So they adopt of not building buildings in the downtown swath of a major city, and then approve two structures that will be strong runners in a competition for most dull and boring buildings in Boston.
How much do we pay these people and why do they have control over our city???
We pay them too much and they have control over the city because our industry base has collapsed, we're losing population to the west, there is no economic knight in shining armor on the horizon, we're just another rusting, decaying East Coast backwater losing its white population to the burbs and being overrun by urban decay that'll never compete with California...oh wait.
That was after the war. So I guess the current reason is so that our Mayor will have the ability to dictate any and everything that happens within the City, assuring that his name is written on the foundation of every school, playground, bridge, aqueduct or anything else we put up.
Sam Yoon may have been a bit of a tool, but he was balls-on. Gut the BRA. It's an anachronism. We need it today as much as we need the WACs.
Lib Mu bought the Salvation army and said "we can only build here if you triple the zoning" - the city said OK. Then they said - "We bought the land for $25 million, but unless you give us $30 million in tax and construction subsidies, it doesn't make sense for us to build" so the city/state actually paid them to take the land. Then LM said "Retail, including any restaurants or a much needed supermarket, just doesn't make sense in this location" so the city absolved them of a longstanding requirement to promote retail use on the ground floor level in any development like this. Then Lib Mu said - "if you don't give us free air rights over Stuart Street for a pedestrian walkway we can't build this". So even though the Boston Civic design commission has explicit guidelines against overhead walkways - especially private ones - the BRA approved this. Of 23 letters sent to the BRA commenting on the project, 22 either opposed or stated specific concerns about this skyway - only the general manager of the hotel across the street who gets a lot of biz from Lib Mu thought this was a good idea as is.
Comments
good grief
So they adopt of not building buildings in the downtown swath of a major city, and then approve two structures that will be strong runners in a competition for most dull and boring buildings in Boston.
How much do we pay these people and why do they have control over our city???
bad grief
We pay them too much and they have control over the city because our industry base has collapsed, we're losing population to the west, there is no economic knight in shining armor on the horizon, we're just another rusting, decaying East Coast backwater losing its white population to the burbs and being overrun by urban decay that'll never compete with California...oh wait.
That was after the war. So I guess the current reason is so that our Mayor will have the ability to dictate any and everything that happens within the City, assuring that his name is written on the foundation of every school, playground, bridge, aqueduct or anything else we put up.
Sam Yoon may have been a bit of a tool, but he was balls-on. Gut the BRA. It's an anachronism. We need it today as much as we need the WACs.
The City Must Be Desperate
Lib Mu bought the Salvation army and said "we can only build here if you triple the zoning" - the city said OK. Then they said - "We bought the land for $25 million, but unless you give us $30 million in tax and construction subsidies, it doesn't make sense for us to build" so the city/state actually paid them to take the land. Then LM said "Retail, including any restaurants or a much needed supermarket, just doesn't make sense in this location" so the city absolved them of a longstanding requirement to promote retail use on the ground floor level in any development like this. Then Lib Mu said - "if you don't give us free air rights over Stuart Street for a pedestrian walkway we can't build this". So even though the Boston Civic design commission has explicit guidelines against overhead walkways - especially private ones - the BRA approved this. Of 23 letters sent to the BRA commenting on the project, 22 either opposed or stated specific concerns about this skyway - only the general manager of the hotel across the street who gets a lot of biz from Lib Mu thought this was a good idea as is.
Despotato - why don't you come to your senses?
Query: When did the BRA board
Query: When did the BRA board last *not* approve a project?