Chi & Bos versus SF & Philly (compare, life, moving)
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As a New Englander I will agree that the Philly system seems to be far superior to the MBTA. I live one town away from the terminus of the MBTA's Haverhill commuter rail line. If I had to work in Boston again I would rather use the Boston Express bus service out of NH than utilize the pathetic MBTA again. When parking is factored in (MBTA has pay for parking while the bus has free parking) the cost comes out nearly the same. In summary the MBTA royally sucks.
MBTA has a better subways system but Philly (SEPTA/NJT) has a better commuter rail system. Thanks for confirming this. Glad to see someone from Boston can give credit where credit is due. Thanks!
Philly is actually having it's biggest building boom since the early 90s. This building boom is bigger than the one before the crash in 2008.
Isn't that the case with all 4 of these cities? Unclear if it is just hype or not, but all 4 seem to have very robust downtown apartment construction markets. Boston's Downtown Crossing, Seaport,Chicago's West Loop, River North, SF's SOMA, Mid Market also seem to have tons going on. The yuppie trend toward urban living, low interest rates, and a few years of almost no new construction are really coming together in a big way.
Isn't that the case with all 4 of these cities? Unclear if it is just hype or not, but all 4 seem to have very robust downtown apartment construction markets. Boston's Downtown Crossing, Seaport,Chicago's West Loop, River North, SF's SOMA, Mid Market also seem to have tons going on. The yuppie trend toward urban living, low interest rates, and a few years of almost no new construction are really coming together in a big way.
Yep. Seems about so! Philly is booming with new apartment towers in both Center City and University City.
Let's see some complete lists of skyscrapers under construction and site preparation (ground broken, hole being dug for the foundation), approved, and proposed in these cities...let's say 300+ feet tall, which I think is a good cut-off for "skyscraper" height by American standards.
375 Fremont - 450'
Sun Tower - 450'
340 Fremont - 440'
41 Tehama - 390'
Plus a few more in the 300'-400' range that are part of large redevelopment projects in Hunters Point and Treasure Island, but which i can't find exact heights for.
Proposed:
50 First Street tower 1 - 915'
50 First street tower 2 - 640'
Transbay block 8 - 550'
706 Mission - 510'
500 Folsom - 430'
1481 Post - 416'
One Van Ness - 400'
524 Howard - 400'
3M tower 1 - 400'
75 Howard - 351'
3M tower 2 - 350'
Giants development tower 1 - 320'-480' (depends on which plan and height limits are approved)
Giants development tower 2 - 300'-320' (depends on which plan and height limits are approved)
Transbay block 1 - 300'
There are a few more sites in the Transbay development area that were up-zoned to heights ranging from 300' to 750' at roof level (with additional crowns/spires and mechanical boxes allowed), and the plan is of course to have them built on, but no towers have been proposed for them yet. There's also a conceptual plan to redevelop all or part of the city's Caltrain yard, which would include a tower of up to 450'.
And of course there are plenty more projects under construction, approved, and proposed that are under 300 feet tall, but I didn't feel like taking all the time to compile a list that large.
Name -- type -- structure height (feet) -- roof height -- floors -- year finished
River Point office 650 ft ... .. 45 ____
111 West Wacker - TO residential 630 ft ... .. 59 2014
435 North Park Drive residential 569 ft ... .. 49 2015
AMLI River North - TO residential 543 ft 529 ft 49 2013
Rehabilitation Inst. of Chicago hospital 480 ft ... .. 27 2017
Summit on Lake - TO residential 477 ft 476 ft 42 2014
Hubbard Place - TO residential 449 ft 447 ft 46 2013
Optima Center Chicago - TO residential 442 ft ... .. 42 2014
845 North State residential 410 ft ... .. 35 2015
Northwestern Outpatient Ctr. - TO hospital 404 ft ... .. 24 2014
Arkadia Tower residential 355 ft ... .. 33 ____
212-232 West Illinois residential ___ ft ... .. 26 2015
Wolf Point Development, West Tower residential 525 ft ... .. 47 2014
Chicago and LaSalle residential ___ ft ... .. 33 ____
Proposed - there is no data for approved I can find.
Post Office Redevel. - Phase 2 res./hotel/off. 2000 ft ... .. 170 ____
Post Office Redevel. - Phase 1 res./hotel/off. 1000 ft ... .. 92 ____
Post Office Redevel. - Phase 3 res./hotel/off. 1000 ft ... .. ___ ____
Wolf Point Development, South Tower office 950 ft ... .. 80 2018
Wolf Point Development, East Tower office 750 ft ... .. 60 2020
150 North Riverside office 720 ft ... .. 51 ____
200 North Michigan residential 515 ft ... .. 45 2016
545 North McClurg residential 481 ft ... .. 45 ____
151 North Michigan residential 470 ft ... .. 41 ____
Atrium Village Phase 4 residential 420 ft ... .. 44 ____
Atrium Village Phase 3 residential 410 ft ... .. 41 ____
Atrium Village Phase 2 residential 380 ft ... .. 36 ____
Montrose and Clarendon residential 332 ft ... .. __ ____
Atrium Village Phase 1 residential 310 ft ... .. 28 ____
130 North Franklin office ___ ft ... .. 52 ____
Marriott Marquis McCormick Place hotel ___ ft ... .. 50 ____
One South Halsted residential ___ ft ... .. 49 ____
Tower of Jewel residential ___ ft ... .. 42 ____
625 West Monroe office ___ ft ... .. 40 ____
9th and State residential ___ ft ... .. 39 ____
LDVA Student Housing residential ___ ft ... .. 32 ____
Wacker Plaza office ___ ft ... .. 31 ____
725 W Randolph residential ___ ft ... .. 31 ____
151 North Franklin office ___ ft ... .. 30 ____
State and Huron residential ___ ft ... .. 30 ____
1333 South Wabash residential ___ ft ... .. 28 2015
Hilton Garden Inn hotel ___ ft ... .. 27 ____
601 West Monroe office ___ ft ... .. 26 ____
Chicago's boom has slowed from 2000-2010, which saw 100 buildings over 300 ft built.
I do not keep a list for Boston and created this list, which has a few errors, estimates and omissions, from memory for Boston. There is more, and there is also an incredible number of 10 to 20 story buildings UC all over Boston, Cambridge and Sommerville right now. Boston has never stopped building since the 80s, it is just amazing right now.
UC
Liberty Mutual 300
Millennium tower 625
Vertex 1 300
Vertex 2 300
Radian 300
Pier 4 300
Avalon bay Jacob Wirth 315
twenty/20 300 part of huge development called Northpoint with many buildings
Avalon Exeter 375
Fan Pier residential 290
Channel Center/State Street bank ??
The Kensington 300
Seaport Square 300
315 on A street 250?
Waterside pace 300
Brighton landing 250?? (this is an enormous development on the turnpike by New Balance HQ
Parcel 9 on the greenway 20+ stories, huge development with multiple buildings
W Hotel 300
Russia wharf 350
Approved
Congress street garage one 527
Congress street garage two 298
Christian Science Center 700
Nashua street Residences 2 buildings 425
TD Garden Development one 600
TD Garden two 400
The Point 300
Landmark Center expansion 300
Copley place tower 625
Madison Seaport Hotel 300
Proposed (I get fuzzy here)
trinity place hotel 450
south station tower 625
Fenway Center
Boston Arch 725
transnational place 800+??
Fidelity headquarters 500+
Outer Boylston St 500+
One Bromfield 300
That post made it sound like Boston isn't booming as much as the other cities, which is absolutely untrue!
I'm not looking for an apology or anything. I just want to make sure that people know that Boston is currently as active as any of those other cities.
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