This area could use some more life
Green downtown up! Cover every inch of downtown — including roofs and vertical “parks” on buildings — with plants: Evergreens for winter and pollinator-friendly flowers for summer. Humans are attracted to green, living things, brightness, and innovation. Downtown is dark and drab. Imagine green walls, trees, beehives, plant-supporting wooden sculptures, herbariums for public use, greenhouses, and even hawk and owl boxes to help control the rat and pigeon populations. So many possibilities! Rainfall harvesting could be used to water all those plants. The Greenway is a huge success. The Muddy River is coming along slowly. It’s downtown’s turn for a green renaissance. — Katherine Neave, 60, Brookline
Dorms are one answer
Get universities to house their students downtown. They could convert lower floors in older office buildings (which are often the first to become vacant) into dorms. I think the students would enjoy living downtown. This would also free up housing in many neighborhoods for families. Also, make the MBTA free during certain times of the week to get people downtown to spend money. Incentives work. — Lawrence S. DiCara, 74, Boston
A new community offering hope
Boston’s medical facilities should take advantage of the vast resources afforded to them and lease a downtown Boston property to open a fully integrated harm reduction and treatment center, including recovery services, housing, and reentry services for individuals and families dealing with addiction. The barriers typically facing individuals and families include housing, transportation, coordination of services, and employment. I have been actively involved with building Recovery Ready Communities in New Hampshire and southern Maine, and I see an opportunity in downtown Boston. — Mark Lefebvre, 66, Hampton Falls, N.H.
Jumpstart startups
Post a sign in each empty downtown storefront featuring a QR code and the question “What should go here?” If they’re local, ask them if they want to start the business they suggest or know someone who does, and then maybe connect them with resources like real estate agents, landlords, the city government, financing, and others to start making these business ideas happen. — Garth Frantzen, 31, Boston
Slow down, relax
This is the WILD one that’s going to shock people here in Boston, but other cities across the US, including Grand Rapids, Mich., have experimented with “Social Zones.” These zones allow people to buy a drink to go from a restaurant, enjoy it out in the street, and even shop at nearby small businesses with their drinks. — Jonathan Berk, 37, Salem
More happenings
Last spring, I attended an art event located on two floors of a vacant office building in midtown Manhattan. Offices, hallways, and conference rooms became mini-galleries for artists — can’t we do the same in Boston? There are so many artists in Boston seeking space for their work. Surely, there must be buildings with great light, street-level access, kitchens, and restrooms that would make them the perfect place for art events, studios, and galleries. — Andi Pollinger, 67, Boston
A clean, well-lighted place to work
The city should establish “community work hubs.” Remote work is here to stay, but not everyone has the space, internet access, or calm home environment in which to work remotely. The city should convert some empty office spaces into co-working spaces (community work hubs, or CWHs) with subsidies for low-income workers and entrepreneurs. To encourage downtown spending and MBTA use, the city could focus on setting up CWHs in vacant office buildings near T stops. — Nick Caros, 32, Boston
Ye olde Boston
Tourists, businesses, and residents alike love a cobblestone square. Choose three to five downtown intersections to make pedestrian-only, turn the asphalt to cobblestones, and encourage businesses in the square to have outdoor space (think London). People will go from square to square, have a drink, grab a bite, or shop. For those concerned about snow plows, I say deal with it; we barely get any snow anyway anymore. For cyclists, leave a bike lane through squares, as needed. — Ross Sigmund, 56, Charlestown
Listen to the kids
I’m a teacher at Richard J. Murphy K-8 School in Dorchester, and my students have some ideas for downtown Boston, including: a cat cafe, a night market, a child-friendly arcade, a dance studio, a multicultural center, a soup kitchen, and last but not least, a Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers fast food restaurant! — Aoife Devine, Dorchester