It's one of the side effects of the city's historic construction boom that's plunking some 14 million square feet of apartments, hotels and offices pretty much all over town: the eradication of views for existing homeowners, tenants and office workers. There are no hard-and-fast statistics, but the Globe's Beth Teitell serves up strong anecdotal gruel that a lot of views are disappearing, probably forever, and a lot of people are upset about it.
For example: "'They took my sky,' said Anita Greenberg as she stood in her seventh-floor living room on Peterborough Street in the Fenway and glared accusingly at the Viridian apartment tower on nearby Boylston Street." Indeed, it appears residents in Fenway and South Boston are seeing (or not seeing, as the case may be) this downside of the construction boom most acutely. Several high-rising projects, including the aforementioned 18-story Viridian, are going up in those neighborhoods in rapid succession.
Such angst at view-losing also helps explain at least some of the opposition to projects such as the long-stalled Boston Harbor Garage redevelopment and the similarly delayed 40 Trinity Place in Back Bay. What'd you think? Are lost views a small price to pay for much-needed new housing? It does really stink to look outside and see wall where sky/water/parkland once was. One guy Teitell talked to had his view stolen by a new Target. Come on.
· Shifting Boston Skyline Means Congestion On the Horizon [Globe]
· Big Grand Opening Set for Fenway's 18-Story Viridian [Curbed Boston]
· Back Bay's 40 Trinity and Its Lobby in the Sky Ain't Dead [Curbed Boston]
· Ceaseless Boston Harbor Garage Saga Takes a Major Turn [Curbed Boston]
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