Insanity. You just make up stuff. You know close to nothing about Boston.
Let's put it this way ... for you to pretend you've experienced more Boston than myself, would be like me claiming to have experienced more DC than you.
We can drill (much) deeper on those issues if you'd like, but I get the sense from past inquires that you don't want to reveal that kind of detail, which I respect. Even though you've returned to a little friendlier tone with the name-calling, you'll note that I've not returned the name-calling, and folks here do notice that.
We can just leave it that I understand Boston better from 60+ years in the general locale, both near and far. And you know the Beltway area better than I do.
If you decide you want to push back, be prepared to share more of your personal experience than you have to date. Plus, don't forget, I know who you are.
That's not a threat, but it is a promise, and it's basically "rules of engagement" if you want to persist on your "I know everything better than all" posture. For the record, I've never doxxed you, and I have no plans to do so in the future. You can maintain your privacy, but if you spew BS, I'm here to call BS on you. And the only way you get to claim superior Boston insights is if you establish
bona fides on the topic. So far you haven't. Where we go next, is up to you.
It doesn't. It's happening. That's you, 50 Congress! You don't understand real estate development at all, Huckleberry. The financial district property is adjacent to Boston Harbor, some of the most valuable property in the country. It's all being repurposed.
This is going to be a boring response, so I'll give readers fair warning on this section ... anyway, you are partially correct, and so was I. Some commercial landlords have gotten conditional approvals, and I have no reason to doubt they will eventually go through. However, many of the commercial landlords have substantial (50% give or take) tenancy with commercial tenants, and there will be no eminent domain-style breaking of leases to ease the transition. Existing leases can be renegotiated, of course, and that might end up being the easiest part, as leases gradually expire. The more challenging parts will be determining the commercial vs. residential floorplans, unless these landlords decide to 100% ditch the commercial side, excepting ground floor retail, as there will be no shared access for commercial tenants into residential floors, and vice versa. And if you've been anywhere near the Financial District over the last 5-plus years, the ground floor retail spaces are less than 50% occupied. And last but hardly least ... where is the parking for the new residential tenants??
( ... the rest of you folks can come up for air now lol ... )
Ever hear of the loss of manufacturing jobs in the US? Boston politicians had nothing to do it. Those communities were built of blue collar jobs and still were functioning into the 1970s. Sal Lupoli is not going to save Lawrence. Service/retail jobs to NOT save communities. Swing through Winnipesaukee or Cape Cod from Jan 1 through May 1. Residential development is wonderful but its only as good as the economy the feeds the residents.
Quick hit before we get to the bigger issue ... Lupoli has converted over 6 million square feet of deserted former mill buildings (mostly in Lawrence) into a commercial-residential mix over the last 20+ years. Look up "Riverwalk Innovation District" in Lawrence, where 3.6 million are designated and occupied as commercial, with the rest as residential, right along the Merrimack River.
Lupoli has already saved Lawrence's core; not bad for a pizza slinger, eh?
Looking north, Manchester NH is now booming with the renovated Millyard District, which was no doubt the inspiration for Lupoli's work in Lawrence. And Nashua has won the designation of
Money's America's Most Livable City twice (1987 & 1997) and recently ranked at #7 on a more recent
Fortune list.
BTW, the communities around Winnipesaukee are doing just fine year round, thank you. Some on here can vouch for that. And Winnipesaukee's lure has never been just about Boston ... before the advent of widespread commercial flight, the Lakes and White Mountains were destinations for the entire East Coast. And for every Laconia that may be lagging a bit, you have the Merediths, Wolfeboros and Moultonboroughs (and all in between) to balance that all off. Thriving area.
As far as the Rust Belt goes ... of course Boston politicians didn't create it. But they have been abjectly late to the party in terms of responding to it, and doing more to share the "common wealth", to return to the phrase I mentioned in our last round. Other states have suffered the same consequences, yet the other states have also done far more to try to turn those communities around since than the folks on Beacon Hill have. Pittsburgh PA has been revived, and with it many former steel mill towns as its suburbs. Ditto Cleveland OH. Detroit never lost its affluent suburbs, and now the downtown area is in renaissance, with Baltimore (but you know that) and Buffalo slightly behind but steadily improving as well. In many cases, it's taken too long, but better late than never, and for
the MA Rust Belt casualties like NB/FR in the "South Coast" (which no one can see on their way to the Cape BTW), or Lynn and Brockton, they haven't even gotten to the "late" part yet. That Lowell has improved owes lots to Sen. Paul Tsongas (public) and Lawrence owes it to (yes) Sal Lupoli, a private investor. The rot in those left-behind Eastern MA cities is 100% on the politicians, and I haven't even mentioned Springfield/Holyoke at this point. (Spoiler alert - that's coming soon)
Last observation on this issue ... I recently traveled through Gary IN for the first time in about 25 years this past winter. The last few prior trips thru Gary (3) had led me to believe it was the most depressed and run-down spot I'd ever seen in the US - no small achievement, given its place in the Rust Belt, and with Bridgeport CT following a comfortable 2nd place behind it. But this time through, it had changed substantially for the better. Now mind you, the politicians in Indianapolis (center of state) are a few hours away from Gary, which in turn tucked up in the northeast corner of the state, close to Chicago. But Chicago's proximity did not help Gary when it crumbled due to loss of jobs ... and checking further, it was a public/private effort that has driven its comeback. So it's possible, but we'll pick that up next ...
Total rubbish. You simply haven't a clue about what's going on in Worcester County, but, heck, you're on a roll, right.
It's either disingenuousness or ignorance that limited your response to Worcester County, of course. Springfield and Holyoke (ever been??) are in Hampden County, and of course there are 3 other counties (Hampshire, Franklin and Berkshire) further west than Worcester. Per capita income in that region is a staggering 30% below that of the rest of the state. Pittsfield MA has more in common with Bennington VT than anything east of Springfield. The only money Beacon Hill allots to Western MA, 90% of that goes to UMass Amherst. East-West rail is a long rumored bad joke, as if Pittsfield folks want to work in Boston.
Again, if you want to compare
bona fides on personal and work experiences in and around Worcester, I'm game. But as stated above, you go first ...
To the extent that there is any wealth in your community, its origins are in Massachusetts. It certainly has nothing to do with non-recreational (seasonal) NH businesses. There's nothing wrong with that but please don't claim there's meaningful fiscal prosperity without Mass fingerprints on it.
Your repeated arguments on this front are not only tedious, but they are also exceedingly lazy to boot. At some point, the statute of limitations for credit on origin expires. I'm pretty sure London (UK) no longer receives or desires credit for their upstart colonies, and ditto "Boston" doesn't get any credit for some long-ago influences on NH. FWIW Downtown Boston was a crumbling sh!t-hole for the most part until the 1980's, but its proximity to the MIT's and Harvards definitely positioned it well for the dawn of the tech age. That helped NH get its foot in the door, sure ... but the two states are markedly different today than late last century, and more so in the last decade. That you come into Titletown once or twice a year doesn't make you an expert on how our State works, and what it looks like and runs like on a day-to-day basis. To coin a favorite phrase of yours that seems to have struck a chord, "you simply haven't (got) a clue". Last point ...
That's lol. None want to. If economics drive them home, so be it. No 30 year old in eastern Mass wants to move to Keene, of anyplace not in Portsmouth proper. Promise. Heck Sal Lupoli knows that.
As someone who has enjoyed the privilege of working with HS age (and beyond) athletes for the better part of the last generation (2001), writing their school and work recommendations, and tracking their successes in the real world - which is a sample of close to 200 young adults now - the amount of these folks who stick around 100% to succeed in tech jobs up here is pretty impressive, more than 50% overall (tech and otherwise). Of those who have left to pursue their lives (school, work and family) to the south of NH, my experience is that a slight majority of even those young adults come back home when they want to start a family OR have cut their teeth in the big city but want to start their own business up here in NH. The quality of life alone far outweighs hours that are wasted in traffic (even on weekends) down in the Hub; then when you figure the delta between saved MA income taxes with higher property taxes (NH), it's also a highly logical choice for that demographic.
Maybe it's different in Keene than where we are? From your lips to God's ear, I won't claim that expertise. Last time we visited, Keene seems lovely, with an active and bustling downtown scene attached to KSU just down the street. I'd pick it over Boston to live, and there's always Boston to visit.
As the saying goes ... Boston is a great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. And I can speak to that on personal lived experience, as most folks on here already know. Grew up down there, moved here to build a house and raise a family, and long ago had the money to sell here and move (comfortably) back there. Best decisions we ever made were to (1) leave when young, and (2) never go back. We made our lives up here, and MA had absolutely nothing to do with it.
Happy to continue the discussion on respectful terms, but truly, if you want to compare lived life
bona fides you're going to have to dig in and prove it
