How is Quincy, MA's Downtown revitalization/rebuilding/renaissance progressing along? or is it not? (Boston: low income, hotel)

[UsAll]

Question: How is Quincy, MA's Downtown redevelopment (i.e., revitalization/rebuilding/renaissance) progressing along? Or is it not? Or not quite as expected or hoped for thus far?

I guess I would know the answer to this question if I had been there lately but haven't been to Quincy in perhaps 5-6 years to see for myself. So for residents of Quincy or nearby adjacent areas who travel into Quincy often enough for work or social or family or business or shopping or other purposes and therefore have more firsthand recent experience, how is it coming along? The way it had been spoken about and promoted in the past, it was the intention to turn Quincy Center (downtown Quincy) and vicinity into a major "destination city" for shopping, business, entertainment and nightlife, dining, hotel accommodations, et al. They said they want it to become a "tall urban downtown". Has it progressed along nicely or is it stalled or proceeding but at a rather slow pace? Is it progressing along well enough to transforming into what has been promoted for it to be transformed into (i.e., a major civic center for the region)?

That is, beyond all the "talk" and "hubris" about what they "plan" it to be, do you see a real difference already in the overall look-and-feel of downtown Quincy and vicinity or not quite so (yet)?

[pennyone]

The original plan with Street Works stalled and ended because the deal was too good for Quincy and too bad for Street Works. When that ended a few years ago, Quincy was left with a big hole in the ground, but the city did not incur any financial losses. Now the approach is more piecemeal and there are several big projects planned for the Downtown area already and several big residential places are taking shape. It will be a long stretch before the DT is a "major" destination. Given that there is South Shore Plaza and various other places in the South Shore (in Hingham, Westwood etc), I dont envision Quincy's DT to be able to get too much traction. But Quincy is leveraging its proximity to Boston and the demographics of the city is changing (becoming younger and more professional). There are plenty of other projects all across the city aside from the downtown.

The feel in Quincy is one of dusty construction at this point and lots of traffic messes due to the construction. In the mean time, the RE value has gone up due to greater demand and houses are moving fast. I personally think Quincy is still TOO affordable at this point, but there are plenty of voices complaining about Quincy becoming unaffordable. They are also the same voices who later complain about the social problems that Quincy still has as a major urban center. You can't have affordability and no social problems.

[edsox15]

Coming along but scaled way down from the original plans. 50/50 to whether it will work or not. There will be plenty of housing but I'm not sure they have locked up any major commercial or business tenants yet. For this to even have a hope of working they have to fix a couple of things. I don't see how they are going to get away with charging for parking. South Shore Plaza, Derby Street, Westwood Station and Legacy Place all have free parking so that won't fly, IMO. The other major elephant in the room is the homeless/addict problem. I understand having to help those most in need but revitalization and shelters/clinics don't mix. It will be interesting to watch.

[Whatsnext75]

There are also plenty of shelters in the South end and that hasn't stopped anyone from paying big bucks to live there. However Quincy is a far cry from the South end.

'You can't have affordability and no social problems.'

I disagree with this. Affordability doesn't have to mean low income housing, etc. Quincy seems to be a place of relief for some young families who want to buy a home but don't feel like getting raped what it costs to live in some other places. I know a few people who priced out of Milton and Dorchester believe it or not and they went to quincy. They paid about 400k for their homes.

I'm not sure why Quincy feels the need to have this big revitalization effort? It's not like there is nothing in Quincy to start with. There are plenty of places to shop. If they are trying to do something like derby st or higham/weymouth shipyard i guess that could work, but i'd see it in the area of marina bay. I just dont know that people will drive to quincy center, the traffic in that area isnt great. There's also legacy place which isnt far and as mentioned south shore plaza.

[pennyone]

Originally Posted by edsox15

Coming along but scaled way down from the original plans. 50/50 to whether it will work or not. There will be plenty of housing but I'm not sure they have locked up any major commercial or business tenants yet. For this to even have a hope of working they have to fix a couple of things. I don't see how they are going to get away with charging for parking. South Shore Plaza, Derby Street, Westwood Station and Legacy Place all have free parking so that won't fly, IMO. The other major elephant in the room is the homeless/addict problem. I understand having to help those most in need but revitalization and shelters/clinics don't mix. It will be interesting to watch.

The homeless and addict problem comes from the general affordability of Quincy and Father Bill's, which is situated right by the center.

Revitalization and shelters/clinics definitely do not mix. The South End residents are already complaining about the overflow of homeless folks taking baths in their pretty water fountains and having sex right in the alleys etc.

[Whatsnext75]

'The South End residents are already complaining about the overflow of homeless folks taking baths in their pretty water fountains and having sex right in the alleys etc.'

That was their fault for moving there.

[UsAll]

Thanks to everyone above for your responses thus far. It helps paint a picture in my mind of what to expect to see if I were to visit Downtown Quincy now: some new parking garages, some big canyons (holes in the ground) and broken-up streets in the process of being fixed adn smoothed over, perhaps some new residences (high-cost luxury, I imagine?).

The illustrations (pictorials) that I'd seen in the media in times past presenting what was envisioned for the "new" Downtown Quincy to look like made it look comparable to, say, greater Kendall Square in Cambridge, MA or parts of Copley Square in the Back Bay of Boston . . . if my recall is accurate from what I saw back then.

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by Whatsnext75

There are also plenty of shelters in the South end and that hasn't stopped anyone from paying big bucks to live there. However Quincy is a far cry from the South end.

'You can't have affordability and no social problems.'

I disagree with this. Affordability doesn't have to mean low income housing, etc. Quincy seems to be a place of relief for some young families who want to buy a home but don't feel like getting raped what it costs to live in some other places. I know a few people who priced out of Milton and Dorchester believe it or not and they went to quincy. They paid about 400k for their homes.

I'm not sure why Quincy feels the need to have this big revitalization effort? It's not like there is nothing in Quincy to start with. There are plenty of places to shop. If they are trying to do something like derby st or higham/weymouth shipyard i guess that could work, but i'd see it in the area of marina bay. I just dont know that people will drive to quincy center, the traffic in that area isnt great. There's also legacy place which isnt far and as mentioned south shore plaza.

Originally Posted by Whatsnext75

'The South End residents are already complaining about the overflow of homeless folks taking baths in their pretty water fountains and having sex right in the alleys etc.'

That was their fault for moving there.

Penny might have blocked you during your shouting match with her a few months ago, so she won't see your comments unless I quote them

[Whatsnext75]

Originally Posted by Parsec

Penny might have blocked you during your shouting match with her a few months ago, so she won't see your comments unless I quote them

That's fine. I don't particularly care to engage with her either, but I do find the quincy topic interesting.

Quincy sq will never be Kendall sq.

[edsox15]

Originally Posted by UsAll

Thanks to everyone above for your responses thus far. It helps paint a picture in my mind of what to expect to see if I were to visit Downtown Quincy now: some new parking garages, some big canyons (holes in the ground) and broken-up streets in the process of being fixed adn smoothed over, perhaps some new residences (high-cost luxury, I imagine?).

The illustrations (pictorials) that I'd seen in the media in times past presenting what was envisioned for the "new" Downtown Quincy to look like made it look comparable to, say, greater Kendall Square in Cambridge, MA or parts of Copley Square in the Back Bay of Boston . . . if my recall is accurate from what I saw back then.

The original plans called for a 15-story steel construction building that would have been unique and a real centerpiece to what they're trying to do. That has been scaled down to 6-story wood construction buildings that are really nothing special. Quincy is at an interesting place. The restaurant scene is actually more vibrant than it has ever been. Retail outside of food and restaurants is basically non-existent in QC. They're going to need a major commercial tenant for this to work. There's been talk of bio-tech but the competition for that is fierce and I would guess Assembly Square in Somerville would have a better shot at that kind of stuff. They will also face competition from Southfield in Weymouth if that ever gets its act together. There's been speculation Quincy could be the next "hot thing" but I would put that as far from certain right now. It will be interesting to watch.