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Stronkowski t1_iu06y3i wrote

Reply to comment by TouchDownBurrito in ‘A 24-hour neighborhood’: Wu outlines plans to bring downtown Boston back to life - The Boston Globe by TouchDownBurrito

Godamn 86 pages. So I'm definitely not going to spend the time to read through that whole thing, but here's the policy goals from slide 6:

  • Ensure the continued vibrancy of office space downtown, working with both companies and building owners to maintain and grow building occupancy

  • Expand housing downtown

  • Expand the daily use of downtown beyond work by bolstering downtown's cultural, art, retail, services, and hospitality ecosystems

  • Support connectively and mobility downtown via multi-modal transportation infrastructure and protected infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists

  • Enhance economic opportunity downtown by supporting women, BIPOC, and other underserved populations, and by strengthening the small business and creative community

  • Grow Boston's footprint as a global tourism hub

Seems like a mixed bag to me, but mostly good. The housing and transportation goals seem like they'd do the heavy lifting if actually implemented.

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mrkro3434 t1_iu0au3q wrote

> Expand the daily use of downtown beyond work by bolstering downtown's cultural, art, retail, services, and hospitality ecosystems

I just don't see this happening. 15+ years ago, you could walk around Newbury and the Back Bay and find cool niche places that would incentivize foot traffic and provide a reason to be there outside of work hours.

I don't see that ever returning unless someone has a magic wand they can wave to get rid of greed. The groups that own these building and spaces will always rent them out to banks or restaurant chains over an art gallery or mom and pop shop.

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Maxpowr9 t1_iu0pxy7 wrote

Most of Newbury St is owned by a consortium based in South Carolina. They give no fucks about Boston.

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man2010 t1_iu0cz5y wrote

Bank branches in major cities have been declining for years, and art galleries and small businesses still exist on Newbury St

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[deleted] t1_iu0eexx wrote

[deleted]

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man2010 t1_iu0otoj wrote

Franklin St isn't Newbury St which the previous commenter specifically mentioned, and I'm not sure why you're bringing it up. The city has had 39 bank closures since the pandemic started, and nationally the trend for over a decade has been more branch closures, especially in metropolitan areas and among larger banks. One street isn't representative of the larger trends.

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yacht_boy t1_iu16vdk wrote

I mean, it IS the financial district. I expect to see all the regional and national banks have offices and branches there. It makes sense for them to be in proximity to each other.

What I didn't need was a new Chase bank on Centre St in JP where there used to be a family-owned restaurant.

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Snoo_97625 t1_iu09g43 wrote

Bring back that one bit of the orange line, you now the part I'm talking about

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