would be. This project literally has a cost-benefit ratio in the negatives at this point.

I'm shocked and disappointed that a parking garage of all things was voted worse. (By one vote!) We can always knock the garage down, we're never getting a second chance at "South Coast Rail" once we blow the first one.

I went to post almost that same sentiment verbatim last night, but I crashed my computer and went to bed to pout instead.