Why I think PLAN: Downtown is essential to meeting our goals of population growth, historic preservation and economic development in this critical moment for our city.
I support the downtown plan. I'm baffled by the objections to height. We live in a city. There are few vacant parcels. We either build up or out. And I think sprawl is the worst kind of city planning. I'd rather have height. And if you build densely with shops and services around, you don't need cars, so that takes care of one of the stupidest city planning activities -- trying to get cars around. We need to get people around instead. I live in a neighborhood in which supposedly half the residents don't have a car. That is bliss.
Ms. Durkan: Thank you for posting this information about the workings and plans of our City Council. In my 50+ years in Boston, you're the first Councilor to communicate in such detail about the workings of our city. While I don't use Downtown as much as I used to - I live on the cusp of Mission Hill and The Fenway - it still matters to me that the vibrancy of the inner city is maintained and enhanced. If we let Downtown go to seed, then we lose quintessential Boston. Keep up the good work!
Appreciate the effort in crafting this Councilor. I do think that with many of these battles the threshold issue is whether Greater Boston's need for housing over-rides some of the arguments against -- construction sucks for neighborhoods, yep. Shadows and wind tunnels are negatives, yep. More traffic is never good. And it is fair to broach those negatives. However, acknowledgment of those negative consequences of new development does not always mean the status quo is best. As the economist Thomas Sowell once stated, "There are no solutions. There are only trade-offs." And the need for housing supply at any price point may require the acceptance of some of these negatives listed above.
Excellent job. The city is an ever changing organism but the protections that are in place to maintain our unique look and feel are in place with this plan. Height and density belong in the downtown and along the high spine extending out to the Fenway. We NEED housing AND the commercial tax base that enables a thriving city. I appreciate your courage here.
I support the downtown plan. I'm baffled by the objections to height. We live in a city. There are few vacant parcels. We either build up or out. And I think sprawl is the worst kind of city planning. I'd rather have height. And if you build densely with shops and services around, you don't need cars, so that takes care of one of the stupidest city planning activities -- trying to get cars around. We need to get people around instead. I live in a neighborhood in which supposedly half the residents don't have a car. That is bliss.
Ms. Durkan: Thank you for posting this information about the workings and plans of our City Council. In my 50+ years in Boston, you're the first Councilor to communicate in such detail about the workings of our city. While I don't use Downtown as much as I used to - I live on the cusp of Mission Hill and The Fenway - it still matters to me that the vibrancy of the inner city is maintained and enhanced. If we let Downtown go to seed, then we lose quintessential Boston. Keep up the good work!
Thanks Ray! That means so much to me. I think transparency is really important.
Appreciate the effort in crafting this Councilor. I do think that with many of these battles the threshold issue is whether Greater Boston's need for housing over-rides some of the arguments against -- construction sucks for neighborhoods, yep. Shadows and wind tunnels are negatives, yep. More traffic is never good. And it is fair to broach those negatives. However, acknowledgment of those negative consequences of new development does not always mean the status quo is best. As the economist Thomas Sowell once stated, "There are no solutions. There are only trade-offs." And the need for housing supply at any price point may require the acceptance of some of these negatives listed above.
Thank you for sharing, Councilor! We have to keep growing, especially as the Federal govt seeks to tear us down.
Excellent job. The city is an ever changing organism but the protections that are in place to maintain our unique look and feel are in place with this plan. Height and density belong in the downtown and along the high spine extending out to the Fenway. We NEED housing AND the commercial tax base that enables a thriving city. I appreciate your courage here.