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Reporting from Boston (i'm really in Boca Raton, FL but i can see Beantown in the distance): for anyone new to the thread, they build about 40~60% of the "good opportunity" of height at any/every given parcel. Basically, Boston sucks. Don't be like that. It's true. Now for most cities that mightn't be any grave problem to be too concerned with. But with Boston, it's getting close to a "just no more land" for >280~330' type scenario.
Nearly 2 dozen highrises have been either cancelled, cut to the bone or delayed for future planning in recent months/years including (believe it or not) 4 actual skyscrapers. Y'ever heard of Chicago, Seattle, Miami or NYC cancelling a skyscraper? The Earth would fall into the sun. But for Boston the Nimby Empire has stuck back. The yimby's were carted off the battle field badly bloodied..... .
And now, more than a dozen (new/more) highrises have been slashed/ scattered to the winds one by one. i sadly report: the end is near.
More crazy:
The denizens of this tarnished brutalist/colonial relic (still) mostly don't know.
Have a pleasant evening, and try to find the goodness.
Boston proper still has more people p/capita than Chicago proper if I’m not mistaken. So while NIMBYism could lighten some load downtown, it’s not the reason it’s more expensive than Chicago.
But, I’m all for making things more affordable in Boston. Feels like a losing battle, though.
I think you mean people per square mile / density. Yep.
The problem is a mix of transportation infrastructure and density in the suburbs near the transportation infrastructure. There generally isn’t high density housing clustered around commuter rail stops. The rail and subway layout is also awful so it’s hard to get to work. It places enormous value on housing where it’s easy to get to the jobs.
I think you mean people per square mile / density. Yep.
The problem is a mix of transportation infrastructure and density in the suburbs near the transportation infrastructure. There generally isn’t high density housing clustered around commuter rail stops. The rail and subway layout is also awful so it’s hard to get to work. It places enormous value on housing where it’s easy to get to the jobs.
I think an underrated reason is a lot of Chicago/Cook County is just not a nice place to live. Boston has no equal to Austin, Garfield Park, Englewood. Chicago has 5 neighborhoods with more homicides than all of Boston.
So the median is dragged down by neighborhoods what nobody would really want to live in. Boston has nothing really unlivable.
Cook County has ~5x the total number of homicides as the State of Massachusetts. With ~75% of the population. So if you think ~5% of greater Boston is bad something like 21-22% of Chicagoland is “bad”
Last edited by btownboss4; 12-01-2021 at 05:29 PM..
Reporting from Boston (i'm really in Boca Raton, FL but i can see Beantown in the distance): for anyone new to the thread, they build about 40~60% of the "good opportunity" of height at any/every given parcel. Basically, Boston sucks. Don't be like that. It's true. Now for most cities that mightn't be any grave problem to be too concerned with. But with Boston, it's getting close to a "just no more land" for >280~330' type scenario.
Nearly 2 dozen highrises have been either cancelled, cut to the bone or delayed for future planning in recent months/years including (believe it or not) 4 actual skyscrapers. Y'ever heard of Chicago, Seattle, Miami or NYC cancelling a skyscraper?The Earth would fall into the sun. But for Boston the Nimby Empire has stuck back. The yimby's were carted off the battle field badly bloodied..... .
And now, more than a dozen (new/more) highrises have been slashed/ scattered to the winds one by one. i sadly report: the end is near.
More crazy:
The denizens of this tarnished brutalist/colonial relic (still) mostly don't know.
Have a pleasant evening, and try to find the goodness.
I think you need some enlightenment concerning skyscraper/high-rise development in Chicago. Plenty of buildings get axed by aldermen for arbitrary reasons or no reason at all. They have complete power over zoning in their wards and can kill a project before it ever gets to a public meeting or goes before the plan commission. We also have very organized NIMBY neighborhood associations and they hold massive sway over what gets built in this city. A Gold Coast resident group just got a 465' apartment building canceled over property values declining and blocked sunlight/air-flow complaints. The developers even offered financial compensation to the neighbors for alleged losses and they still said no.
Height and density cuts are the norm these days as well. Very rarely is a tower ever built at the mark of the original proposal and unit counts usually plummet. A couple years ago a 40-story building that developers Draper & Kramer was intending to build and had all their city approvals and zoning entitlements in hand was contested all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court who sided on behalf of neighbors and an 8 story building was constructed instead. It is not uncommon to have delays for up to 5 years or even longer over law-suits and constant public meetings that create redesigns to meet guidelines established by resident groups that are restrictive and kill innovation which is a process that takes a long time.
There's a reason Chicago isn't building at staggering proportions relative to peer cities like we used to.
Really, again post suggesting Boston is PRICIER cause Chicago is meh and Hoods.
On size of city propers. Even with hoods. Chicago proper is still 5-times larger. Really. Just the North side of Chi is larger than Boston city.
Chicago: city-proper encompasses - 234 sq/miles. Only a small portion is water. Lake Michigan is not counted.
Boston: City Proper encompasses - 89 square miles - 1/2 of that being water - reduces it to just 48 sq/miles tiny SMALL to compare to Chicago then making Boston just 1/5 the size of Chicago.
Visitors continue to give Chicago high ratings snd reviews by visitors - LOVING the city and impressions surpassed. This high-end WORLD TRAVELER PUBLICATION is not mostly average visitors voting as subscribers.
* Chicago was named the "Best Big City" nationwide in Condé Nast Traveler's 2021 roundup for the fifth year in a row.
Chicago was also 15th in the WORLD. Only US cities above it were Aspen, CO and Charleston, SC. No US city in the top 10.
Of more than 800,000 readers who submitted responses of their travel experiences, Condé Nast Traveler showed the Windy City scored the best among major cities across the U.S. -- beating out New York City, New Orleans and Boston for the top spot.
"A world-class destination known for its impressive architecture, first-rate museums, brilliant chefs, and massive brewing scene, it’ll take several repeat visits to get through your list of must-dos," the magazine wrote.
After Chicago, the next nine top ranked cities were New York City, New Orleans, Boston, San Francisco, Washington D.C., San Diego, Portland, Honolulu and Nashville.
Conde' Nast - has HQ in NYC and offices in London too. It is pretty much a high-end Travelers info magazine taking recommendation and providing them and example getaways. So to get 800,000 subscribers to vote for Chicago #1 in the US.
~ Some Construction News just on Chicago's HOT MARKET - West Loop.
Sept 2021. * West Loop Boom Continues As City Council Approves More Than 1,300 New Apartments.
One development twin towers 47 story
and a 40 story one.
* Chicago recently TOPPED OUT (( 3 )) 50+story office towers. Salesforce Tower and BMO Tower and another the Bank of America Tower Chicago.
* Add the "SUPERTALL" topped out at nearly 80-stories recently also called - Chicago One tower. ALL residential with retail. St Regis Supertall topped out last year.
Please - Chicago is not dead and need not be lessened to claim why Boston stays more pricey. Some of you argued earlier in the thread Chicago is still pricy. There are REASONS ALSO NIMBY's hurt Boston for a more gentrified smaller city staying so pricey. Not cause Chicago sucks either. :
Really, again post suggesting Boston is PRICIER cause Chicago is meh and Hoods.
On size of city propers. Even with hoods. Chicago proper is still 5-times larger. Really. Just the North side of Chi is larger than Boston city.
Chicago: city-proper encompasses - 234 sq/miles. Only a small portion is water. Lake Michigan is not counted.
Boston: City Proper encompasses - 89 square miles - 1/2 of that being water - reduces it to just 48 sq/miles tiny SMALL to compare to Chicago then making Boston just 1/5 the size of Chicago.
Visitors continue to give Chicago high ratings snd reviews by visitors - LOVING the city and impressions surpassed. This high-end WORLD TRAVELER PUBLICATION is not mostly average visitors voting as subscribers.
Please - Chicago is not dead and need not be lessened to claim why Boston stays more pricey. Some of you argued earlier in the thread Chicago is still pricy. There are REASONS ALSO NIMBY's hurt Boston for a more gentrified smaller city staying so pricey. Not cause Chicago sucks either. :
I don't disagree with you about Chicago, I love the city, in fact I was married at 4th Presbyterian on Michigan Ave.
That being said, my in-laws have owned a condo on the 46th floor of 100 East Huron for 20 years which faces the lake and they are selling it. Currently they hope to break even but it's looking more like they will take a loss on it. I was in Chicago for 4th of July 2019 and there was a riot on the Navy Pier. From their condo I could see thousands of people in a stampede fleeing the waterfront.
I think Chicago is a better city than Boston but this crap doesn't happen in Boston.
I don't disagree with you about Chicago, I love the city, in fact I was married at 4th Presbyterian on Michigan Ave.
That being said, my in-laws have owned a condo on the 46th floor of 100 East Huron for 20 years which faces the lake and they are selling it. Currently they hope to break even but it's looking more like they will take a loss on it. I was in Chicago for 4th of July 2019 and there was a riot on the Navy Pier. From their condo I could see thousands of people in a stampede fleeing the waterfront.
I think Chicago is a better city than Boston but this crap doesn't happen in Boston.
there was a pretty significant riot in Boston. They broke into stores downtown and throughout a few other city neighborhoods and stole inventory. They set a police cruiser on fire. They also set a dunkin donuts on fire in Brockton MA. That’s definitely not why Boston is more expensive lol.
there was a pretty significant riot in Boston. They broke into stores downtown and throughout a few other city neighborhoods and stole inventory. They set a police cruiser on fire. They also set a dunkin donuts on fire in Brockton MA. That’s definitely not why Boston is more expensive lol.
But hey that’s part of the Boston magic. Nothin negative really sticks (aside from buss
ing/racism)
Breaking into a few stores on Newbury and breaking a couple windows in DTX for a couple hours was not remotely a similar scale to what happened in Chicago. Chicago had 18 murders in 24 hours in June 5th-6th and 24 that weekend. The city was legit in Chaos for a weekend
I don't disagree with you about Chicago, I love the city, in fact I was married at 4th Presbyterian on Michigan Ave.
That being said, my in-laws have owned a condo on the 46th floor of 100 East Huron for 20 years which faces the lake and they are selling it. Currently they hope to break even but it's looking more like they will take a loss on it. I was in Chicago for 4th of July 2019 and there was a riot on the Navy Pier. From their condo I could see thousands of people in a stampede fleeing the waterfront.
I think Chicago is a better city than Boston but this crap doesn't happen in Boston.
Agree. Prior to the last year or so, this type of stuff was uncommon downtown, and was mostly relegated to the neighborhoods. Downtown has had a huge crime uptick in the last year and a half. You don’t have to worry about this in Boston. Boston is much more clean cut, but still offers true big city experience. It’s one of the reasons I’m considering relocating to Boston, although I’m also considering warm weather destinations too.
there was a pretty significant riot in Boston. They broke into stores downtown and throughout a few other city neighborhoods and stole inventory. They set a police cruiser on fire. They also set a dunkin donuts on fire in Brockton MA. That’s definitely not why Boston is more expensive lol.
But hey that’s part of the Boston magic. Nothin negative really sticks (aside from buss
ing/racism)
Man it’s sad to see this happening in so many major cities. I have friends in LA and SF who are heartbroken at seeing sites like this downtown recently, and much more commonly.
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There are REASONS ALSO NIMBY's hurt Boston for a more gentrified smaller city staying so pricey. Not cause Chicago sucks either. :
