http://www.daniel-libeskind.com/projects/show-all/new-center-for-arts-and-culture/

Now that James Hook has burned down, perhaps this building could punctuate the bridge and address the Fort Point Channel and help define that edge?

And City Mouse, yes, parts of the Harborwalk I don’t feel safe at during the day – especially the short area near East Berkeley on the SE side, and past Gillette and near the Macallen Bldg on the seaport side. I haven’t walked the channel this spring yet, so maybe it has improved. Last year there were the youngest group of guys (early 30s?) camping out I have seen on the streets.

But as a co-worker just reminded me, you can’t go many places in Boston now without seeing a lot of homeless on the streets – not just in neighborhoods like the South End, but also in the Common.

Again, I’m not a cruel, uncaring Republican or Libertarian or whatever group thinks that government shouldn’t be involved. But it seems that Boston is too small to solve all these issues. As the largest city in Massachusetts, and in New England, we are forced to deal with problems that other communities don’t need to bother with. Who ends up on the streets in Dover or Manchester-by-the-Sea? If we had a Federal government that realized that cities like Boston can’t and shouldn’t handle these problems on their own – and yes, it is a problem, not an “alternative living arrangement” as one person I know describes it, as this supposedly conveys more respect. (I have been a liberal Democrat all my life, but it seems that there are forces from the radical left that seem to think I might as well vote for McCain if I don’t agree with their entire platform).

I am rather new to blogs, so I an learning how difficult it is to stay on topic.

Back to what was originally posted: the Greenway, over time, has the potential to be a great public space, and we need to be mindful of how difficult of a job it is for the planners to do something that everyone agrees with.

Unlike John P., I think the New Center is a fabulous design, and we need something bold to cover up those ramps. I agree with him that Rowes Wharf arch is a great vista, but if we bring more people down to this area as these arts buildings will, they will see the arch as the best gateway to the Harbor. The New Center design is not hostile to its setting – unlike the streetscape around the Marriott Hotel on the waterfront. How did that beast get built?

Must have been the bad weather getting me down.

I also wasn’t thrilled to see that building right in front of the Rowe’s Wharf arch. I would have preferred to have open space in front of the arch because it is one of the nicest structures on the waterfront let alone City. I think if more people were aware that they were parking this building there the project might face more problems.