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WINTER STREET CAFE

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P E R C E P T I O NS H I F T :anURBANREVISIONINGofWASHINGTONSTREETinBOSTON

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SHIFT:CARS to PEOPLErationalizing traffic flows are key to overcoming poor 20th cen-tury planning. create an “inner beltway” that dedicates two-way traffic to better move localized traffic to the larger capacity arte-rials. by doing so it frees the smaller scale feeder streets from continuing to act as “shortcut” thru streets and putting unnec-essary traffic into downtown crossing area.

to understand where its future should be, obviously we must examine its past. as with many cities in the post-wwII era, boston adopted the super block mentality for spurring development. in the case of downtown crossing, it destroyed viable & beautiful building fabric and streets them selves to make way for large-scale suburban-esque retail approaches. with them came more knockdowns to make way for the parking structures thought to be needed to draw suburbanites to the urban centers for their shopping. we learned that it fails over time due to the eradication of smaller businesses and the “turning of the back” to the residents themselves

SHIFT:HARRIED to WANDERINGbe decisive about the city’s stance on pedestrians. washington street becomes a true pedestrian zone from essex street all the way north to court street (at the OLD STATE HOUSE) connect-ing to the existing Fanueil Hall pedestrian zone. the creation of a transit hub at the newly named BEDFORD SQUARE, gives a rejuvenated theater district a proper front yard with an urban square beset with the existing mbta: orange line stop (china-town) as well as a new strategy with the silver line.

SHIFT:COMPLEXITY to ACCESSIBILITYa strategy to resolve a cumbersome transit issue couples with the traffic strategy (above), in that a simplification of the routing of the silverline BRT’s that come from dudley square (roxbury) to now BEDFORD SQUARE then directly to south station, then loops back, is now a clear mode of operation and assists mak-ing the new square a true destination point

winter street becomes restaurant row, whose critical mass evokes a more european streetscape

a new plaza and gateway to the pedestrian zone, now free of cars, allows for a more measured stroll

stalled development turns into opportunity that opens up to the meandering pedestrian path

SHIFT:BLAME to OPPORTUNITYseize opportunities to evoke change in the “failed state” men-tality and work as a whole to overcome issues. in the case of stalled tower development, a design for a central gathering space for the MIDDLE of the “blighted site” serviced by all local restaurant owners as a “pot luck” cafe

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a former parking lot becomes theater district’s plaza and a new silver line transit hub

SHIFT:retail

incorporating smaller scale busi-nesses in modular structures as well as subdividing larger scale retail remnants, allows for a broader diversity & more sus-tainable economic models