New addition would be on the left in this architect's rendering.
The developers who replaced a ramshackle old building on Tremont Street at St. Cyprians Place with a six-story, 16-unit building are now proposing to replace a neighboring ramshackle building with a 24-unit addition.
Because the site is a short walk to the Ruggles T station and Northeastern University, Boston Real Estate Collaborative and Urban Core Development will ask the city to let them bypass the normal requirements that they provide parking spaces.
The new units would be "designed specifically for students walking to and from
campus," they write in a filing with the BPDA.
Also unusual for Boston: Proposed plans for two three-bedroom and two four-bedroom units. Four units in the building will be marketed as affordable.
Construction should take 14 to 18 months once the addition receives city approvals, the developers say.
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Comments
You don't?
By anon
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 4:03pm
All right bud! Better stop eating all that food you bought at the supermarket, get rid of every single thing you won and move out of whatever building you happen to live in - all of it is there because of ROADS.
Strawman Argument
By SwirlyGrrl
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 7:36pm
Those roads allowed you to bring in all those hay bales, right?
The fact is, people who do not own cars still pay their share of 40% of the cost of those roads in Massachusetts through income taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, etc.
Yes, things get delivered to them or to stores. Big deal - that's minimal. Meanwhile, people without cars do far less damage to those roads than people who drive cars over them do. They don't get plowed out sidewalks or even bus stops, either. They don't take up public land for private property storage like drivers do. They don't add to our already high asthma burden with exhaust emissions. Etc.
Again, feel free to actually present some evidence supporting your contention. Otherwise, the facts already presented make it pretty obvious that your argument (while having some superficial merit) is really 99%steaming pile of what happens when a cow eats your strawman.
2016 MA gas tax revenue: 766
By anon
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 10:01pm
2016 MA gas tax revenue: 766 million
Federal funding for MA through the highway trust fund ~ 590 million
That's your other 40% right there.
Massachusetts receives less back from the highway trust fund than it pays in from the federal gas tax:
allocation/contribution ratio by state
So, at least in MA, roads are fully supported by taxes and fees borne by drivers.
Multiple studies have shown
By anon
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 8:01am
Multiple studies have shown that adding parking increases the number of cars in the city. Conversely, building without parking brings residents that don't keep cars. Think NYC.
Do you care to provide a link?
By anon
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 8:21am
to these alleged "multiple studies"?
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=adding
By eherot
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 6:13pm
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=adding+parking+encourages+dri...
While these studies may be true
By abostonparent
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 9:03am
In Boston we are seeing empty-nesters sell their homes in the W's and want to move back to the city "core" while they can still take advantage of it (before they move to FLA full-time). But where are they coming from? The suburbs. And what does everyone in the suburbs have? A CAR. or two or even three. So, do you really think that they are going to abandon 40 some odd years of learned behavior, "I need a car. I need a car. I need a car" for the 5-10 years they live in the city? I don't. I'm willing to be 90% keep at least one car. It may not be fair in regards to some people's definition of "urban living", but it is true.
And this development qualifies, IMO, as the "urban core" of Boston. And to not have parking, is a mistake.
I am still having a hard wrapping my head around the ability for a college student to be able to buy a condo in that neighborhood. Those that can afford it probably come from very successful families. And what do most successful families have several of? Cars.
Forgive us if, for once, just
By anon
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 9:11am
Forgive us if, for once, just once, we don't bend down to the whims of these now-retiring boomers and change our entire society so yet again they get what they want and leave the rest of us to deal with the consequences years later.
If they want to live in the city they should adopt a fucking city lifestyle. If they absolutely cannot handle the idea of trying to fit in with the place they're moving to, they can pay to have their cake and eat it too - by buying private parking somewhere.
and if you think said "empty nester"
By bosguy22
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 9:22am
Who wanted 1 or 2 cars would buy a place in the city without parking, you're nuts.
They will just park them on
By an anon
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 9:55am
They will just park them on the street, so that's why building need to include parking.
Or
By SwirlyGrrl
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 7:37pm
You could stop parking on the street and get your own driveway - since that is exactly what you are demanding that new residents do when they pay as much in taxes as you do.
If people have cars, they won't buy or rent in this building
By Ron Newman
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 9:49am
So what's the problem?
If only there were a way
By erik g
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 10:10am
that these suburbanites could exchange their cars for something of equal value. Some medium of common value that could trade for. A "currency," if you will. If it were a common medium, they could even use it to help pay for their houses, or subway passes.
So you concede these studies
By Trump-Baker 2016
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 10:58am
So you concede these studies may be true, but you choose to accept "alternative facts" that say otherwise.
The number of cars has
By an anon
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 9:57am
The number of cars has increased in many neighborhoods without much more parking added simply because the younger people moving in want to bring their car with them.
This is also true of the people who move here from other parts of the country where there's plenty of parking and want parking here.
The point is, that people are going to bring their cars anyway.
Not all studies apply to the same to all neighborhoods.
You may not know as many young people as you think
By adamg
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 10:19am
You've heard of Zipcar and Uber, no?
As a young person every other
By anon
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 10:24am
As a young person every other young people household I know shares one car among 2-3 people.
Yep
By SwirlyGrrl
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 7:41pm
My son and some friends are planning to get an apartment sometime in the near future. Only one of them drives, and he will need a space because he is on call 24 hours. The other two aren't interested in car commuting.
This doesn't seem to be unusual.
Maybe for your son
By abostonparent
Fri, 02/03/2017 - 6:59am
But from where I live in Dorchester, this not the case. The neighborhood I live in has gone from plenty of off-street parking to the dreaded "cone wars" street. The folks with these cars? Folks between 21-30, what some would consider "young people". Not young families. Not empty nesters. Not middle aged locals. Single, young people looking to live in Boston. And you do have to admit that your son Swirly (and probably his like minded friends), is cut from your cloth. One that believes in public transit and biking. Not everyone who moves to the city is from that cloth though.
I also work with this "young person" category and I would say about 20-25% of them bring a car when they move here. While they do share the car to help one another out, we need to move past this concept that all young people who move to cities want to be "traditional urban dwellers" because it is not true. It never has been.
Finally to the anon with their wannabe-Bernie rant to my earlier post. I hear you. And is life hard? Yes. Is my life harder financially than my parents was at my age despite my wife & I have more technical and academic experience? Yes. But developers and people selling their homes are going to want a profit. And if they can build apartments or flip a roxbury/south end/southie condo for a big profit they will. If you want to change the direction of how housing is created then become a developer and help people out. But please don't take your anger out on me for simply pointing out reality.
Lol
By Scauma
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 10:39am
Have you seen the traffic in this city? There are tons of people who don't drive, but those same people Uber and Lyft and Cab just like the folks who do own cars.Car's aren't goign anywhere and despite what Swrrly thinks they are not the death of society.
New York
By anon
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 4:31pm
You want everything to be "like" NY? Then pack your bags and move your ass there. I like Boston because I can own a car here.
You can own a car in New York
By adamg
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 4:57pm
Why, some people there even have driveways! Amazing, I know, but not so much when you realize there's a lot more to New York than Manhattan.
Educated populous helps ... or no populous
By BiggerThanBoston
Wed, 02/01/2017 - 11:52pm
Project in my neighborhood is providing 27% more parking spaces than required by code and it's two minutes to the T and two minutes to a major bus line. Folks here don't get that free parking creates traffic.
Which Boston neighborhood do
By anon
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 7:45am
Which Boston neighborhood do you live in that has free parking?
Roslindale
By adamg
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 8:15am
And we're not alone. But we're also not a really dense, urban area, either (at least not the part I'm in; the Washington Street corridor is pretty dense, but it also has a million bus routes).
All of them
By apkmax
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 8:57am
All neighborhoods in Boston have free on street parking for the people that live there. Resident Parking Permits don't cost a dime and there is no limit to the number of permits a household can have. Just need a valid Mass registration and proof of residency. If we really want to get serious about reducing the number of cars in the city, lets start charging for the storage of these vehicles on public property.
Why is parking free?
By anon
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 9:15am
Why is parking free? Somerville and Cambridge both charge a nominal fee (under 100$) for parking permit and it seems to work out just fine. They also charge for your house to have visitor permits, which IMO are vastly superior to the crappy system of visitor parking in some of the more restricted Boston neighborhoods. Even better would be a system where the first parking permit for a residence would cost x, and then the second would cost 2x, and the third 3x, etc, etc. Once you have 5-6 cars in one household you really need to reexamine why you're living in the city at all.
At the very least, the parking office should be recouping their operating costs in some kind of application fee - it's not free for the city to run an office and mail these out and pay staff to run the thing.
I grew up on a quiet street in the city
By Scauma
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 10:47am
And parking was never an issue, except for when it snowed. So why should we, or anyone else have to pay for a permit? Around public transit stops where people park and go to work there should be free permits for residents. That's enough.
Because as explained, it
By anon
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 11:58am
Because as explained, it costs the city money to run the permit program. It costs them money to pay cops to enforce it, to make sure out of towners aren't cheating and parking without the permits. An application fee to recoup some of these administrative costs is hardly unfair, considering you have to pay for so many other permits and licenses.
Why is parking free is a
By bkearney
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 4:19pm
Why is parking free is a great question. I wrote this last month, and noted surrounding communities that charge for residential permits, including Cambridge ($25), Somerville ($40), Brookline ($25) and Quincy ($20).
(As for visitor permits, Somerville has two different ones available - a $20 per year for 2-day, $40 per year for 3-day.)
If you want to read up on parking, Donald Shoup is the resource (and he's got the best URL): http://www.shoupdogg.com/about/
How about making better policy?
By whyaduck
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 10:50am
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/01/20/bosto...
When I lived in Roxbury (15
By DTP
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 9:08am
When I lived in Roxbury (15 min walk from the orange line), my street had free, completely unrestricted parking (not even street sweeping!).
Not any more, baby!
By Jonas X. Prang
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 10:28am
Those Roxbury halcyon days of yore are gone, gone, gone.
Now the street sweeping is regular like a clock, the resident parking signs are spreading like mold, and the Boston Transportation Department enforcement vehicles come prowling every day like muggers.
Days of yore?
By DTP
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 1:48pm
Days of yore?
I moved last summer.
It's not "free" if the people
By an anon
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 9:58am
It's not "free" if the people in the building are paying for it because they want it, and plenty of people do.
Cambridge
By anon
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 9:06am
Slightly off topic but it is striking how, as you drive along the Charles at night, you can so clearly see how there's nothing tall in Cambridge other than the stuff around Kendall and a few outlying tall buildings. It would be great if Central Square for example could be build up like the Fenway is so we can get more people living nearer to where they want to work and live.
Have you never been to
By DTP
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 9:09am
Have you never been to Central Square?
https://goo.gl/maps/rKAApQHq7j12
It's pretty similar to the Fenway in density.
Not really
By Waquiot
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 2:15pm
Unless the view has changed since google posted what you linked to.
I see a few high rise apartment buildings and a few office buildings. The rest is 4 stories tall, max.
Take a walk down Boylston Street, then up Brookline Ave to Kenmore Square. I'm sure that's what he is talking about.
Erm, I will admit Fenway has
By DTP
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 3:16pm
Erm, I will admit Fenway has seen a lot of new mid-rise construction lately, but the whole stretch of Mass Ave from Central to Harvard is interspersed with mid-rises, most of them taller than 4 stories. Even south of Central along Mass Ave most buildings are 5- and 6-story (with plenty of exceptions).
VERY similar to most of Fenway. The same style of 5-6 story, ~100 year old apartment buildings. Fenway has what, 5 new high rises along Boylston St? And Brookline Ave is mostly 3-story industrial buildings.
You know what there is more of along Boylston and Brookline? Surface parking. There are ZERO lots that front Mass Ave from Central to Harvard that consist of surface parking.
I'm not denying that Boylston St has undergone a massive change in recent years - just pointing out that Central Square already has a similar level of density. Admittedly there are more detached homes in the surrounding neighborhood, but there are also more mid-rise buildings.
I think the point still
By eherot
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 6:20pm
I think the point still stands. None of the buildings over 4 stories in Central Square are market-rate residential buildings, and it would absolutely be a boon for business in that area if the neighborhood would ever approve such a thing.
This is definitely great news
By anon
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 2:06pm
This is definitely great news for students and cyclists! Paying less if you don't need a parking space is awesome for able-bodied people.
The design though is HIDEOUS and not at all fitting with the residential character of the nearby buildings... looks like a small factory.
Eh, I think it's ok. Could be
By eherot
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 6:22pm
Eh, I think it's ok. Could be more creative and colorful but it's not cheap-looking. It's not like the surrounding brownstones are what I would call architecturally innovative, unique, or even particularly interesting (even when they were built). People just like them because they're old. Architectural styles need to be allowed to evolve.
Deliberately non-contextual?
By Ron Newman
Fri, 02/03/2017 - 12:20am
If the exterior walls were redbrick instead of white, it wouldn't stand out at all in the neighborhood
Too Late
By ElizaLeila
Fri, 02/03/2017 - 10:43am
It's matching a building that is already there.:
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.33591,-71.0866297,3a,75y,28.59h,92.02t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sZVAkHdCdquj2sUQKatB-pg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en
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