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Move over, Somerville: Lowell's this week's new Brooklyn
By adamg on Mon, 12/22/2014 - 11:54am
The Globe goes on a road trip and finds nouveau hip on the banks of the Merrimack - and even a Brooklyn hipster to make the official pronouncement, at least for one rehabbed mill building:
"It's very Brooklyn-y," Conant said. She should know: The 22-year-old lives in Brooklyn, where she attends art school.
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Comments
If there's an authoritative source...
It's a 22-year-old art school student.
Damn
Crossed Brooklyn off my places to visit this winter list.
She's not paying rent in either place
Otherwise, she would notice one huge difference: you can get a really nice 2br loft in Lowell for what you would pay for an illegal basement squat in Brooklyn.
She's not paying rent in
How do you know? Lots of students pay their own way, through loans like most homeowners (mortgage) or by working part time.
Two? Probably 3.
Two? Probably 3.
"The 22-year-old lives in
"The 22-year-old lives in Brooklyn, where she attends art school."
Talk about a redundant statement.
Lowell is a shithole and has been since that damn high school opened in the middle of downtown. If they moved it somewhere else and made the area pedestrians only somehow it could really improve.
Pedestrians only
"Pedestrians only" areas seldom improve downtown urban locations. Witness Downtown Crossing.
Unlike DTX, Lowell doesn't
Unlike DTX, Lowell doesn't have much around it for tourists, they could upscale the downtown area and make it a destination spot and provide more incentive to check out the museums.
Lowell for tourists
has quite a bit -- a whole National Historic Park.
I mentioned the museums/parks
I mentioned the museums/parks. Many are outdated, underadvertised and haven't had the same push for visitors since the 80s.
ULowell, in its constant attempt to take over the city by flooding money (like with St Joe's hospital), probably wishes the parks weren't even there so they could convert the mills into more student housing.
Lowell not only has its annual Folk Festival....
... (which is a tremendous event) but also an ongoing summer music series. And a fairly wide array of other festivals: http://www.lowell.org/Pages/FestivalsAndEvents.aspx -- not really sure why you are so negative.
I spent a lot of time there
I spent a lot of time in that city when I was younger at my aunt and uncle's place. It was very depressing. They used to talk about how back in the 50s the downtown was THE place to go shopping and how simliiar to Boston it was, but then it crumbled. Now there's "Boston influenced" places popping up amongst the rim shops and hair salons but it's got a ways to go.
They used to talk about how the Spinners were gonna put the city back on the map, as well as the Lock Monsters. Look how well that turned out.
One of the problems is that for how small it is, it should be a walking city, but it isn't. There's a lot of room to work on the downtown area which would be great but a sweeping revitalization needs to happen more or less at once. Cripes, the Lowell Sun isn't even in Lowell anymore.
But they got a Sal's pizza...
But they got a Sal's pizza........
Yeah, but...
...it's not "upscale". Because working class poors can't be tourists. Only "upscale" people can be touristy.
That's what Belvidere is for
Lowell has kept its "upscale" persons out in its Belvidere neighborhood for something like 150 years. The wealthy have long held the highlands to the east.
Also, unlike Lawrence (which was built out as an intentional high density low rent slum), most of Lowell was planned out with different levels of workers' housing interspersed by parklands and canals. So, yes, Lowell isn't upscale in most of it, but it has maintained some economic diversity over the years.
They had an opportunity to
They had an opportunity to start something with bringing back something to the Bon Marche building but it ended up as a ULowell bookstore and the unemployment office next door - in the center of the city, next to all these museums.
What happened to the bookstore?
The last time I was by there, it wasn't open anymore.
A bookstore IS a desirable shop to have in your downtown, especially if you're trying to become a cultural destination.
It's a college textbook store
It is (or was, wouldn't be surprised) a college textbook store featuring a scaled down barnes and noble located in what was the flagship destination of the city years ago.
Be honest, could you spend an entire day doing stuff around Lowell as it is, with the exception of the museums? You're talking about a city center the fourth of the size of the Back Bay. It'd be like trying to get people to go to Malden or Waltham for a shopping experience
I could probably make a day-long art & culture visit
Hit some of the national park, add in the quilt museum or the textile history museum, see some art galleries downtown, then spend the evening at a Boarding House Park concert, a Lowell Spinners game, or a show at Merrimack Rep or Lowell Memorial Auditorium.
I haven't yet checked out the monthly Western Avenue mill open studios, but this is reminding me to do so some time soon.
I *do* find it pretty walkable.
A shopping destination, it's not; for that I might think instead of going to Rockport, Newburyport, or Portsmouth.
Take the canal boat tour
It's fun. The annual Folk Festival is always worthwhile. Don't listen to goatwind; a Spinners game is much more fun than an evening at Fenway. There's an arthouse cinema in one of the old mills. The aforementioned concerts at Boardinghouse Park can be a real treat. There really is a lot going on in the little city.
I've been going to the Folk Festival every year since 1987
which is one reason I have some fondness for this little city.
I've also gone to a few Spinners games and a couple of Boarding House Park concerts (but those have gotten really expensive lately)
We missed the Folk Festival this year....
... for the first time in 15 years (we were out of state).
You mentioned all things that
You mentioned all things that are events or nonregular things. Lowell needs stuff that KEEPS people coming. You can say the same thing about Boston Duck tours or MFA/other museums. They are good to go to on occasion, but you're not going to go every weekend.
Also ...
Concerts at Tsongas Arena
Events at Lowell Memorial Auditorium
There are many more - you simply turned your back on the place years ago and haven't checked back in.
I was in grad school up there. Over a ten year period I saw a lot of positive and permanent changes to the area (and also did some GIS research for HUD programs that documented the same). Yes, downtown isn't exactly hopping in a big way, but there are a hell of a lot of smaller things going on on a regular basis than you seem to want to be bothered with.
Who goes ANYWHERE....
... every weekend? We certainly can't afford to do that. ;~}
You mean like Salem?
You mean like Salem? Downtown Salem is pretty much a hole any time other than October.
The only time I _don't_ want to go to Salem....
... is in October. There's a fair amount of stuff to see there, especially given that the Peabody Essex Museum often has excellent special exhibitions.
Salem is pretty much a hole in October
and pretty interesting the rest of the year. I have always loved the waterfront and historic areas like the McIntyre district. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.
We loved the Japanese restaurant....
... (run by a lovely Japanese grandmother) near the PEM. But the grandmother (and her restaurant) are now gone (her grandchildren seem to have kept it open for awhile, but it was never quite the same after she died).
Lowell has had an art scene for quite a while now
Western Avenue Studios
Cultural Organization Of Lowell (COOL)
That damn high school opened in the '40s
The 1840s. It's been there ever since although it has expanded over the years.
It's definitely too big for
It's definitely too big for the area now, which is the point.
all downhill
You're totally right, ever since the school opened in 1840 everything has been downhill for the city. That damn public walkway on Lucy Larcom and the through way behind St. Anne's makes it really tough on pedestrians.
Really...
Firstly, your using redundant wrong. Secondly, how would you know what Lowell was like before the high school opened, because newsflash dipsh1t it opened in 1831. I also have no idea why you think removing an education center would make the area more "pedestrian", but I'm just gonna chalk that up to you having no F-ing idea what you're talking about.
It's hard to know...
...which to take less seriously, the referenced article or the comments here about it. Ridiculousness all around, people.
There's a lot to like about
There's a lot to like about Lowell....
I went there for a lark, because I had never been. Some areas downtown were pretty run down and had a fair share of sketchy types, other parts had nice restaurants and shops. They also had antique trolleys that took you through the historic park where the mills are. The biggest disappointment was seeing all the trash, garbage and litter in the canals and along the Merrimack where it meets the riverwalk. That was the biggest turnoff for me - but seeing as it is at the terminus of a commuter rail to Boston, the city has a lot of potential. I wouldn't mind a nice mill condo with a river view.
Budget issues
Apparently Lowell's annual capital budget is $1m. For a city of its size, that is exceedingly small. Most of the downtown is filled with tax-exempt uses, UML, Middlesex Community College and the National Park. Still, it has lovely streetscapes and some unique businesses (the first Life Alive, now a Cambridge mainstay, is still in operation in Lowell, and doesn't have a half hour line). Plus walking around the canals and old mills is great.
The big issue with the Commuter Rail is the location of the station. It's about a mile-long walk, but it's a terrible walk up the highway-like Dutton and Thorndike Streets (urban renewal, ftw!). Biking is even worse: you have to pick your poison between an underpass with no shoulders or several lights and a bigger hill. The rail line skirts Lowell's downtown, but the current station was built in a manner that makes it exceedingly hard to get there without a car. LRTA schedules are somewhat coordinated with the train schedules (at least off-peak) which helps a bit, but it's still a car-centric station. And then there's some jurisdictional nonsense where UMass Lowell isn't even allowed to run their shuttles in to the train station because the LRTA won't let them, but the LRTA provides minimal service to UMass Lowell (especially evenings and weekends; there is no evening or Sunday service at all). That's the kind of thing where someone needs to sit everyone down in a room and lock the door until they can agree.
There is a proposal to expand the historic streetcar which runs through the National Park so that it would link the commuter rail station with the downtown area. (Info from 2012; I haven't heard much since.) Because much of the system would utilize existing power, track and right of way, it would be relatively inexpensive ($10m/mile), and would replace much of the existing system of LRTA and UML shuttles. UMass Lowell is growing quickly and a catalyst to growth in Lowell, and good transportation spurring development could be a good way to retain graduates to help continue to move Lowell in the right direction. (It has been joked that Lowell has been "up and coming" for about 30 years.)
Walking or biking from the Lowell RR station to downtown
I often prefer to go through (or alongside) South Common and then up Gorham and Central streets into town.
From looking at Google satellite view, it appears that some improvements have been made (or are being made) to connect new streets and walkways across the Pawtucket Canal, just east of Dutton Street.
Lowell: City of Crack
20 years later I am still chuckling about this HBO "documentary".
But props to Lowell for trying to rise above this. They've come a long way since then.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/563776-the-real-1995-hbo-version-of-h...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_on_Crack_Street:_Lost_Lives_in_Lowell
What's sad is now we've been over taken by opiates... sadly this documentary could have its name changed to any town in Eastern MA and change to "high on heroin street" and the story would be true.
The New Lowell
I went to Lowell about a month ago for a theater performance my kids really wanted to see and I was shocked by how cool it is. Lowell has a really bad reputation as "slummy" but the downtown has been turned into a pretty cool national park foccussed on the mill industry and related canal system, and there is a really great arts vibe there. Not sure what the economic opportunities are there for there average office worker type or what the deal with the school system is, but that place has alot going for it. I've heard the real estate prices there are pretty afforable and the housing stock looks good.
The national parks came into
The national parks came into being in the 80s to thunderous applause and the attraction and promotion has petered off drastically, which is why they are due for a revival.
UMass Lowell
UML has crept into the top 100 lists for undergraduate education over the last five or so years. There has been substantial investment in infrastructure, starting when I was a grad student, but accelerating in recent times. Meehan has managed to work both the state and private donors for foundational grant money to take buildings where the floors were popping tiles and the heating didn't work and upgrade just about everything to modern standards.
I toured with my son and there are substantial new dormitories, honors programs, campus facilities - all for a $24K per year budget (including room and board) in-state. The increased enrollments mean more money going into the city as well.
More money going into support
More money going into support the infrastructure for the school and its students, but not the city. This has always been the case in Lowell.
how long since you have been up there?
It sounds like your last visit was around Y2K.
The expansions in the school are starting to have an impact downtown - lots of good little eateries, coffee shops, and little stores.
The last I really spent time
The last I really spent time was shortly after Centro (I think) opened, as a concept of a "Boston style" resturant. An appetizer consisting of three meatballs was $18. No thanks, you can't even find that here.
So what does this make Somerville?
The new LES?
No, it reverts ...
To being Paris of the '90s.
And of course, there's always Billerica....
Somerville, with trees.
Somerville is walkable
Somerville is walkable Billerica is anything but. That entire town consists of subdivisions, an oddly high number of supermarket strip malls and Chinese food restaurants, and one big awesome hardware store.
You Fell For It
Never get involved in a land war in Asia and never fall for a (very appropriate) Howie Carrism.
I thought that was Belmont?
I always heard it as Belmont = Somerville with trees.
Makes more sense than Billerica.
I can see it now:
Centralville: the new Williamsburg. Beaulieu St. rent about to skyrocket?
Kerouac's Birthplace
Dig it, mama!
Kerouac used to curse at my
Kerouac used to curse at my uncle and his friends walking on their way to St Joseph's High School back in the day. The guy was loaded at 7am when he was there.
Doesn't surprise me at all
Considering the way he died. Or much of his writing. Or the amazing drunken interview he once did on William Buckley's Firing Line that I won't link to here for the sake of some of the content.
If that's the case
then hold on Haverhill -- your time is coming.
haha! what a joke... The Glob
haha! what a joke... The Glob 'discovers' Lowell. Please don't.
I like UML hockey games, but
I like UML hockey games, but that's the only thing I've done in Lowell for years now.
I've always kinda liked Lowell
It's not nearly as bad as some people paint it. You want to see some real, genuine shithole small cities you need to check out Connecticut or New Jersey. Lowell isn't in their shithole league.
Dunno, I've always kinda thought of Lynn as the new Brooklyn, or the new Somerville.
I concur
When I started to visit Lowell (when Tsongas Arena opened, though one December day I took the train up and walked around downtown for no reason) I found it to be nice. Sure, probably in the pre-Interstate/Route 3 era it was probably hopping more, but downtown wasn't too bad and the mills are cool.
I always say that Lowell is a city on the rise. I also say that Brockton is a city treading water. We visited Camden, New Jersey last year (to see the aquarium while visiting Philly, not to see Camden) and, well, it is a city.