There's so much winning going on in Boston right now, what with fresh development adding thousands of apartments, condos, hotel rooms, and dorms citywide; passionate debate about the future of neighborhoods; fabulous new architecture, public art, and parkland; and just a general acknowledgment that all the change afoot seems as manageable as much as it seems inevitable. Some Boston neighborhoods are changing faster and more than others, with five in particular that may be unrecognizable a few years out.
Seaport District
Any list of changing-est Boston neighborhoods has to include the Seaport District. There, new residential developments such as the uber-pricey Twenty Two Liberty and the billowy, 110-unit proposed at 150 Seaport Boulevard (rendered above) are adding much needed vitality to the area, with more retail sure to follow in their wakes. The neighborhood is also due to host one of the more interestingly designed commercial towers in the entire city at 120 Seaport Boulevard. Oh, and the GE HQ, and all that that gong-rattling news entails.
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Northeastern South End
We've banged on about this area for more than two years now. Several new projects where I-93 meets the Turnpike, including the multifaceted Ink Block, the controversial Lucas (rendered), and the block-long 575 Albany Street, are set to add thousands of apartments and condos—and therefore thousands of residents. All total, we're talking something like a dozen large-scale developments happening almost simultaneously. We're also talking maisonettes. And a Whole Foods.
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The West End/North End Borderlands
One project in particular is driving the change in this area (though there are others): the recently underway Hub at Causeway, a multi-pronged project on the site of the old Boston Garden that will loose 1.5 million square feet of apartments, hotel rooms, offices, and retail, including Boston's biggest supermarket (part of it is rendered above). There's also the 239-unit apartment project on the Bulfinch Triangle site known as Parcel 1B. It's being called the biggest workforce- and affordable-housing project in Boston in a quarter-century. (And what'd you know? It breaks ground today.) There's also the under-construction Lovejoy Wharf, which already includes Converse's new HQ and will include 175 parking-less condos.
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Brighton
Out in Brighton, one slowly opening development is creating what's been called a new western gateway for Boston. The 15-acre Boston Landing already includes a 250,000-square-foot headquarters for sneaker kingpin and lead developer New Balance (part of it is pictured above); and will soon include flourishes such as a hotel, a practice rink for the Bruins, and housing (condos or apartments TBD). Boston Landing also spawned a fresh commuter-rail station. Elsewhere in Brighton, the Lancaster proved that new Boston condos need not bust the bank.
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Downtown Crossing
Like with the Seaport, one can't seriously talk about change in Boston without talking about Downtown Crossing. One development in particular, which is expected to open this year, is driving much of that change: Millennium Tower, the 690-foot (give or take) wonder with the multi-multi-million-dollar condos and junior Olympic pool. Will its residents join those at the three-year-old Millennium Place, as well as the guests of the just-opened Godfrey boutique hotel, in finally pulling the neighborhood over the hump from 9-to-5 to 24-7. Stay tuned. Millennium Tower has already wrought retail like the Roche Bros. and Primark.
· Boston's Dorm-Construction Boom, Mapped [Curbed Boston]
· Boston's Biggest Apartment-Building Openings of 2015, Mapped [Curbed Boston]
· Updating Our Map of the Many Hotels Going Up in Boston [Curbed Boston]
· Twenty Two Liberty Sales: Gobsmacking As Everyone Thought [Curbed Boston]
· Greater Boston Public Art: the Most Memorable of 2015 [Curbed Boston]
· Another Glassy Boston Tower: 250-Footer For the Seaport [Curbed Boston]
· Let's All Cheer the Seaport's Super-Elliptical Office Tower [Curbed Boston]
· What GE Employees Will Find Housing-Wise in Boston [Curbed Boston]
· Boston's Old Northern Avenue Bridge Apparently Doomed [Curbed Boston]
· The 11 Projects Transforming Boston's South End Forever [Curbed Boston]
· South End's Boomlet Echoes On: Two More Apartment Buildings [Curbed Boston]
· At the New Ink Block, Even the Men's Room Is Worth Seeing [Curbed Boston]
· Will Maisonettes Catch On in Boston? The Ink Block Gambles [Curbed Boston]
· The Hub at Causeway: the Details on the Big TD Garden Party [Curbed Boston]
· Construction to Start on Big Bulfinch Triangle Project [Curbed Boston]
· Four Developments Rocking Boston's World Right Now [Curbed Boston]
· Inside the Spaceship: New Balance's Boston Landing HQ [Curbed Boston]
· Apartments or Condos? Giant Boston Landing Mulls Options [Curbed Boston]
· Brighton's Brand-New Lancaster: In the End, Not That Pricey [Curbed Boston]
· Can a Millennium Tower Penthouse Get $2,500 a Square Foot? [Curbed Boston]
· Inside the Grocery Store for Downtown Crossing's 1 Percent [Curbed Boston]
· Millennium Place Penthouse Kicks Off the Year's Mega-Listage [Curbed Boston]
· Exclusive Tour of Downtown Crossing's New Godfrey Hotel [Curbed Boston]
· The Tower That Hopes to Remake Downtown Crossing [Curbed Boston]
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