Tag: tufts university
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Grow Up, Boston
Boston is facing an identity crisis, and it needs to grow up – literally. Is it a global city, with ample night life opportunities, or a New England town, shutting down with the MBTA before midnight? In many respects, Boston’s identity is based upon its backbone – its outdated, stressed transportation infrastructure. Relatively unique to…
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Connect
It’s winter again in Boston. Anyone who was there last year during February and March knows what that means. The ability to move about the city could come to a screeching halt in the blink of an eye. . The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA, or the “T”) completely shut down last winter after repeated large winter storms,…
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Thinking Beyond Buildings
Public transportation authorities often do not control zoning and land use laws, and they also operate amidst a sea of privately-owned land. In fact, America’s land use laws are arguably reflected by its LEED incentives. The LEED Neighborhood Development Rating System rightly incentivizes LEED construction in transit-oriented communities by prioritizing an access to quality transit, with…
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TOD: Transit-Owned Development
Summary: New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is constantly running trains, but it is also constantly running a deficit. Unlike profitable transportation companies, such as the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway (MTR), the MTA has few valuable real estate assets which could be adequately transformed into transit-oriented and transit-owned joint development hubs. Similar to other…
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Extensions & Expansions
As local lore has it, when a relative asked Charles Tufts what he would do with his land, and more specifically with “that bleak hill over in Medford,” Tufts replied, “I will put a light on it.” The Universalist Church founded Tufts University in the 1840s with a gift of 20 acres of land from Boston…
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Creative Class Controvery
What happens when a university, which emphasizes active citizenship and creativity, ironically destroys creative space behind closed doors? It’s not the same as when a university takes over a transportation hub, or when a university takes over a neighborhood — be it in Boston or New York. No, this is a catch-22 expansion into the domain…