Chiofaro Harbor Garage (new opinion)

After going to the second field trip I notice that its not easy to make a project and put it to work. Many people are involved in making the decision and it not only depends if it looks pretty or no. At first the government has a plan to develop the city as they explained to us in the field trip. Also nearby people can be affected by the view, the traffic, the noise, etc. so its very important to do something they need or they like so you can have their support. Business in the neighborhood can also be affected economically by new competitors created by your project so you need to find a way in which they can be benefited. Planning and developing a project like Chifaros takes a lot of time, money and leadership to convince all the people so your project can become true.

Field Trip

Hi everyone!!

When I went to the field trip I saw the idea of making the towers in the harbor garage from an other perspective, I found out there is much more to think about that just constructing a beautiful building with restaurants and shops. When we went to see everything from the top of a building I realize that making the 2 towers in the Harbor Garage would change the way Boston has been and it wouldn't look ass planned as everything looks right now. I think that in a way its a good project because it will definitely imporve tourism but as Mr. Berman said "Good things dont happen by accident, they require planning" and I definitely agree with him, I think this project can become a great thing but it definitely needs much more planning.
Going to the fild trip make me understand everything much better and looking at the model of how Boston will be in the next couple of years made me realize that Boston is as pretty as it is because every project has been talked about and planned.

Chiofaros project before going to the fild trip

When I herd the professor talking about the Chiofaro's project I thought it was very interesting, I thought it was a very good I idea to build two towers in the Harbor Garage. I think that the idea of making one of the towers a hotel and condos was great because there is alot of turism in that area and a lot of business which will keep it busy at all times. Also making offices in the other tower was another good idea. The Chiofaros project would definitely be a good project because they also wanted to make some stores in the buildings, like restaurants and stores wich will also increase the tourism there.
The only thing I would change is the height of the two buildings to satisfy the airports and the neighbors and that way the government will agree with the project.

Field trip

Hey .!! Well I really enjoyed the field trip, at first I was kind of sleepy cus it was really early in the morning but I like this field trips a lot because I see parts of boston that I haven’t seen.
The explanations that professor Berman gave us through the field trip starting at city hall then going to state room and so forth was really interesting and very descriptive.
The view in the state room its amazing and we all could have a better idea of how the city is organized and how beautiful it’s the architecture of all the buildings.
When we visited the garage I could understand a little bit more why a lot of people its against the Chiofaro’s project, it’s a tiny space where he is trying to build 2 of the most tallest building in the city witch will give the harbor a completely new look and of course many people don’t agree because they will block the view of many building located in downtown and also it will create more traffic in the Greenway zone that was made for pedestrians.
I really enjoyed the trip and I would have like it much better I we would of had more field trips in this semester.

Overview opinion after Field trip

Hi everyone, me as well as all of you really enjoyed the field trip. Professor Bruce really has connections for us to have gone up to the State Room to see the Harbor Garage and an incredible view of Boston. I honestly think that the Chiofaro Project has more cons than pros to what it can bring to a city like Boston. Boston is a beautiful city that can be admired for the way it was planned and on its constructions. It has big building but not enormoous buildings like in New York where you feel the wind because of the height of the buildings and where you cannot see the sky everywhere when you are walking because of the height of them. I think that the Chiofaro project should change that they can construct an underground parking because a place without parking is useless. The waterfront is not an area designated for a big building it will not fit in.... it will only create traffic jams and because of it's location the narrow streets and the impact that area has on tourists will only make it a disaster. A big building will only block the view of the neighboors nearby of the waterfront and it will definetly affect the atmosphere as well as affect how the city is built with all of a sudden two enormous towers in the middle of medium towers. I think it should not be approved something else like a museum, shops with restaurants with a green area should be developed because the waterfront is definietly a tourist area and not a financial area with offices, etc.
Here is attached some pictures I took from the state room!
Hope you enjoy!

Thoughts before visiting the Harbor Garage!

Hello everyone!!

Before I went to the Harbor Garage and actually see where Chiofaro’s project wants to take place in, I reviewed some of the articles on The Globe. I learned about the project, which the idea is to build two towers: one for condos and a hotel and the other one for offices. At first his idea was to build the towers at least 75 ft tall, but since the law that exists today in Boston, this becomes a problem for his project. Right now he agreed to lower the towers so that the neighbors and the government can approve his project and be happy about it. I also learned that because right now the garage is a 6 floors public parking, where all these cars are going to park. So I think this is a problem for that area of Boston, but as he will create some garage on his towers there will be no problem as long as he keeps low rates. I read that another problem he is facing is that they will interfere with the airplanes going to the Logan Airport, so he also needs to think about this and change the height of the towers.
Even though he is facing some problems, since the beginning I thought this project is an interesting project to Boston. I saw the pictures and I really like them. I think it will attract more people since he also wants to establish some restaurants and stores in the buildings. So it is good for tourism. Furthermore I think this project is good because it will create a lot of jobs. It can be another attraction of boston city due to the hotel, condos, restaurants and stores there not only for tourists but also fon companies and business man. Thus investing in infrastructure I think is always good. But is also important that Bostonians, the government and the neighbors like and accept the project, so he needs to convince them or make some changes to his project so they can all agree.

Claudia Rebollo...

Chiofaro's Project

Hi everyone and sorry for the delay well I have being reading a lot about the Chiofaro’s Project and reading a lot of different comments and in my opinion I think the Two Towers that Chiofaro is trying to build are going to give the city of Boston a new space for business and a new home for Bostonians to enjoy the city and the harbor itself. I understand that maybe the architecture is different and not as usual as the building that are in downtown but it is part f the evolution of the city itself, it is very difficult to change people’s minds but I think it’s a really good and innovative idea that will bring jobs and will have the harbor a newer and refreshing face.
As Chiofaro, developer of International Place, said at the time "We're trying to help people visualize what we want to create," "The existing garage blocks access to the waterfront, and we want to reopen that connection."
Chiofaro has being using some unusual tactics and he is really committed to make his project works and I really believe that he is going to achieve it. The harbor area has been in continues development and this project might become one of the most important together with the Greenway Project.
Im really anxious to see what is going to happened in this days with the projects and most of all to see how the city is going to look after building the towers.

2ndfieldtrip

Going to the field trip did not change what I thought about building something on harbor garage, because I really think having something built on the harbor garage will make boston grow in a lot of aspects, there are lots and lots of garages so one less is not harmful at all.

I really support these project because I think there are many ways to build something that will not affect the harbor in a negative way, they should come to an agreement by negotiating something in which they both win something.

This project will really help Boston grow in so many ways and will really benefit it more that the harbor garage. This will need a really huge negotiation between government, neighbors, the Chiofaro's project people, as well as surrounding business such as the aquarium.

Everyone can be satisfied with the results of this projects, they just need to see each point of view and complaining and create something according to the agreement they will take.

Second Field Trip

Hi everyone!!

I forgot to put my post about my thoughts before the field trip. So here they are.

First of all, before seeing the site for myself I though it was a really good place to put the development and it would actually help the neighborhood and the city's development, because right now I think that Boston is a really nice city, very clean and the people are very polite but lets be realistic, there is a large amount of tourist every year and the harbor garage is not an attraction for the tourist and it would be more like something ugly stock in the middle of the New England Aquarium and the Rose Fitzgerald Greenway, and I truly believe that i would create a must-see spot for the tourists and it will enhance that part of the boston harbor and it will create a fair amount of jobs.

I also read about the complains of the neighbors, and i agree with them also because they are afraid that this really tall complex will block the view, but actually the actual garage is not making a better job on it.

Also Chiofaro has agree in removing the sky-frame from the towers and lower the tallest one in order to not to interfere with the regulations of the Logan Airport.

Another point for the neighbors is that probably he could do a smaller complex in that way it wouldn't block the sunlight from the greenway and also it wouldn't interfere with the Aquarium and still doing some good to the community.

So i believe Chiofaro should get to some kind of agreement with the authorities and the neighbors from Boston Harbor to build something for the benefit of all.

before to start to give my opinion about the project i would like to say that the trip was really amazing and we learnt a lot of things.

concerning the project of chifofaro i stil think that it would be a good project for many reasons:
First of all because of the impact that it would have on the city ( economic, touristics, ...). it will certainly create thousands and thousands of jobs and opportunities for the future of the city.

But my opinion changed when we went to the city hall and when i saw boston miniature. when i saw this huge bulding in the middle i thought :" they cant do that "
because they really cant its to much in the middle and all boston's charm will be destroyed.
Boston is one of the only city in the US who has a very famous history with all the buldings so if you put something in the middle whats going to happened?? the city will have no more sense...

the mayor and the city hall , they really have to think about the pros and cons of this project but anyway the trip was very very good :-)

before I went to the harbor garage

Before I went to the see the Greenway as well as the Harbor Garage, I agreed with the Chiofaro’s project. I did some research about Mr. Donald J. Chiofaro, he is a really famous developer here in Boston. He got the idea of buying the Harbor Garage to built two towers. In one of them he would build apartments and in the other one he plans to build offices. He has to confront several issues. One of them is that he has talk to the government and see if they allow him to build this towers, the problem is that it interferes with the airplanes, since it is near to the airport there could be some issues about this. Another problem is that most of the neighbors are opposed to this project. So before I went to see any of the landscape, I agreed with this project, because first of all, it will create many jobs. Recently, the world had several issues in the economy; one of the countries with more problems was the USA. So I believed that for the moment, it is very important that projects like this create jobs, this will help a lot of people who have no jobs and they have a lot of debts. Even though many people believe that it could affect the landscape of the harbor and the Greenway, I believe that it could bring tourists too. I really hope he gets permission for the building of these towers.