Interesting read-Home buyers weary of Greater Boston prices are slipping south to Rhode Island (Cambridge: neighborhood, school)

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by lrfox

No. It has has the electrified infrastructure in place (because Amtrak installed it for their electrified service which uses the same tracks), it's not electrified service for the MBTA. They're still using the same old, slow, stinky diesel locomotives on Providence that they're using on on every other line. So it is an issue because the line has all of the limitations that every other line has. If they want to start running electrified trains (the article mentions discussions with Amtrak about leasing locomotives for a pilot), they'll either have to overhaul the entire system aside from the PVD line, or they'll have to have separate equipment just for the PVD line (which is expensive/not great for backups if there are issues).

I believe MARC (Maryland) has a single electrified line under a similar setup (on already electrified Amtrak line) between DC and Baltimore. They seem to do it there no sweat.

[BostonBornMassMade]

Originally Posted by massnative71

I believe MARC (Maryland) has a single electrified line under a similar setup (on already electrified Amtrak line) between DC and Baltimore. They seem to do it there no sweat.

You get from Downtown Bmore to Downtown DC in 40 minutes without a hitch. Massachusetts is just insane:. They make efforts to create new ways to make things difficult

[smc733]

Originally Posted by yellowstatus

smc733 makes a bold prediction of reversion of a global boom in the largest and most desirable cities. I grew up in middle of nowhere midwest where housing was cheap; 30 years later, housing is still cheap and job growth anemic. Buying a home in Boston metro is a bet on drug discovery based on genetic sequencing, continued growth of Google, Amazon, Facebook, and increasing wealth of the top 1%. I'll take that bet over secondary auto part supplier, soybean farming, or shopping mall retail. Moving to Boston has been the among the best decisions of my life; my salary is at least 5x what i'd be making in my old home town. The work is less grueling and more intellectually interesting as well. No amount of cheap housing would incentivize me to move back.

Sorry, you misunderstood my post.

It's not that metro Boston as a whole will ever turn down and people will go back to the sticks. As shrewsburried mentioned, it's whether or not Malden, despite it's old housing stock, sub-par infrastructure, and general crappy vibe, will continue to skyrocket, or whether it will plateau while places like Littleton, Acton, Chelmsford, etc... will start to grow again by being "near" in proximity, but too far for a 5x a week commute in current traffic conditions.

Metro Boston isn't going down any time soon. The immediate suburbs might see their meteoric growth slow, though, if changing conditions take hold.

[yesmaybe]

Originally Posted by smc733

I think this is going to violently reverse, as millennials realize the artisan donuts are getting old and want more for their money. Just as the flight to the suburbs reversed, so too will the flight into the cities. Remote work, as someone else mentioned, will also become increasingly more popular and will remove a significant desirability for what is really old and crappy housing stock near the city.

If you move out to the burbs, you'd need a car regardless of where you work. Plus it would be much more difficult to get roommates to live with you. That kind of kills the cost savings unless/until prices in the burbs implode, and by the time that happens you probably wouldn't want to live there.

People doing remote work will just leave New England entirely.

[City Guy997S]

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

that same apartment in MA is like 3k.

1K a month more...........$33 a day and you don't have to ride the train 2 hours a day/10 hours a week?

[Dm84]

Originally Posted by City Guy997S

1K a month more...........$33 a day and you don't have to ride the train 2 hours a day/10 hours a week?

It's way worse than that. Everyone forgets you can't just walk out the door 1 minute before the train leaves. You need to be at the station about 10 minutes before plus however long it takes you to get from your house to the train and however long it takes to get from the station to the office. The quoted 1 hour trip is pure fantasy.

[Shrewsburried]

Originally Posted by yesmaybe

If you move out to the burbs, you'd need a car regardless of where you work. Plus it would be much more difficult to get roommates to live with you. That kind of kills the cost savings unless/until prices in the burbs implode, and by the time that happens you probably wouldn't want to live there.

People doing remote work will just leave New England entirely.

The concentration of businesses along the 95/128 belt suggest A) corporate leadership disagrees with your thesis, and B) an overwhelming number of high wage earners in greater Boston have a vehicle.

My incredibly small sample size suggests the "no car" Boston crowd consists of: poor people, college students (see also poor people), transplants from high density global cities who begrudgingly persist, and NYC transplants who evangelize "no car living" while also having the SO cart them around everywhere.

I am, by no means, pro-car. My ideal scenario would be a bike-friendly environment similar to the Netherlands; however, MA infrastructure makes living car-less extremely unsatisfying. I say this as someone who lived car-less in Boston and lamented the condition as it's not a robust metro area like NYC.

[Dm84]

Originally Posted by Shrewsburried

The concentration of businesses along the 95/128 belt suggest A) corporate leadership disagrees with your thesis, and B) an overwhelming number of high wage earners in greater Boston have a vehicle.

My incredibly small sample size suggests the "no car" Boston crowd consists of: poor people, college students (see also poor people), transplants from high density global cities who begrudgingly persist, and NYC transplants who evangelize "no car living" while also having the SO cart them around everywhere.

I am, by no means, pro-car. My ideal scenario would be a bike-friendly environment similar to the Netherlands; however, MA infrastructure makes living car-less extremely unsatisfying. I say this as someone who lived car-less in Boston and lamented the condition as it's not a robust metro area like NYC.

Correct. You can live without a car in Boston but it will severely constrict your options for many things. Sure you can adapt to the situation but life is much easier with a car.

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by Dm84

Correct. You can live without a car in Boston but it will severely constrict your options for many things. Sure you can adapt to the situation but life is much easier with a car.

Couldn't agree more. I lived 6 years in Boston without a car and made do, mostly because I didn't know any better. Have had a car for the last year and can't believe how I did without it. I still don't commute with it, but for everything else? Yes, I'm absolutely driving for anything i'd prefer to do in under 2 hours. The idea that you don't need a car in Boston is a bit of a half-truth at best. Most people on my street have cars, cars are everywhere on the road. It's not necessarily a good thing, but it is a thing, and I totally understand why.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by lrfox

Maybe, but that seems unlikely to me. I've read before that the approach angles to South Station would be too steep. Plus the bus terminal is already above the current platforms and I'm not sure where you'd relocate it. Not sure how it would work if South Station Tower ever gets moving either.

Definitely agree on that front. All of our trains should be autonomous (inc. subway lines). And I think that for many of the non-urban lines, a one or two car EMU would be all that's needed during off-peak hours. I've been on EMUs in Japan that separate depending on the stop/destination. It's pretty impressive. 6 car trains that split into two trains - a 2 and a 4 car set. The smaller traveling out to more rural/remote stops. I'd love to see something similar here, but it feels like that's fantasyland territory to me given our current system.

The track can be up to 5 percent grade. The trains coming up from the south would have ample space to get to an upper deck. The approach from Back Bay Station, probably not. That allows you to run high frequency express service to New Beige, Fall Reeve, Middleboro/Lakeville, the Cape, Greenbush, Plymouth, Kingston. ...on those EMUs that separate and merge as needed. You run all the trains that use Back Bay Station to the existing platforms and new ones at the post office. Also, you do the Philly thing on the upper deck where you can take the escalator down and connect for free on the next train to Back Bay Station. I used to do Amtrak to 30th Street Station and then free commuter rail to Suburban Station to get to the evil Death Star above it all the time.


There's really no reason why Worcester, Providence, Fall River, New Bedford, etc shouldn't be a 30 minute express ride.