by Barry M. Steinberg
Association for Public Transportation
Note: There was no October meeting.
Dan Wilson, Executive Director of Move Mass: This is a good topic to follow the principles discussed in previous Move Mass meetings. It is going to be a densely-developed project incorporating some of the ideas we have discussed here over the past few months. The project is Smart Growth, it involves increasing MBTA ridership, it will be an example of transit-oriented development, it is development made possible by a transportation project that helps pay for the transportation project. David Dixon was here in September and talked about the need for money not just to complete transportation projects but to plan. Here the BRA and MTA should be applauded for stepping up to the plate to pay for this important planning process and we are honored that they have chosen to begin the process here this morning.
The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation has just this week released a white paper on MBTA finances that is available at:
http://www.masstaxpayers.org/data/pdf/bulletins/MBTA%20Bulletin%20-%2011-12-03.pdf
Richard Garver, Deputy Director, Planning and Zoning Division, Boston Redevelopment Authority: This is the first exposure of what is going to be a tremendous development for the City of Boston. The property is owned by the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority with the exception of the power plant. This is part of the overall Central Artery corridor. The disposition of the land is to be included in the Central Artery project.
But this is exceptional in that this area has a way to go in terms of planning. The South Station area was zoned through a public process in 1989. This is the spot; the mostly transit-oriented [in the corridor]. The densest development in the area is authorized here, though part of this area (the gateway study area) nearest Chinatown is a little less dense.
Steve Hines, Massachusetts Turnpike Authority: The MTA is making a financial contribution to this first phase of the planning study. We are completing draft proposals. There is a development selection process, to which any developer selected will be subject.
Sue Kim, Community Planning Project Manager, Boston Redevelopment Authority: Quite a few people at the BRA are devoted to this area. Additional City departments involved are the Boston Transportation Department and the Boston Parks Department (which is concerned with a small basketball park—small but significant) as well as the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. This is transit-oriented development, dependent on transit access.
Chinatown and the Leather District are on the west and north sides of the area and South Station is on the east side. Part of the problem is the identification of the area.
Land use, urban design and work force development: An all-over vision is important. A vision for the neighborhoods and the City as a whole.
Phase One consists of background research and transportation studies: Picking up where things are. A lot of studies have been done around the area, but not specifically here. The end of Phase One is a qualitative scenario. There are several ways of seeing the area.
We have funded the study at least through Phase Two.
This area is complicated: A whole spaghetti of infrastructure. Ramps go all over the place. A lot of the problems will be of connections--How the area will work for pedestrians as well as cars.
This past month, the BRA chose Goody, Clancy & Assoc. [as planners of the area]. We have taken nominations on the part of the Mayor for members of the task force. This will involve a lot of work. In Chinatown, so much is going on in a small neighborhood, so people are stretched thin.
The First Phase is of a six-month duration. There is to be at least one public meeting a month, plus small meetings of the Task Force. The next phase is of an eighteen-month duration. All meetings will be bilingual, so translations of process documents may slow things down – bear with us.
Dennis Swinford, Project Manager, Goody, Clancy & Associates: This current meeting is literally our first public presentation on the project. The area is truly a crossroads at three scales: City, neighborhood and the immediate site.
For the City, this area connects corridors, the neighborhoods and the waterfront. Coming up I-93 from several miles south of here, there is a [grand] vista of the city and what is done hear will be at the very center of that vista. There are two large public air rights projects in the area: the Rose Kennedy Greenway and the turnpike extension beside Chinatown. The parcels provide the opportunity to unite all these districts physically as well as culturally. Is there a way our planning can connect this area to the waterfront?
Regarding the neighborhood, we need to integrate it with other districts. Given the existing land uses of the area, this will be a mixed-use district. [There is a] program to train the residents to participate in the district.
Physical connections should be developed to the transportation infrastructure particularly at South Station.
There is a trend of locally-owned businesses near the site along Kneeland Street, an opportunity to connect these Chinatown businesses along Kneeland Street to South Station.
Other things have to be done along the way. Kneeland Street has to become pedestrian-friendly. We have to stretch the activity south. Also, underneath the elevated bridge section, as well as the ability to go above the access roads with a bridge; there is the opportunity to mitigate between the various scales of development. Most of all, this is a new bookend of development (the North Station Area is the other) and it should have its own personality.
Reference: www.southbayplanningstudy.com
Larry Rosenblum: My compliments to the BRA and to the Mass. Turnpike Authority. There was an effort made around five years ago to jump-start this process. It is recognized that this area is tremendously significant.
Step even further back. So much of what has happened in this area is due to planning that went on in the middle 1980's, i.e. twenty years ago. Zoning boundaries, but not plans for development above South Station. There is a likelihood that the Post Office is going to leave that site. Air rights development over South Station has yet to begin, and there is going to be a lot of controversy.
The process should begin with a look at the real needs of development in the area. We would be remiss if we do not look at those opportunities. If we include the South Station area in the boundaries of this project, as I believe we should, the character of the area begins to change. This becomes the most important area of the City.
A second comment is at a totally different scale. If there is concern for neighborhood interest, the most important one has to be the one for open space. We have to carve out a park for the area. This is doable.
Robert O'Brien: I have less expectation that all this will be changed to recognize all other area interests, but I too believe it must. It should become a goal of this area to inform all other project areas, especially the U. S. Postal Service to the ocean.
A. We have discussed this with other interests.
Anne Lusk: This is transit-oriented development, but also physically oriented activity development. [There must be] access to transit as well as bicycles and jogging in order to get around the area.
Barry Steinberg, Association for Public Transportation: It has been mentioned that this area is intensively developed for transportation. What hasn't been mentioned is that local public transportation in the area is almost unavailable. Indeed, local public transportation in the area, both existing and planned, consists of subway stations. These are for routes that do not do a good job of tying the area together.
There has been a proposal for a North-South streetcar, whose purpose is local in scale rather than regional or national. It would be logical to have this service turn the corner and continue on Kneeland Street to make connections.
Vineet Gupta, Boston Transportation Department: The area has good access to South Station as well as bus access. We can adjust existing MBTA service to serve the area, but also shuttles and streetcar service from the area to North Station. The Silver Line does not come in close access to the area. The challenge for Kneeland Street is that it comes in conflict with the regional role that it plays.
Curtis Davis, Moderator: Dick [Garver], you are the City's planning czar. Can you discuss the parameters of the limits to growth in the area?
Garver: We are intensely conscious of this. There is a schizophrenic transportation influence. Transportation is dumped into local streets which are highly challenged.
Bill Schwartz, transportation subconsultant to the planning process: To look at what has happened on the Atlantic Ave. area, and extend it, turning the corner onto Kneeland St. The area will feel completely different. Currently, this is a no-man's land. It may be a long distance to walk the area, but it will be more pleasant to walk that area.
David Seeley: Re Parcel 24, which is parallel to Kneeland St. This is split off from the Leather District because of the need to develop it right away. Development on Parcel 24 will be incredibly import to the process. These two design processes should be married together in some way.
Garver: I agree that the two processed need to inform each other.
Mike Terrell: If you look at old maps of the area, Kneeland Street, more than a hundred years ago, used to proceed over the Fort Point Channel. There is a tremendous opportunity to create physical connections. It is not too late to create a name for the area. It used to be South Cove. When people think of South Bay they think of the shopping center area.
Garver: One of the scope products should be a name. There is a lack of urban design in the area. The streets are not pedestrian-friendly, non-motorist-transportation modes are unfriendly.
Robert O'Brien: I am struck with the comparison to the North Station area. The height has a comparison to the Boston Garden area. Each district planning should learn from the other. These are gateway districts, and we should make that clear.
Shirley Kressel: What about housing in the area?
Garver: All legal requirements are for a balance of uses in the area.
Dennis Swinford: We are just beginning to look at this, so we have an open attitude to the housing mix. This is as specific as we can get at this time. The people on the selection committees were struck by this issue as an important one; from a market standpoint and a development standpoint, housing will be essential to the area.
Garver: There will be a mix: housing, commercial, cultural.
Larry Rosenblum: Think about creating a new ground plane around all the development, elevated above the ramps and roadways on the site. There is the opportunity to build over the roads and rails. A new ground plane, going over all this stuff, possibly linking to the bus terminal. This study area is large enough that if we thought of a new ground plane, it would unlock the whole [district].
Curtis Davis: POLICY. What policy can come out of this? Traffic controls, perhaps non-auto zones. New technology off the Turnpike. Let's think about new technologies and road pricing strategies.
Another policy direction is around housing. There are various elements. We should co-ordinate with City policy officials. This area is NOT "urban Spandex", to use the ideas of one of my students. What about moderate priced housing here? We do high end, we do affordable. What about moderate.
Vineet Gupta: There is the opportunity to connect development and parking. The area is well connected to public transportation. We can get aggressive with the parking ratios. Development guys say they need the parking to get funding but that may be changing.
Curtis Davis: What about traffic management through congestion pricing, the London or Singapore models?
Gupta: In terms of policy controls, we could work out highway pricing levels. There is an opportunity to this where the regional network interfaces with city street. It's more difficult to meter Kneeland St. It requires a lot of creativity.
Garver: Just this past Wednesday night there was a meeting on the Bulfinch Triangle. A request for proposals (RFP) is due. The Bulfinch Triangle is an opportunity to plan moderate priced housing as well.
Reference: MAPC Metrofutures. Check their web site.