Photo of the Day, Boston Style - Part Deux

[lexicon506]

We're more like those places than not.

I would have to disagree with you on that point...

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb150/lexicon506/boston_metroscenes32007_40.jpg

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb150/lexicon506/boston2.jpg
pip @ skyscraperpage.com

[nico]

The downtown part of Dallas is currently divided by an elevated highway just like we had in Boston and there are highways surrounding the city right up to the developed high-rise area. There are certainly more parking lots, but Dallas is developing like crazy and attracting more people to live downtown.
Dallas currently has more high-rise buildings than we have in Boston (I believe the counts are similar) but they?ll soon blow by us.
I?d say that the differences lie outside the cities where Texas is an endless indistinguishable set of highways spotted with the same fast food chains, and Massachusetts is a web of mangled streets.

[JoeGallows]

My, my! I wasn't commenting on the density of the city, trust me; I would never knock that. I simply chose that shot of mine simply because, within in the frame only, nothing is identifiably Boston (or much of anywhere for that matter). City Hall might give it away, but it's hardly visible. I was trying to play off of kz's desolate shot. :D

[kz1000ps]

^ No kidding, people have gone and got their panties in quite the twist..

[Ron Newman]

If you're talking about the photo of the tunnel ramp, Boston City Hall is visible in the picture. This instantly identifies its location.

[czsz]

Um, I doubt a random sample of even Bostonians would be able to identify City Hall the way it sits in that photo.

[JoeGallows]

Um, I doubt a random sample of even Bostonians would be able to identify City Hall the way it sits in that photo.

That's exactly what I was going for.

[JoeGallows]

And now, to amend any misgivings from my prior photo, here is a photo which proves beyond doubt Boston is unlike any of the aforementioned cities.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2313/2263566191_95f51b6bea_o.jpg

Link (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrlaskowski/2263566191/)

[Ron Newman]

From Kevin Lynch's The Image of the City, 1960:
Boston seems in some ways to be a "one-sided" city, which loses precision and content as one moves away from the Charles River edge.

[kz1000ps]

http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/7264/img4259we1.jpg

[castevens]

And now, to amend any misgivings from my prior photo, here is a photo which proves beyond doubt Boston is unlike any of the aforementioned cities.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2313/2263566191_95f51b6bea_o.jpg

Link (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrlaskowski/2263566191/)

What a wonderful picture of Dallas City Hall

[JoeGallows]

From Kevin Lynch's The Image of the City, 1960: Boston seems in some ways to be a "one-sided" city, which loses precision and content as one moves away from the Charles River edge.

Interesting find, Ron, especially since the passage is from 1960. I could see that being true in Back Bay, with the Prudential Center having just begun to stretch and cover over the rail yard, adding not so much precision but content anyway, especially in the form of the visual landmark that is the Prudential tower. What of the removal of Scollay Square? It was certainly not short on content, but fairly removed from the banks of the Charles. Perhaps its removal supports this statement? However, then came the clearance of the West End, being right on the banks of the Charles. Could this statement hold true today?

Unless, of course, this refers to the odd area that is Comm. Ave. west of Kenmore Square where one encounters residential high rises just around the corner from single family homes in Brookline.

Also, what of Cambridge, I wonder? To me, it seems the Cambridge side of the river (at least the basin, anyway) lacks both content and precision. It isn't until one is further inland that Cambridge truly becomes Cambridge.

Perhaps I'm babbling. :)

What a wonderful picture of Dallas City Hall

No no no. Don't you recognize Jefferson City, MO when you see it? :D

[czsz]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2313/2263566191_95f51b6bea_o.jpg

My, Annapolis has grown!

How about an unmistakably unique photo of Boston that's not of the Back Bay or Beacon Hill (or even the North and South End, for that matter)? These neighborhoods comprise maybe 3 square miles in total...I'm willing to bet that, in total, Boston has more square mileage of parking lot and highway than redbrick rowhouse.

[Suffolk 83]

^ anybody else sick of this guy's negative attitude towards everything?

[statler]

^^Nope.

[Ron Newman]

How about an unmistakably unique photo of Boston that's not of the Back Bay or Beacon Hill (or even the North and South End, for that matter)?

Perhaps the South Boston beachfront (Day Boulevard to Castle Island), or the Dorchester gas tank, or Jamaica Pond?

^ anybody else sick of this guy's negative attitude towards everything?


Hard to answer when I don't know which "this guy" you are referring to.

[lexicon506]

How about an unmistakably unique photo of Boston that's not of the Back Bay or Beacon Hill (or even the North and South End, for that matter)?

How about an unmistakably unique photo of New York that's not of Manhattan or Brooklyn (or even the bridges and islands, for that matter)?

C'mon czsz, you can't expect every square mile of a city to be unique. You're crossing off all the instantly unique neighborhoods of Boston and then complaining that the city isn't unique enough....a bit unfair, isn't it?

Did something happen recently that made you all of a sudden negative about Boston?

But to answer your question, I'm sure a photo from the harbor showing Logan Airport, the islands, and the skyline would be unique. Not to mention a photo showing the Citgo sign with Fenway Park in the background. And you can't deny the uniqueness of the rows of triple-deckers in Dorchester. Or how about a photo of a narrow street lined with gas lamps and wood-paneled houses leading up a steep hill to an imposing obelisk at the very top? Can you guess what neighborhood that is (hint: it's not the Back Bay, Beacon Hill, North End, or South End)?

[Ron Newman]

Yankee Stadium -- though it will be gone in another year.

I think any commercial block of Flushing or Jackson Heights would have an "only in New York" feel, just because of all the juxtaposed ethnic businesses.

[czsz]

The thing is - there's a lot more of Manhattan and Brooklyn (and they're a far greater percentage of New York) than there is of recognizeable Boston. Beyond that, much of the Bronx is also recognizeable as New York.

Look, I criticize because I want this city to be better. Selective photography and blind boosterism tends to miss the fact that when you look at this city from random angles, the results are not always picturesque. We need to root out every instance in which this city resembles anonymous corporate wastelands like Dallas and expose them to rigorous critique if we're really concerned about this city living up to its aesthetic promise.

[Ron Newman]

I'd say most of Boston looks more like Uphams Corner, or Roslindale Square, or JP's Centre Street, or East Broadway in Southie, than it does like either the familiar tourist postcards or Dallas's "anonymous corporate wastelands".

[czsz]

That doesn't necessarily contradict my assertions, Ron. But while you mention it, those places deserve to be criticized too. Namely - I know many people look at these neighborhoods as home and appreciate their village-like quality. But in a city that's become unattractive to new residents because of the absurdity of housing costs, and which has an exploding immigrant population, how much of the vast majority of urban Boston remain in the same quaint streetcar suburban mold as it was in 1930? These places don't go on the postcards for a reason - only people with local memories really care much about the 1-story taxpayer buildings and three deckers that surround them. This whole region should be aggressively commercialized and urbanized (with some exceptions for historic districts) in the same manner as the former streetcar suburbs of western Queens.

Hey, I'm much less harsh than Jane Jacobs. She dismissed all of Boston outside the North End as a "vast grey area".

[lexicon506]

Look, I criticize because I want this city to be better.

I agree that we must be able to criticize Boston if we want it to improve. But not recognizing that your city is one of the most unique in the country is, at least in my book, just as bad as failing to see its faults. Civic pride is absolutely esssential to a healthy city.

[GMACK24]

yeah Dallas looks just like Boston Especially at night

:rolleyes:

Boston @ Night
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=boston%20night&w=all
Dallas @ Night
http://www.flickr.com/search/?ss=2&w=all&q=dallas+night&m=text

[JoeGallows]

The interesting, visual mess that one is presented with walking down Corey Road which just about straddles the Allston-Brookline border:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2192/2266058750_034c90be7a_o.jpg

Link (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrlaskowski/2266058750/)

[Ron Newman]

Is that the MASCO power plant smokestack in the Longwood area?

[budman3]

I could not agree less that more often than not the city is covered in parking lots than urbanity. Southie, Dorchester, JP, Roxbury, Allston/Brighton, etc. are very urban and rarely deserve criticism in their layouts. Its pointless to go into all the reasons why touching most of the villagey area's you describe is a massive mistake, but COME ON. Downtown and the emerging seaport need work in some places, and new developments have been lackluster throughout the area, but most of your comments are just faulse.

[Beton Brut]

Is that the MASCO power plant smokestack in the Longwood area?

Nope. That's the Everett facility on the Mystic River.

[castevens]

I saw that movie

[czsz]

The reason I don't invoke civic pride around here is because it's given. I think we all know what makes Boston special/unique, for the most part. Feel free to celebrate, but I prefer to move on emphasize the city's potential rather than its extant achievements.

Speaking of moving on...Joe Gallows' shot is fascinating. I love the telephoto's mashing of the cityscape from Allston to Central Square to the Mystic River: a perspective we rarely see.

[KentXie]

Ok why are people argueing about unique Boston is. Boston is unique in its own way but it's obvious that Boston is a city, and like many other major city, it will have many things in common and it will be possible that a lot of the city will be indistinguishable from other cities.

[briv]

Here you go cz:

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y99/briv1/sb1.jphttp://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y99/briv1/sb1.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y99/briv1/sb2.jpg

I mostly agree with your assessment of outer Boston, but I wouldn't go so far as to dismiss the entire city beyond the Shawmut Peninsula.

[JoeGallows]

I love the telephoto's mashing of the cityscape from Allston to Central Square to the Mystic River: a perspective we rarely see.

If you liked that, I have one from the Corey Hill outlook that user underground mentioned in the BU tower thread. Admittedly, the shot itself is poor. It's hard to hand-hold a shot with a lens out to 420mm (2x more zoom than the last shot) on a cloudy day. Also, I almost completely blew the developing job on the film too, but here it is all the same.

The zoom has mashed the view so much, it makes the Harvard Business School look like its literally right around the corner from that tower on Kirkland Street across the river.

(best viewed larger... sorta)
http://fb.xenostarz.com/joestuff/corey-harvard.jpg

Business School: lower left, Memorial Hall: dead center, St. Paul's church tower, middle-far-right (very dark)

[nm88]

Maybe I'm missing the drift to this debate...but Briv's pictures, I liked them. That's Boston. (But so is the Back Bay.) Maybe I'm prejudiced...

[Suffolk 83]

that kid standing in the shadows with the hoodie... that's Boston... wait thats Southie

[BarbaricManchurian]

The reason I don't invoke civic pride around here is because it's given. I think we all know what makes Boston special/unique, for the most part. Feel free to celebrate, but I prefer to move on emphasize the city's potential rather than its extant achievements.

Speaking of moving on...Joe Gallows' shot is fascinating. I love the telephoto's mashing of the cityscape from Allston to Central Square to the Mystic River: a perspective we rarely see.

That doesn't mean complain and bitch about Boston endlessly. There are many reasons to be pessimistic about the future of Boston, but not the past development patterns. Boston is a very dense and diverse city with very few surface parking lots, even the outer neighborhoods are a mix of single family, 3-deckers, and brick row houses a la South End. I don't think you can distinguish outer San Francisco from Dorchester or Roxbury besides the brick, face it, American cities mostly developed the same, and to bitch about that is disingeneous. Boston is one of the most unique cities in the US and almost all of its neighborhoods are dense, unique communities. Boston is a huge mass of density that is very different then Dallas or Houston, ok maybe their skylines and highways look the same, but that's because they're in the SAME COUNTRY. All big american cities have expressways in their downtowns, and Boston handled it the best way they could with the Big Dig (besides the cost). Boston and Dallas are way different on street level, and that's what matters. Comparing Boston to NY, you can compare Brooklyn to JP, Staten Island to Hyde Park, Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx are unique though, but not in a good way IMO (except for Manhattan in parts). Just because the city's big, brick, and gritty, you assume NYC, even though if Boston developed just a little more, it would have looked just like that. Stop having this inferiority complex towards NYC, they're two different cities with one having 15x the other's population. They're not in the same league, and big usually = unique.

[czsz]

briv - nice shots. You're right, of course - I always forget East and South Boston (not to mention tiny Charlestown).

Apropos to Barbaric's comments - Southie is extraordinarily like San Francisco.

And I love how the McAllen (?) building looks like a snowcapped mountain looming in the background.

[blade_bltz]

Wow, Southie looks shockingly like San Francisco in those pics...well, the more photogenic parts of San Francisco. Reminds me of Noe Valley, e.g., without the hills. The outskirts of San Francisco, while structurally quite dense, are mostly lined with lame 2 story (1st story garage) stucco houses.

Anyway...it doesn't matter. Shouldn't Bostonians welcome comparisons to San Francisco? And we're talking about the much maligned Southie here, not Back Bay.

[ablarc]

The thing is - there's a lot more of Manhattan and Brooklyn (and they're a far greater percentage of New York) than there is of recognizeable Boston.
True enough.

Look, I criticize because I want this city to be better.
Fair enough.

You don't provide incentives to improve something with...

Selective photography and blind boosterism

I'd say most of Boston looks more like Uphams Corner, or Roslindale Square, or JP's Centre Street, or East Broadway in Southie, ...
...all of which could use a stiff dose of improvement.

[PaulC]

Wow, Southie looks shockingly like San Francisco in those pics...well, the more photogenic parts of San Francisco. Reminds me of Noe Valley, e.g., without the hills. The outskirts of San Francisco, while structurally quite dense, are mostly lined with lame 2 story (1st story garage) stucco houses.

Anyway...it doesn't matter. Shouldn't Bostonians welcome comparisons to San Francisco? And we're talking about the much maligned Southie here, not Back Bay.

Looking at old pictures of the buidings in South Boston there use to be a lot more trim and i would imagine a varied paint sheme.

[atlantaden]

Apropos to Barbaric's comments - Southie is extraordinarily like San Francisco.


Maybe the San Francisco I visited many times over the past many years is different from the one you guys have visited! LOL No way, no where, no how...have I ever thought of similarities between San Francisco and South Boston or even Boston never mind any of SF's neighborhoods and South Boston.

[unterbau]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2184/2269259418_cbac712055_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/unterbau/2269259418/)

[GMACK24]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2050/2270481616_45e70a6b8c.jpgWharf District Parks w/ Zakim

[GMACK24]

Long Wharf
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2352/2269697441_e3c78b9af4.jpg

[GMACK24]

oh and the link back to my FLICKR

sorry FLick'r. ha ha

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/

[GMACK24]

A view down Pearl Street
Verizon on the LEFT

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2089/2270569426_6fcc53603e.jpg

as viewed from 125 High Street Window.
Taken in 2004

[vanshnookenraggen]

What a terrible dead space right in downtown.

[Ron Newman]

True, but the financial district's telephone switching equipment had to go somewhere. Now that this equipment takes up a lot less space, perhaps that fa?ade can be modified to open up storefronts or offices to the street.

[GMACK24]

100 Federal Street @ Night

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2078/2279629842_10f24a304d.jpg

Link Back to FLICKR

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/2279629842/

[GMACK24]

South Boston From the 17th Floor

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2161/2278135198_fd1acd0d1f_b.jpg

Link to FLICKR

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/2278135198/

[GMACK24]

Moon Starburst above the Russia Wharf Project Boston

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2410/2278843039_e430069c3d.jpg

Link Back to FLICKR

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/2278843039

[kz1000ps]

Welcome to Kendall Square!

http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/9840/img0661of7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[kz1000ps]

And welcome to Main Street, MIT!

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/4492/img0672gx1.jpg

[Ron Newman]

Things you wouldn't know unless you watched the construction: the office building in the center of the Kendall Square photo was built above and around an MBTA power substation.

[unterbau]

What do people think of those bike/pedestrian sidewalks they put up by the Stata center? I've only been on them when they're pretty empty, but do they work well during busy hours?

[cden4]

Those are technically called "cycle tracks", and are very similar to what is found in Europe for bicycle accommodation along roadways. Based on what I've heard, some people around here like them, others don't. There are a few problems with the way they were designed and built, mainly that unlike most of their European counterparts, the cycle tracks were built at the same grade as the sidewalk, which results in pedestrians wandering into them. The idea is that the pedestrians walk on the sidewalk part and the bicyclists use the cycle track part. Also, there have been some issues with snow plowing where the cycle tracks have been inaccessible to bicyclists.

Personally, I don't love them, and I don't hate them. I am just as comfortable riding in the road, but I don't think I'm necessarily the intended audience.

[czsz]

They have them in Berlin - they even have a traffic light system independent of pedestrian walk signals or auto traffic lights. If pedestrians wander on them, cyclists see it as a matter of right to yell and/or clip them as they stream by - which is something of an issue, since a neophyte doesn't necessarily understand at first glance what the big purple stripe on the sidewalk is for.

[kz1000ps]

For what it's worth, I rode in the streetbed when I made my way down Vassar. To me I'd just assume keep riding where I was -- in the road -- and especially so when I don't perceive the street to be particularly hazardous.

[jass]

The tragedy is that the all new commonwealth avenue by BU.....will have a line designating a bike lane in the street, not a separated ROW as is standard these days

[cden4]

They have them in Berlin - they even have a traffic light system independent of pedestrian walk signals or auto traffic lights.

Part of the challenge is that they are so new to the Boston area that they end up confusing people more than anything. It's a chicken and egg problem. If Boston had a whole network of cycle tracks with separate signals where appropriate, I think they would work well. However, just having one or two throws people for a loop. They don't quite know what to expect.

Given how much work it takes just to get simple on-road bike lanes in many places, though, I think pushing for a cycle track network is an even harder task, especially since basically none of the US design manuals say anything about them.

[kz1000ps]

http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/2048/img1723bg6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[briv]

kz, nice photo of the Backbay bleakscape.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y99/briv1/zakim3.jpg

[vanshnookenraggen]

Great lines the both of you.

[kz1000ps]

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/8846/img1753ff4.jpg

[czsz]

^ Way to make a typically dull perspective lively. Very nice echoing of the curves.

[kz1000ps]

http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/6593/img1805hx5.jpg

[Corey]

They sure don't build them like that anaymore.

[Ronwell Pudding]

Similar shot different angle.

http://i.pbase.com/g6/54/123454/2/73666276.5K7s3yMC.jpg

[itchy]

They sure don't build them like that anaymore.

No, they just take 'em down like that!

Haha... ohhh, wait, it hurts.

[JoeGallows]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3100/2304687015_bf221f3d92_o.jpg

Link (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrlaskowski/2304687015/)

[TheBostonBoy]

^Look's pretty creepy haha.

[Charlie_mta]

LOL. Looks like the headquarters for the Third Reich.

[kz1000ps]

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/6172/img1914xg5.jpg

[jass]

1) Not a good picture, but something you rarely see

Whats coming?
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y17/jamesinclair/IMG_2713.jpg
A train!
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y17/jamesinclair/IMG_2715.jpg

2) Why are the top windows empty?
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y17/jamesinclair/IMG_2727.jpg

[Waldorf]

The Pru is bathed in blue at the top tonight - did anyone see it or take pics? Looks really cool, but it scared me when I first saw it.

[jass]

The Pru is bathed in blue at the top tonight - did anyone see it or take pics? Looks really cool, but it scared me when I first saw it.

They had it in blue for an hour yesterday too.

Dont know why. When they did it last month it was for diabetes day.

[pelhamhall]

The USS Constitution and the Leonard P. Nemoy Zakim Freedom Bunker Hill Charlestown Liberty Bridge are also bathed in special blue lights tonight... not sure why. The Pru lights look kind of erie, like a spaceship landed on the roof.

[czsz]

Leonard P. Nemoy Zakim Freedom Bunker Hill Charlestown Liberty Bridge

Hahaha. Telling the story of that bridge never gets old with visitors.

[AC]

Navy Blue for an organization of mothers who have children in the Navy. Just caught the tail end of the segment on the news and apparently Fenway was lit up too.

[GMACK24]

will it be re-lit tonight ?
I didn't have my camera last night. I was wondering what was going on.
It looked Bad Ass

[jass]

will it be re-lit tonight ?
I didn't have my camera last night. I was wondering what was going on.
It looked Bad Ass

Its blue again.

I wonder what other colors they can do

[GMACK24]

oh sweet but of course its raining out : (

[Roxxma]

Its blue again.

I wonder what other colors they can do

I know they can do white. About 9PM on Monday I was walking across Christian Science Plaza on my way into the Pru and was looking up at it as the lights went off, then on again. About a minute later they went off then back on in white about 30 seconds later, which quickly turned blue.

[GMACK24]

took these two last night.
The Tobin and the Zakim.

Zakim is up first.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2316/2313144527_e9759ee56b.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/2313144527/

Tobin Second

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2154/2313152827_217333f52b.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/2313152827/in/photostream/

[rayray07]

Yea I've been wondering why the Pru has been lit up blue for the past couple of nights. Fenway Park was also lit up blue but I didn't ever stop and think that the blue lights at Fenway and the Pru were connected in any way

[statler]

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x176/bstnstatler/Filenes014-1.jpg

I want to know why my photos from my 7MP Cannon Elph look like they were shot on a camera phone. :(

[JoeGallows]

^^ Has a very surreal quality to it. I agree it is strange, though.

[Waldorf]

I want to know why my photos from my 7MP Cannon Elph look like they were shot on a camera phone. :(

It's the lighting and the fact that the focus is on the trees, so the buildings come out slightly blurry (or 'surreal'). Play around with it man.

[bostoncitywalk]

I took this the other night and was thinking how (hopefully) this view won't exist in a few years. Still pretty neat:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3023/2313899040_38a0d4358c_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bostoncitywalk/2313899040/)

[Lrfox]

I took this the other night and was thinking how (hopefully) this view won't exist in a few years.

Columbus Center will be a slight improvement over the chainlink fence and the Mass Pike, that's for sure.

I really like the blue lighting, if they keep it like this, it could end up being my favorite night lighting in the city (right now, it's One Lincoln).

Sort of an unrelated note, but thinking of air rights made me remember that the park/plaza that is over the SE expressway in Milton seemed to be leaking pretty steadily today and I wasn't sure what the problem was, if anyone else noticed it, or if it's even a problem.

[czsz]

Don't forget the green zigzag neon of the Hyatt Cambridge, the unsung hero of the night.

[Ron Newman]

I do not see the Hyatt in that photo anywhere. Where is it?

[czsz]

It's not in the photo, Ron.

[GMACK24]

Red Cap - Hood Milk Bottle Has Lights Now : )
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3284/2332450964_d29f935d0c.jpg
\Looks like the folks at Au Bon Pain have decided to add a little "spark" to our old friend the Hood Milk Bottle.

Located at the Boston Children's Museum.

Boston, MA USA

link to FLICKR

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/2332450964/

[pelhamhall]

City Square Development, Charlestown MA. March 14, 2008

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q118/m617boston/IMG_0120.jpg

[Ron Newman]

Has the pedestrian underpass on this side, below the Charlestown bridge, opened yet?

[pelhamhall]

Yep! I just walked it at lunch. The Lovejoy Wharf area (Boston side) looks complete too, but there is some temporary barrier and lots of "No Trespassing" signs.

[Ron Newman]

Last time I tried to walk on the Lovejoy Wharf side, I could easily swing around the fence, but once I did that, I reached a gap in the walkway where it hadn't been finished.

[czsz]

^ If I didn't see the monument in the background I may have mistaken that for Quincy.

[pelhamhall]

A company I worked for a decade ago was involved with this development. Basically, this is exactly what the neighborhood wanted. There were a number of proposals, and this was the one that pandered exactly to what the neighborhoods wanted. The result is an attractive, but banal development. Sadly, the result is also a commercial failure. The building next to Olive's has been largely vacant since it opened. Citibank got a cut-rate lease through Meredith & Grew for reasons outside of typical market dynamics and just opened a MASSIVE branch occupying a large space - now dead. The other side of the street has seen two restaurant failures (no parking, hello?) and office vacancy. The park in the middle of it all is absolutely beautiful - and usually empty. Overall, is the project a success or a failure? I guess it depends on whom you ask.

[GMACK24]

^ If I didn't see the monument in the background I may have mistaken that for Quincy.

yeah does look like Marina Bay : )

meh kinda sorta

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2046/1587866450_0abf3f519c.jpg

[Beton Brut]

The park in the middle of it all is absolutely beautiful - and usually empty. Overall, is the project a success or a failure? I guess it depends on whom you ask.

Unpeopled spaces are cheaper to keep clean.

Perhaps this was part of the project's value-engineering.

[czsz]

Unpeopled spaces are cheaper to keep clean.

Boston's next urban planning model?

http://www.floridastateparks.org/paynesprairie/images/PAP-PrairieView-park.jpg

Wait, no, that's the current model.

[AdamBC]

I love the different architectural styles present on every street in Boston.


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2043/2336657314_ee96b7bcf5_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24786860@N08/2336657314/sizes/o/)

Pedestrian traffic in Downtown Crossing.


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3226/2336660460_90a26c60c5_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24786860@N08/2336660460/sizes/o/)

[kz1000ps]

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/2294/img1747wx4.jpg

[itchy]

^^ But aren't those scenes all full of buildings that were "out of place" or "inappropriate for their surroundings" at one time or other?

I trust that the leaders of our city know best, and they seem to think that that's a bad thing... Is Boston's history (gasp) one of buildings that are "out of context" or "too tall" adding dynamism to city blocks?

**Head explodes**

[underground]

^ If I didn't see the monument in the background I may have mistaken that for Quincy.

In all honesty, it's a hell of a lot better than it used to be. And it'll, hopefully, get even better when they get a move on the Austin St. re-development.

[endus]

Parcel N
http://www.desolatemetropolis.com/dm/archives/NCS_0031.jpg

[Scott]

Why do people keep poking fun at Quincy? It is actually an interesting place and if it keeps growing it should hit 100,000 people fairly soon.

Marina Bay is not a perfect development but there are lessons to be taken from it for this development in Charlestown and also the future one at Columbia Point. Heck, I'd like to see Corita's gas tower removed and Commercial Point redeveloped in a similar manner.

[Suffolk 83]

Isn't Quincy already over 100k? Personally, I'm a fan of Quincy.

People make fun of Quincy because its the cool thing to do. Just shit on everything and your cool. Thats some people's motto around here. It makes you look smart you should probably do it more often.

[statler]

Just shit on everything and your cool. Thats some people's motto around here. It makes you look smart you should probably do it more often.

Loser.


That was joke.

[briv]

I like Quincy. I always thought of it as the equivalent of Cambridge, minus Harvard and MIT, and all the things those two universities bring--sorta like a Cambridge without the money and the pretentiousness. Something it has that Cambridge doesn't, though, is that huge stretch of ocean shoreline.

I'd love to see Quincy urbanize a bit more around Hancock Street, and it appears there is a shift toward that direction. Quincy Center is beginning to build-up quite a bit.

[aquaman]

I like Quincy. I always thought of it as the equivalent of Cambridge, minus Harvard and MIT, and all the things those two universities bring--sorta like a Cambridge without the money and the pretentiousness.

Somerville, in other words. Not knocking either, I've lived in them both.

But I agree that Quincy ought to have more urban amenities and more dense development, perticularly around each of its multiple red line stops.

[endus]

Structure
http://www.desolatemetropolis.com/dm/archives/NCS_0032.jpg

[GMACK24]

Milk Street taken in 2002

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2273/2347979266_bf38f11ccc_o.jpg

[GMACK24]

They Skyline taken this past summer

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2361/2347956690_2db3e1204d_b.jpg

[czsz]

Copyright 1992, all rights reserved.

[GMACK24]

Copyright 1992, all rights reserved.

um
no not 1992
not that long ago... ha ha

I was a sophomore in High School then.

Didn't even own a camera I don't think . . .

: )

[kz1000ps]

He's referring to the fact that no change has happened to that view since 1992.

Actually, there is a little bit of change: Independence Wharf and the Moakley.

[czsz]

Barely perceptible.

[ckb]

I usually hate "that's awesome" posts, but I have to say that Endus's photographs are beautiful. Nice work!

[endus]

Thanks ckb!

Use Next Door (all these from parcel N)
http://www.desolatemetropolis.com/dm/archives/NCS_0110.jpg

[statler]

Can I just write a script for vBulletin that posts "That's stunning" after every endus post?
It would say a lot of wear and tear on my keyboard. :)

[GMACK24]

He's referring to the fact that no change has happened to that view since 1992.

Actually, there is a little bit of change: Independence Wharf and the Moakley.

AH ! !

Roger. I gotcha.. yeah not much has changed on the skyline I hear ya.

Sorry I missed the reference. Sorta new here. ;- )

[GMACK24]

Thanks ckb!

Use Next Door (all these from parcel N)
http://www.desolatemetropolis.com/dm/archives/NCS_0110.jpg

- Awesome.
I see you do some "Urban Exploration"

Great photos ! ! !

[endus]

Braced (all these color shots are Fuji Reala)
http://www.desolatemetropolis.com/dm/archives/NCS_0112.jpg

[castevens]

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i52/castevens12/DSC_4552.jpg

[castevens]

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i52/castevens12/DSC_4541_2_3_tonemapped.jpg

[atlantaden]

Very, very nice!!!

[Lrfox]

Thanks, endus and catstevens. I love the way 1 Lincoln looks at night. It's just a pretty building and the lighting does a great job of showing it.

[castevens]

This one taken about 40 minutes later might show the lighting on 1 Lincoln a little better:

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i52/castevens12/DSC_4598_599_600_tonemapped.jpg

[GMACK24]

wicked wicked good job ! ! ! !

: )

[Lrfox]

beautiful. Thank you.

[GMACK24]

The Zakim @ Night.
Took this one on Friday Night.
Looks like the Blue lights are really non-existant..........

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3295/2354649886_b26b51428b.jpg

Best viewed LARGE

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/2354649886/sizes/l/

[tobyjug]

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm278/tobydog_photos/Copy2ofL1060231.jpg

This faded photo shows the Charlestown Navy Yard on March 19, 1920. In the foreground is the destroyer U.S.S. Preble, which was commissioned that day. Behind her is the U.S.S. Constitution. In the background, you can see the cage masts and three funnel arrangements of pre-dreadnought battleships of the Virginia or Connecticut class.

In those days, the Yard was a busy and interesting place, and Boston had militarily significance. For example, pre-WW1, Germany had colonial aspirations in the Caribbean and South America. A significant piece of the Kaiser's war plan involved detaching part of the German fleet to shell Boston and New York, while the army occupied Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Panama Canal Zone. He counted on "shock and awe" to knock a panicked America out of the war. Boston would have played the role that Pearl Harbor played three or four decades later.

Anyway, the photo gives an idea of what we would have fought with.

Toby

[endus]

View of the Hub
http://www.desolatemetropolis.com/dm/archives/NCS_0126.jpg

[Ron Newman]

Is this from somewhere in the Boston Marine Industrial Park? Must be a Sunday, with that huge parking lot empty.

[GMACK24]

View of the Hub
http://www.desolatemetropolis.com/dm/archives/NCS_0126.jpg

Another GREAT photo.

Amazing what a waste all of that is over there. . . .

Some day it will be all torn down and rebuilt....

some day . . .

[AC]

It's the MMT Soil Facility and with the exception of a few occasional piles of dirt and a lone security guard, it's always this huge waste of space.

M1
http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/7015/sb011et6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Ron Newman]

What is "MMT" and what is a "soil facility"? Does anyone ever park in that parking lot?

[endus]

AC - You don't happen to have any history on Parcel N do you? I have been curious about what was there.

Cannibalization Parts
http://www.desolatemetropolis.com/dm/archives/NCS_0128.jpg

[AC]

What is "MMT" and what is a "soil facility"? Does anyone ever park in that parking lot?
Massport Marine Terminal, fancy way of saying "this is where we're putting the dirt from the Big Dig for a while" and no.

It apparently used to be a Navy Yard.
AC - You don't happen to have any history on Parcel N do you? I have been curious about what was there.
I don't, but I'll ask around. I love that building.

[itchy]

http://www.desolatemetropolis.com/dm/archives/NCS_0128.jpg

Notice the brand name on that steel? Carnegie, baby. And now his mansion hosts the Smithsonian's design museum, Cooper-Hewitt, open to all of us for the traipsing and the wishing that Boston could get off its kiester and build a design museum.

[AC]

endus, last known occupant was Boston Sand and Gravel. The old man I talked to (my own) said he thinks it was originally build as a military related factory, which would make sense considering when it was built (WWII) and the fact that the Navy owned the land until the 1970s, but that's not confirmed.

And the lot across the street is going to become another cargo terminal. (damnit, there goes my dreams of an indoor water park)

[Ron Newman]

Boston Marine Industrial Park was formerly an Army base, not Navy.

[tobyjug]

Correct. However, as the size of capital ships outgrew the capacity in Charlestown, the Navy made extensive use of the facility. An anchor from a warship (U.S.S Kearsage?) used to sit by the guard post.

There have been a variety of efforts to maintain a nautical use for the property. About 16 years ago, I represented one of the principals in the National Transportation Safety Board investigation of the grounding of the Queen Elizabeth 2 off Cape Cod. She was heavily damaged (for comparison, many multiples of the damage that sank the RMS Titanic). The QE 2 was brought into the park drydock for repairs.

It was a bit of an embarassment. The granite dry dock is gigantic, a real work of art, perhaps 150 years old. But it was neglected. There were small trees growing out of the basin and stonework that had to be cleared. I vividly recall having to walk down 7 stories of wet, worn granite steps, reaching for an iron railing that had rusted away 40 years earlier.

As you would expect, there were safety precautions. All 70,000 tons and 963 feet of QE 2 were put up on old blocks, so as we headed down to the basin to inspect her bottom, we were given hard hats to protect us should the ship fall on us. It was amazing to stand under the bow, touch the keel 2 feet above your head, and look back toward the screws at the other end of this thousand foot long ceiling. The bottom of the dock was slightly awash, populated with dead fish wearing quizzical looks.

The guys at the yard really hustled, because they wanted to bid on the repairs. The work would have been the making of the yard. But the facilities let them down. I believe Bremerhaven got the work, $50 to $100 million in repairs. (Cunard has always been very coy about what was really done. Having seen the damage with my own eyes, and having done so in the company of a marine surveyor, it was clear the ship would have sunk if it were further from a port.) The Boston boys did a nice patch job, the QE 2 was withdrawn for service, and set sail for a lenthy layover in Germany.

Sorry to ramble on, but I guess my point was that this was the sort of use the city and state hoped to encourage. Perhaps that is why it has not yet been turned into a yacht basin.

Toby

[BostonObserver]

i've always heard from people in the merchat marines that because the longshoremen in boston are so bad, a ship would have to be on the verge of sinking to come to boston. if they can get to another port they will

[Beton Brut]

Toby -- Do you have any pix from your visit to ailing Queen, or did you have to sign some sort of lengthly non-disclosure agreement?

[tobyjug]

B.B.,
That's a tricky one. I do.
Funny, at the time a reporter from one of the London tabloids ("The Sun", I think) outside the gate, seeing a dilapidated Leica III(f) swinging from my neck, shouts:
"Hay mate! I'll give ya a thousand quid for wot's in there!"
I was getting leaned on for some jewelry and a trip to the Bahamas at the time, and could have used a little graft.
Probably could have got double or triple from the "Mirror" or "Mail" too.
But no, still have'em, can't post'em. Power of a paper conscience!
Toby

[Beton Brut]

Figured as much. The parenthetical sentence in your post above make me awful curious.

I was on the QE2 as a child, when it was docked here in the early 70's; my dad was a trooper and patrolled that pier and arranged a walk-through. I may never have the cash for a proper Atlantic crossing on her or her newer sisters. No Concorde rides for me either.

[tobyjug]

Me neither. Went on the old S.S. France after NCL renamed her the S.S. Norway, and cruised the Caribbean in steerage class. At least it was a small taste.

[endus]

endus, last known occupant was Boston Sand and Gravel. The old man I talked to (my own) said he thinks it was originally build as a military related factory, which would make sense considering when it was built (WWII) and the fact that the Navy owned the land until the 1970s, but that's not confirmed.


Thanks! I have been really curious. :)

[endus]

Sorry to ramble on, but I guess my point was that this was the sort of use the city and state hoped to encourage. Perhaps that is why it has not yet been turned into a yacht basin.

Absolutely fascinating story...I would have killed to photograph that...

[endus]

Office to the Factory Floor - This place feels solid enough but the floors at the very top above the main, concrete, top floor part are wood and pretty sketchy. There was one hole in particular that I stayed far away from.

http://www.desolatemetropolis.com/dm/archives/NCS_0124.jpg

[TheBostonBoy]

^Man that is creepy, you are a very brave photographer endus! lol
great pictures though!

[Lrfox]

Because We're in a little lull and it's baseball season again......

http://img31.picoodle.com/img/img31/4/4/3/f_BOSTON5927m_0d78c7e.jpg (http://www.picoodle.com/view.php?img=/4/4/3/f_BOSTON5927m_0d78c7e.jpg&srv=img31)

found this here: http://www.freakingnews.com/BOSTON-Pics-7823.asp

[vanshnookenraggen]

That seems the appropriate thing to do with Everett and Revere.

[pelhamhall]

I'm hoping for some more activity on this thread once the weather turns nicer. This is one of my favorite parts of this forum. I for one will be toting my digital camera around a lot this spring - but warning, I'm amateur at best.

[blade_bltz]

Dubai aint got nothin on Red Sox Nation.

[endus]

This one is kinda old. From the Charlestown Navy Yard...

Monument
http://www.desolatemetropolis.com/dm/archives/IMG_2149.jpg

[statler]

Hmm....

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/809/1094232157.jpg

[kz1000ps]

Beautiful picture Endus, and hilarious analogy, Statler!

[GMACK24]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2049/2365644899_e3b20886de_b.jpg

Taken from the Courthouse

[Lrfox]

Have we seen this one before? Not that I mind seeing it again at all, it's a fantastic shot. But I thought this one was posted somewhere else.

[unterbau]

International Place looks so great at night when you don't notice those awful palladian windows...

[GMACK24]

Have we seen this one before? Not that I mind seeing it again at all, it's a fantastic shot. But I thought this one was posted somewhere else.

Nope

Taken on March 25, 2008

Havent posted it here.

You might have viewed it on my Flickr photostream not sure.....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24

[Lrfox]

You're right. I found this one on the internet (maybe flickr) I don't know the photographer but it's now in my screen saver photo folder. Slightly different angle, but you can see how I confused the two at first glance:

http://img37.picoodle.com/img/img37/4/4/11/f_BostonHarbom_aa3b975.jpg (http://www.picoodle.com/view.php?img=/4/4/11/f_BostonHarbom_aa3b975.jpg&srv=img37)

[jass]

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y17/jamesinclair/IMG_3434.jpg

[kmp1284]

Any idea how much longer the Stad is in Boston? My father raced across the Atlantic aboard that in the 2005 Rolex TransAtlantic as a member of the Storm Trysail Club charter group. I would love to get over and see it again before she leaves.

[jass]

Any idea how much longer the Stad is in Boston? My father raced across the Atlantic aboard that in the 2005 Rolex TransAtlantic as a member of the Storm Trysail Club charter group. I would love to get over and see it again before she leaves.

15th

[tobyjug]

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm278/tobydog_photos/ksg8.jpg

Near the gate of the Annex, circa 1960.

[kz1000ps]

Guess the Building:

(please don't respond if you instantly recognize it)

http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/5555/img3729gz6.jpg

[AdamBC]

Took a walk today (and some pictures) in the Leather District.

There is a power plant across the street from an old school diner.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2203/2429422606_c284a27364.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24786860@N08/2429422606/)


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3043/2429422610_0e7bbc7405.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24786860@N08/2429422610/)


And some interesting views.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2177/2429422602_bff7f4a5f8.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24786860@N08/2429422602/)


Swan boats are back.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2075/2428548853_fe2161482b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24786860@N08/2428548853/)


And then some time in the Pru's garden.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3272/2428548849_dbe3201bfe.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24786860@N08/2428548849/)


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2047/2428910085_385c6e913e.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24786860@N08/2428910085/)

Best view of the Pru I've found so far.

[jass]

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y17/jamesinclair/IMG_3463.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y17/jamesinclair/IMG_3531.jpg

[TheBostonBoy]

^Wow, the park looks wikid nice from this view. Great pictures!

[SethTisue]

benches with plaza-turned-parking-lot at Paul Rudolph's Government Service Center: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2391/2438673254_fc56f5ae75_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/tisue/2438673254/)
hey state government it's April! plant some flowers in the planters and sweep the gravel off the benches and steps! I've half a mind to go over there with a broom and do it myself...

[unterbau]

An uncared for brutalist building? How unusual.

[Merper]

restoring this building's proper dignity would go along way to make it more likeable.

get rid of the parking lot, add some cafe's, some seating.... there's no reason this couldn't be a nice successful plaza.

It would also give people a reason to walk or sit on those awesome staircases and finally give this building life. Then again, i wouldn't object to a nice triangular (or whatever shape that parcel is) building there either.

I should add that parking lot to the "things i hate about boston" thread...

[GMACK24]

^^^

yeah I would have thought that after they filmed the "departed" there they would have cleaned it up a little bit and let tourists / locals alike enjoy it.

guess not.. Gotta love the Govt ....

[GMACK24]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2047/2448874713_cb3aabd19b.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/2448874713/

Movie Car as seen in Southie.
South Boston, MA

Notice the Area G - 8 ? LOL

Boston Police only have Area A - E

it is a Chevy Impala which the Boston PD does NOT use.

Gotta love Hollywood : )

[czsz]

Could be real in the future, though...a lot of PDs are switching to Impalas.

Frankly, I think it looks nicer, and it's probably more fuel efficient, too.

[unterbau]

By far the worst ommission on those cars in the iconic Boston Police typeface. You'd think that would be the starting point for the production designers...

[jass]

Last week

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y17/jamesinclair/IMG_3565.jpg

[czsz]

Such a nice setting, I often wonder if they couldn't do a little more with it...

[castevens]

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i52/castevens12/DSC_0018z.jpg

[Merper]

.. i think thats the new BPD typeface... i'm pretty sure i've seen some real cruisers with them...

i prefer the older ones though..

[kz1000ps]

I've definitely seen some cruisers with the new typeface too. It looks weird on the veteran Crown Vics, not so bad on an Impala.

[kz1000ps]

Some Harvard buildings I'm not crazy about:

http://img389.imageshack.us/img389/6215/img4517lg4.jpg

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/8413/img4591bb6.jpg

[tobyjug]

It's funny. I've grown to really enjoy that building in the first photo. I always enjoy seeing it when driving west on Storrow Drive. But I wouldn't want more than one example.

[unterbau]

.. i think thats the new BPD typeface... i'm pretty sure i've seen some real cruisers with them...

i prefer the older ones though..

Wow, you're right? That's absolutely criminal...

[AdamBC]

We seem to have lost the Pru and the Hancock in the clouds...


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3243/2465314799_d08f8aa467.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24786860@N08/2465314799/)

(You can see the bottom of the Hancock nest to the old towers in the Pru Plaza.)

[GMACK24]

The Zakim from LoPresti Park - East Boston
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3015/2399299913_bcc36e81a7.jpg
Link to LARGE Photo
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/2399299913/sizes/l/
Original Photo Link to FLICK'R
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/2399299913/

Boston from Piers Park
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2334/2400135346_2bace2bc30.jpg
Link to LARGE Photo
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/2400135346/sizes/l/
Original Photo Link to FLICK'R
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/2400135346/

Boston Sunset from Piers Park
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2053/2400138600_cb34720743.jpg
Link to LARGE Photo
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/2400138600/sizes/l/
Original Photo Link to FLICK'R
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/2400138600/


Tall Ship Stad Amsterdam
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2054/2406333350_b89fa7a3b6.jpg
Link to LARGE Photo
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/2406333350/sizes/l/
Original Photo Link to FLICK'R
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/2406333350/

Boston Police "The Surrogates" Movie Car
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2047/2448874713_cb3aabd19b.jpg
Link to LARGE Photo
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/2448874713/sizes/l/
Original Photo Link to FLICK'R
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/2448874713/
BLOGGED on Universal Hub....

http://www.universalhub.com/node/14271

And Last but not least....
Vertigo
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3114/2455985194_600968ab6c.jpg
Link to LARGE Photo (Do not click if you are afraid of heights) : 0 )
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/2455985194/sizes/l/
Original Photo Link to FLICK'R
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/2455985194/


So that in a nutshell is what I have been up to.
Please comment on at least one photo (or 2 if you are bored)
Thanks ! ! !
Greg in Boston, MA
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/

[tobyjug]

Your photos are always so crisp. I am green with envy! Tell me, where is that last one. I can't place it.

[GMACK24]

Your photos are always so crisp. I am green with envy! Tell me, where is that last one. I can't place it.

Thanks Tobyjug.

I appreciate the Comment.
Last photo is taken atop the 14th floor observation deck.
470 Atlantic Ave.

[Bos77]

flying in the other day...

http://bradys-doghouse.smugmug.com/photos/291636384_wBQaK-L-1.jpg

[castevens]

Great photos guys.

GMACK i friended you on Flickr

[castevens]

NON-BOSTON WARNING:

I came back to my hometown in Rhode Island for the summer. The following picture is of the birthplace of Gilbert Stuart (well, actually the real building is the one to the left of the picture, this was just the mill). Stuart was a presidential portrait painter who most famously painted George Washington -- the painting on the $1 bill.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2296/2476321044_195990b55c_b.jpg

[tobyjug]

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm278/tobydog_photos/Scan4-1.jpg

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm278/tobydog_photos/Scan1-1.jpg

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm278/tobydog_photos/Scan5-1.jpg

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm278/tobydog_photos/Scan3-1.jpg

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm278/tobydog_photos/Scan7-1.jpg

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm278/tobydog_photos/Scan6-1.jpg

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm278/tobydog_photos/Scan2-1.jpg

[Suffolk 83]

is that Hull toby?

Gmack, your first photo looks EXACTLY like GTA

[Ron Newman]

Paragon Park was indeed formerly in Nantasket (Hull).

[tobyjug]

Yeah, Hull before they tore down the park and put up some lame condo. Took these, I dunno, 30 years ago just before Paragon opened for the season.

[tobyjug]

The street formerly known as Dover.

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm278/tobydog_photos/Scan9-1.jpg

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm278/tobydog_photos/Scan8-1.jpg

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm278/tobydog_photos/Scan10-1.jpg

Shoebox cleaning done for now.

[czsz]

^ Amazing. Looks like Jackson Heights in Queens.

[Ron Newman]

I wouldn't go that far. This was a pretty run -down neighborhood when the photos were taken.

[PaulC]

I think that last picture is at Tremont and Dwight in the South End. A location that must be worth a fortune now.


http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=boston,+ma&ie=UTF8&ll=42.347983,-71.068389&spn=0.005979,0.019999&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=42.344985,-71.070075&panoid=EopaUchDJyQ7Pnoq2S6Ezg&cbp=1,128.11893623899846,,0,0.1782485225541643

[nm88]

Almost put a lump in my throat.

[Charlie_mta]

The deadness of today versus the urban vitality of yesterday:

What it is today:

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b66/karlgame/eberkely.jpg

What used to be:

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm278/tobydog_photos/Scan9-1.jpg

[Ron Newman]

Why did you move or delete the first photo?

[Y-bot]

I wouldn't go that far. This was a pretty run -down neighborhood when the photos were taken.

Judging by the Detroit metal and the hippie VW, looks like about 1980.

[tobyjug]

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh109/tobyjug_2008/L10705552.jpg

Gilchrist Gargoyle

[tobyjug]

I wouldn't go that far. This was a pretty run -down neighborhood when the photos were taken.

I took these in 1983.

[JimboJones]

Where did I read recently that some group wanted to turn East Berkeley back into "Dover Street" between Albany Street and Tremont Street?

[czsz]

Why was the name changed to begin with?

[JohnCostello]

Dover Street, like the former Ann Street in the North End, now North Street, and like the former Templeton Street, now Msgr. Patrick J. Lydon Way in Dorchester had a reputation as a devious type of place. By changing the name to East Berkeley Street everything was supposed to get better, right?

[tobyjug]

Opera House

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh109/tobyjug_2008/L10705482.jpg

[tobyjug]

The deadness of today versus the urban vitality of yesterday:

What it is today:

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b66/karlgame/eberkely-2.jpg

What used to be:

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm278/tobydog_photos/Scan9-1.jpg

Drive by shooting has a different meaning on Dover Street today:

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh109/tobyjug_2008/L1070801.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh109/tobyjug_2008/L1070804.jpg

[atlantaden]

The deadness of today versus the urban vitality of yesterday:

Looking at the above pics, comparing what was and what is now, I have to say that the above comment, IMO, should be the other way around....the deadness of yesterday over the urban vitality of today. Maybe it's just me, but I just don't see how the South End of the 60's and 70's was more urban than the South End of today. Gritty, definitely!

BTW, nice pics and congrats to the city and residents of the South End for turning a neighborhood in distress into one of the nicest neighborhoods in this city or any city.

[unterbau]

Has this resource been posted here? I just found it when I was searching for history on Dover St.

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=pphhphoto&action=browse&fileName=ma/ma1200/ma1288/photos/browse.db&recNum=0&itemLink=h?pp/hh:@field%28NUMBER+@band%28ma1288%29%29&title2=ma/ma1200/ma1288/data&displayType=1

[Lurker]

The printed book made for the MBTA prior to demolition of the EL has all the original drawings, competition drawings for the stations, assembly details, construction photos, historic photos, pre-demolition survey photos,etc. The original drawings and details for all the rivet patterns are actually quite beautiful. The State Transportation Library, BPL, Harvard, MIT, BU, NU libraries should actually have copies. I remember seeing a new copy late in 87 at the GSD.

[Charlie_mta]

atlantaden:

I noticed I had accidently deleted the photo of the East Berkely Street of today, which I've restored:

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b66/karlgame/eberkely.jpg

I agree the South End has become a nicer, wealthier and safer neighborhood. What I was lamenting is mainly the loss of the elevated and the excitement, in my opinion, that it brought to the area. Comparing the two photos, the older one with the former elevated Orange Line looks like a pedestrian oriented, active urban neighborhood, while the new photo has the feeling of a car oriented suburb.

True, the Elevated line was dilapitated and noisy, but it could have been rebuilt to something more palatable. Chicago has rebuilt several of its elevated lines. The historical Washington Street el stations could have been restored and the line itself rebuilt into something less obtrusive.

I just think the area looks too genteel now. Guess I like gritiness, urban excitement and transit lines being routed along busy thoroughfares rather than on poorly located railroad corridors.

[pelhamhall]

I live in Dorchester - we have plenty of "grit" and the Field's Corner Red Line is an "el" train.

I think a lot of people have a romanticized view of "old gritty Boston" and lament the clean, safe, generic look that has oozed throughout the urban core, but the reality is that "gritty" and "colorful" and "bohemian" areas are best looked at through rose-colored glasses, years after they've been sterilized through gentrification.

The reality is that to those of us who live in "gritty" neighborhoods, they are not pleasant and we would not miss 75% of the stores and would welcome a Starbucks with open arms. I feel like it's more the elitists who don't live in these neighborhoods that romanticize things like dirty diners, obsolete service stores (like a cobbler) and family-run corner convenience bodegas.

[Ron Newman]

Hey! I like having an old cobbler in my gentrified neighborhood (Davis Square). I patronize him from time to time. Why should I throw out shoes that I like if I can have them re-soled and re-heeled?

[Beton Brut]

^ Seconded. Actually, the shoes I'm wearing could use some help...

It's the check-cashing places that bum me out the most...

[tobyjug]

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh109/tobyjug_2008/pkksq.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh109/tobyjug_2008/L1070847.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh109/tobyjug_2008/parksquare.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh109/tobyjug_2008/L10708342.jpg
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh109/tobyjug_2008/L10708202-1.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh109/tobyjug_2008/parksq.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh109/tobyjug_2008/L10708412.jpg

[Ron Newman]

If you know anything more about the Selwyn Theatre (especially if you know whether it ever showed movies), please reply. Thanks.

[Lurker]

The Boston & Providence Station was torn down and replaced by the theater (I assume a movie theater based on the era) and a parking lot in the late 1920s. Part of the freight storage for the station was turned into that gas station in one of the photos. The office building, later converted into the current hotel, was built shortly thereafter.

[Ron Newman]

I assumed it was a legitimate stage theatre, with the ad for No, No, Nanette. Sometimes stage theatres also showed movies -- the Colonial and Majestic being local examples. If we can determine that a movie was ever shown there, I can add it to CinemaTreasures.com .

[castevens]

Is there a way to find out what year that picture was taken?

[tobyjug]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The ones I took: Sunday. The old ones: September, 1925.

[kz1000ps]

So this theatre existed for what... less than five years?

[GMACK24]

This bridge, which crosses the Boston Public Garden lagoon at its narrowest point, has been called the world's smallest suspension bridge. It was designed in 1867, and is a popular spot for photos, particularly of wedding parties.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2154/2490545401_9598278b76.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/2490545401/

[Lurker]

Per some insurance maps the station was torn down by 1917 except for the outbuilding which became the little gas station. If the Bostonian Society's search wasn't down, there are dated demolition photos of the station's train shed that would give the exact date.

The plans for the station are on file, with an appointment, with most of Peabody & Stearn's work at the special collections desk of fine arts in the BPL.

The Hotel Statler officially opened in 1927 as the first hotel in the world to offer radio service in its guest rooms. The back of the theater in those photos has a billboard for the future home of the hotel, so whenever that photo is dated is likely the demolition year of the theater.

The NYT has this abstract from way back when,

"A NEW THEATRE FOR BOSTON. PLANS DRAWN FOR A BIG HOUSE ON PARK SQUARE. BOSTON. April 11.-The latest popular theatre project la by James Stevenson, who contemplates building on his Park Square property from plane submitted by C. H. Blaekwell, architect of the Bowdoin Square Theatre. The main entrance will bo on the corner of the triangle opposite the front part of the Providence Station, and fronting upon the square. The vestibule will be '25 feet wldo and free from all supports. A round tower is to flank the facade on each side, with an open arcade between, over the stores . This will be used as an open-air promenade. Inside the vestibule there will be a lobby of ample dimensions, and from the lobby will open a smoking room and series of arcades, beyond which la to be a garden on the land behind the stores Columbus Avenue. This uow unused land Mr. Stevenson proposes to lay out In a park, where one may stroll between the acts. Mr. Stevenson has also arranged for a hippodrome in the " Battle of Gettysburg " building on Tremont Street. It will be run much Ilka the old Barnnm hippodrome in New-York. There will also be a museum of curiosities in connection with it. i* ___________ rn ____________"

[Ron Newman]

What is the date of that NYT abstract?

[PaulC]

That really isn't a suspension bridge, those cables are strictly decorative.

[GMACK24]

That really isn't a suspension bridge, those cables are strictly decorative.

Yeah I know but it's been "dubbed" the Smallest suspension bridge ;-)

[statler]

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh109/tobyjug_2008/parksq.jpg

Thanks Toby. I knew you loved me! :)

[Padre Mike]

That really isn't a suspension bridge, those cables are strictly decorative.

Actually, when originally built it was a suspension bridge, but subsequent strengthening of the deck took away this distinction.

[tobyjug]

Sure would be nice to anchor that corner with that proverbial board favorite: the tall slender "towerette". I'm not saying make it Times Square, but just something that sets the corner better and is alot jazzier!

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh109/tobyjug_2008/L10708872-1.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh109/tobyjug_2008/L10708092.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh109/tobyjug_2008/L10708782.jpg

[Beton Brut]

If "The Donald" comes to town, that may be a good site for him. It'd be a shame about those little buildings -- wish they were in the Bulfinch Triangle.

[tobyjug]

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh109/tobyjug_2008/L1070512.jpg

[GMACK24]

Boston Sunset from Quincy Bay

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2047/2530233841_8a5bcd1fb1_b.jpg

[Corey]

^Very neat

[tobyjug]

Kneeland Street site of White Castle pre-1970

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh109/tobyjug_2008/L1080213.jpg

[kz1000ps]

It's been months since I've contributed here..

http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/7862/img8560we9.jpg

http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/6971/img7125ql1.jpg

http://img391.imageshack.us/img391/8462/img8710od1.jpg

http://img391.imageshack.us/img391/3166/img9407at8.jpg

[kennedy]

I love the Harvard class of whatever chruch thingy. I can give credit to that building for interesting the budding architect within me when I was a wee lad of 8 going to Harvard football games and seeing if I could lean against the glass without falling in.

[kennedy]

Oh, and that towery-gold-ball thing is a clock. When it gets into the black part, it's night time when it's at the top, its high noon.

[Boston02124]

citgo from Mt Aburn http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/boston02124/proposed%20and%20then%20what%20was%20built/BostonMaapril2008056.jpg

[statler]

Confession: I never liked the Citgo sign. Still don't. Worst. Landmark. Ever.

[Beton Brut]

I love the Harvard class of whatever chruch thingy. I can give credit to that building for interesting the budding architect within me when I was a wee lad of 8 going to Harvard football games and seeing if I could lean against the glass without falling in.

Credit to Moshe Safdie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moshe_Safdie), architect of the original Boston Museum proposal. A competent and sometimes inventive architect who sometimes latches on to bad ideas.

I like Safdie's Chapel too, but it is a knock-off of Eero Saarinen's Chapel at MIT (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_Chapel), one of Greater Boston's finest modern buildings.

BTW, nice pics, kz1000ps.

[Boston02124]

Confession: I never liked the Citgo sign. Still don't. Worst. Landmark. Ever.
like it or not it's our's!

[castevens]

Yeah, I wish we had a less corporate landmark or something, but I've certainly grown to like it. It was all I knew of Boston growing up and watching Red Sox games from Rhode Island with the Citgo sign over the Green Monster.