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DEVELOPMENT

LETTERS
Rendering of Don Chiofaro's proposed skyscraper on the Boston waterfront.
Bullish on Boston
Readers weigh in on developer Don Chiofaro's stalled plan for the Boston Harbor waterfront.

IDEAS | Jarred Johnson and Luc Schuster
The MBTA Commuter Line at the Upham's Corner station in May 2020.
A key to a better Boston, hiding in plain sight
Want a cleaner, more prosperous, more equitable region? Upgrading commuter rail would unlock all those benefits.

Joan Vennochi
A rendering of Don Chiofaro's proposed tower. It doesn’t seem fair for developers to negotiate with the city for years and then find out all that time, energy, and money mean nothing because one state entity wrongly deferred decision-making to another.
Boston needs believers like Don Chiofaro
I’m not a fan of Chiofaro’s waterfront tower. Yet I do admire his resilience and continued belief in Boston, at a time when cities need believers.

Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner
If the California high-speed rail project were an aberration, it wouldn’t be of interest to anyone except California taxpayers. But it’s no aberration. It is an extreme example of a general phenomenon.
For infrastructure projects to succeed, think slow and act fast
Rushed planning is how dreams become fiascos.

Joan Vennochi
If infrastructure money comes through for the east-west rail link, no one expects such drama in Massachusetts. It’s more a question of priorities, and who’s driving the train — Baker or “Governor” Neal?
With infrastructure money, who’s driving the train? Gov. Baker or ‘Gov.’ Neal?
A carefully calibrated federal-state partnership is required.

LETTERS
The lecture hall at Somerville's new high school.
Buildings don’t design themselves
In reading about the new Somerville High School, I was disappointed, to read not a single mention of the architects or engineers.

LETTERS
There has been a call to save some 250 mature trees slated to be cut down to make way for the redevelopment of the Bunker Hill public housing development in Charlestown.
Trees in the path of public housing in Charlestown: ‘false choice’ or real trade-off?
The Charlestown Resident Alliance has been at the table for more than four years and is acutely familiar with the complex details and challenges of this project.

LETTERS
A lot and maintenance facility owned by the Post Office appeals to developers. Residents of the Fort Point neighborhood want assurances that promised park space is created in the area.
Fort Point plan gives Boston another shot at a true destination waterfront
All of this is in stark contrast to the Seaport District when its development began.

LETTERS
The frontage road area looking toward downtown Boston was captured in a 2014 aerial file photo, when the location was a proposed site for the Summer Olympics.
Climate resilience is the best investment city could make at Widett Circle
This area just south of downtown Boston was historically open water, and it already floods regularly.

IDEAS | JONATHAN BERK
Streets that put people first, not cars
Other cities have reconfigured their urban grids to improve public health and local economies. Boston can do it too.