Can Boston become a "Winter City?" (Cambridge, Quincy: apartments, city hall)

[lrfox]

This was in the Globe today: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/12/...e-winter-city/.

For those who can't get past the paywall, the premise is basically that as a means to help businesses this winter and beyond, Boston should follow other cold weather cities' leads that have embraced the cold and created an environment for people to get out and enjoy the outdoors, even in the winter.

I've said it on this and other forums, but one of the things that has always bugged me about Boston is that it really does board up for the winter. If you've ever been to London, Paris, Montreal, Quebec City, Copenhagen, Ottawa, Toronto, etc. in the winter, they're all more active. Bars, cafes, and restaurants all operate outdoor spaces year-round (modified for the cold with fire pits, heat lamps built into awnings, patio heaters, plastic/canvas windscreens, etc.) and they're all quite active. It's a great way to relatively comfortably enjoy the outdoors in the winter.

They also create active spaces for winter activities. Whether it's cross-country skiing in Quebec City, sledding in Montreal, or creating 4-mile ice skating highway on a canal in Ottawa, these cities embrace the cold weather and their setting. Sure, Boston has the frog pond and the Snowport this year is pretty cool, but everything here is either watered down, or highly localized to a certain spot. Boston also shut down outdoor dining early this month (Cambridge and Somerville still allow it).

I think we can do better. I think some winter markets around the city (like London or Quebec's Christmas markets which have locations all over the city in the winter) in spots like Copley, Dewey Square, and the Boston Common would be great - especially with warming huts, cocoa stands, music and entertainment, and a beer garden at the center of it all. Setting up some zones where you close a block or two and offer outdoor bars/dining with fire pits, heaters, blankets, etc. would do a great bit of business (Newbury St. has places this would work, you could do this at Faneuil Hall, the Blackstone Block along Union and Marshall, The North End along Salem St., etc.).

Thoughts? I think it would require a shift away from some of Boston's more puritanical practices. I'm also not sure how it would be embraced here by the people. In the colder cities like Montreal or Copenhagen, people opt for function rather than style in the winter (many in Boston under dress during the cold months to favor fashion rather than wearing snow pants, a parka, and boots to be outside). But I have a feeling that if you build it (and build it right), people will come.

[BostonBornMassMade]

People are talking about too much fun and change at once for Boston. Simple and plain.

This is why there are apartments in the middle of DTX going for $1800 right now. This is what keeps crime an issue downtown and in some inner-city neighborhoods. Lack of excitement, foot traffic, and late-night activity has and will continue to suppress the property values, safety, and the variety of neighborhoods around the city. I'll keep saying this until things change.

As I've said before-Bosotn is not a 'lifestyle city'. You move there for work and stability-ideally. It's, not a place to be for fun and organized activity for the sake of fun and fun alone.

If a city doesn't have a happy hour and has restrictive liquor practices in general-why would it invest in people having more time to drink or be out at night or at all? Even the economic benefits aren't worth the change to Boston. Boston doesn't really change like that unless it is forced to and right now the city feels it's healthy and wealthy enough to weather the storm.

The Seaport sees all the investment downtown nowadays (the rest is sort of stagnant or mild decline) so they'd probably get it. They have places like the Lawn on D and a few pre-existing patios. The problem with concentrating these things near the seaports and Quincy market is that the sea breeze makes those areas especially windy and cold and unfriendly to linger in. More places need to be doing this in more inland areas of the city.

The city will take care of the poorest and smallest businesses so as to prevent blight and real economic decline in East Boston, Roxbury, Dorchester etc but its more than content with letting the wealthier, central area vendors 'figure it out' and they'd be more than fine with more large chain restaurants and bars anyway.

[msRB311]

I think all the things you're describing above would be nice, Boston does have a pretty long winter so why not try to enjoy it more. More outdoor heaters on the patio would be great, would also allow less of a wait to get in places if people decided to just stay outside. I'm just not sure how safe those places would be now at this moment as I'm sure they would get crowded. I'm sure it would draw crowds as It seems everything in Boston does.

I'm personally not sure on the blanket thing either. I wouldn't want to use a blanket that had been used by anyone else unless it had been washed.

I can't say I personally would ever want to stay outside vs go inside. Maybe 21 year old me would be ok with that...but I imagine there are lots of people who would think like me and not even give sitting outside in the cold, heater or not a chance.

[BostonBornMassMade]

Taken straight for the comments of that BG article [adjusted for visual effect]:

"Sure, once the permitting process is complete, this will be great for Winter 2023.

Let's see; no doubt Boston will require hearings..

-community group input [at least 3 different groups]

-abutter meetings [at least 5 meetings]

-historic review

-Public Works permits

-Zoning Board of Appeal variances

-BPDA design review

-Public Improvement Commission

-Licensing Board

-outdoor music permit from Mayor's Office of Consumer Affairs

... and then maybe, if the Zoning Board doesn't go rogue and deny all the permits, restaurants MIGHT be able to do this, if they pay all the filing and permit fees every step of the way. Sure, it's a great idea! Perhaps other cities will pull this off, but Boston, well, it can never get out of its own way!"

Is the commenter wrong? This is exactly what would happen.

[Lampert]

What is a winter city?
Boston has a cold weather but it's not very snowy or crazy cold. It's in USDA 7a not like, 5.

[msRB311]

Originally Posted by Lampert

What is a winter city?
Boston has a cold weather but it's not very snowy or crazy cold. It's in USDA 7a not like, 5.

I guess people have different versions/scales of winter. This is winter.

[Lampert]

Originally Posted by msRB311

I guess people have different versions/scales of winter. This is winter.

I know this is winter but if you say winter city I picture a city where winter plays a major role in the local life/culture.
Like being huge for winter sports or something. Boston doesn't have any close major slope and there just isn't much snow for a big cross-country culture, so it's not that big on winter sports. What else? The 3 cities mentioned in the first post have 3-5 times the amount of snow Boston receives and I am sure the snow stays on the ground a lot longer. I understand investing on winter in those conditions but Boston? I don't see how a city can be a "winter city" without snow.

Winter is just a big nuisance for most people in Boston from what I see.
IR heaters aren't going to change that attitude(on top of what others have mentioned).

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

Taken straight for the comments of that BG article [adjusted for visual effect]:

"Sure, once the permitting process is complete, this will be great for Winter 2023.

Yeah, that's certainly one of the issues in Boston. The red tape will make a lot of it impossible.

Originally Posted by Lampert

I know this is winter but if you say winter city I picture a city where winter plays a major role in the local life/culture.
Like being huge for winter sports or something. Boston doesn't have any close major slope and there just isn't much snow for a big cross-country culture, so it's not that big on winter sports. What else? The 3 cities mentioned in the first post have 3-5 times the amount of snow Boston receives and I am sure the snow stays on the ground a lot longer. I understand investing on winter in those conditions but Boston? I don't see how a city can be a "winter city" without snow.

Winter is just a big nuisance for most people in Boston from what I see.
IR heaters aren't going to change that attitude(on top of what others have mentioned).

I just meant (and I think the article backed this) a city that maintains an active outdoor life during the winter months. Not necessarily "outdoors" in the winter sports sense (though that's great if it can), but outdoors in the sense that there's still activation (activities, shopping, dining, drinking, music, etc.) outdoors that generates activity. Boston tends to hole up for the winter, and I'm not sure that any amount of activation or programming will change that on a large scale, but I'd like to see the city try a little harder.

I also don't think you need to be Montreal or Bergen to have activity outdoors in the winter. London and Paris are milder than Boston in the winter (but still cold) and cafes, pubs, and restaurants have outdoor tables for drinking and snacking on the sidewalk or plaza. London has an incredible series of Christmas markets (with shopping, snacks, crafts, and small pop up bars) in open spaces throughout the city. Edinburgh (maybe slightly milder than Boston in the winter) has a similarly large and active Christmas/winter market scene (though Germany is the epicenter of these).

I don't think we need cross country skiing in Boston to be a "winter" city. But I do think enabling restaurants and bars to have the freedom to open up outdoor seats under awnings and lamps, creating outdoor market/vendor spaces (along with food/beverage options) with winter amenities (a fire pit, patio heaters/heat lamps, chairs/stools and tables, light displays, etc.) in a handful of plazas and parks near the city center would go a long way towards getting people outside just a little bit more. We did the City Hall Plaza market which, in typical Boston fashion, was watered down and poorly managed.

[lrfox]

Some examples of what cities do well in the winter:

Christmas/Winter Markets:
London
Quebec

Outdoor drinking/dining:
Paris (many, many cafes have heat lamps and varying degrees of awning/covered tables outside)
London (and just about any pub will have heat lamps outside with people sitting/standing and drinking)

Outdoor activies (apart from winter sports):
Cary Wharf (London) Winter Lights Festival (I went last year - it was a ton of fun): Canary Wharf Winter Lights 2020 - Jenikya's Blog
Montreal En Lumiere: https://www.mtl.org/en/what-to-do/fe...ights-festival
Portland, OR Winter lights: https://www.pdxwlf.com/

[msRB311]

I guess i'm in the winter is a nuisance camp. But again if I was younger I might feel differently. Regardless of heat lamps, if it's freezing cold out my preference is to be inside.