There’s a lot of hope that Mayor Marty Walsh will make good use of his building trade experience in spurring smart growth across the board. The prediction makes sense; during his campaign, the former union honcho and state lawmaker convincingly explained that he’ll be in a prime position to help lubricate negotiations between Boston, labor, and developers, not unlike the function he served straddling the former two in deal-making capacities for years.
That’s great news. Other than the litany of class and gentrification issues dredged up in the building boom (and that the Dig has tracked attentively), it’s exciting to see Boston upgrade its old self and propel toward the future. Likewise, the coming public infrastructure tear-downs and built-outs–from urban squares to overpasses–range from needed to necessary. Never mind how much they cost taxpayers.
Still, despite all those bonuses, for the time-being, developments are a pain in the metropolitan ass. Boston is already a notoriously labyrinthine cityscape, hostile to its own natives and disarmingly unnavigable for outsiders. As visitors who exit I-93 on Mass Ave and smash their rims on the inexplicably treacherous curb on Melnea Cass quickly learn, there ought to be signs with Calvin spelling out “GO FUCK YA SELF” in urine while Hobbes fixes a flat. If that inaccessibility’s not bad enough, as you’ll see in the accompanying data-driven graphics, it’s also getting louder. Here’s a road map to the coming metro mayhem.
Infographic by Scott Murry | @hotdogtaco
Like other oddball Dig investigations through the years, our hypothesis that Boston will become increasingly loud over the next few months began as just that–a hunch, based on the constant and increasing aggravation of construction blocking traffic and the racket that surrounds development. From there, we dug deep into the data, searching for legitimate and traceable trends related to commotion–namely, daytime-hour noise complaints reported through the city’s Citizens Connect app, and data culled from every work permit pulled during targeted time frames.
As it turns out–as far as volume complaints and construction are adequate barometers of noise–we were correct about the looming damage to our eardrums. Though there were approximately the same number of loud work complaints in the past six months as were filed between September and March of the previous year, there’s been a 36 percent increase in the amount of permits issued. In other words, there are in excess of 2,500 more chances for trucks, jackhammers, and drills to become the soundtrack to your spring.
In the accompanying map of Boston, we’ve represented the neighborhood-by-neighborhood tallies of work noise complaints from September 2013 through the present, as well as the total number of pulled permits, from commercial gas to residential demolition and conversion projects (the former are presented as construction barriers–one for each complaint–while the latter are represented by one helmet for approximately every 100 permits). Needless to say, this is hardly a precise science. These are, however, hard numbers, so you’d better grab your hard hat and headphones.
One thing is for certain when it comes to the sound of this city in the coming months and years: it’s going to be loudest downtown, from the North End and the Financial District, all the way to Beacon Hill and Kenmore Square. According to data gleaned for the analysis herein, all the nooks circling the Common combined accounted for about one-third of daytime noise complaints and nearly 3,500 building permits over the past six months. This spring, from small fixes to skyscraper construction, the result will certainly be more police details than you can swing a baton at, and an overall disturbance of the peace that’s sure to ruin any lunch break. Here are some select spots to avoid until the ribbon-cutting.
PROJECT: Longfellow Bridge Rehabilitation (Beacon Hill)
SPECS:
-In all, an estimated 3.5-year long project.
-Includes replacement of Red Line tracks.
-Part of Governor Deval Patrick’s Accelerated Bridge Program, which also includes improvements to the Craigie Drawbridge and the Anderson Memorial Bridge among other “structurally deficient bridges in the Lower Basin area of the Charles River.”
PROJECT: Filene’s Redevelopment (Downtown Crossing)
SPECS:
-After years of sitting wrapped in plastic and hobbling the grand attempt to activate the downtown pedestrian mall, construction on this Boston fixture finally resumed last September.
-There are lofty plans for this legacy location, with an expected 425 luxury condos in a 625-foot-tall residential tower that will include offices and retail space to boot.
-You never know what such a mammoth operation will ultimately cost, but projections have already reached $620 million.
PROJECT: New Waterfront Hotels (Innovation District)
SPECS:
-According to experts and officials, no matter how many hotels Boston builds, there’s still an economically debilitating shortage of guest rooms.
-To fix this alleged problem, there will eventually be a 320-room expansion of the Westin Boston Waterfront by the convention center, but first work is underway on a 180-room Element hotel and a 330-room Aloft companion.
-Construction on the two aforementioned projects–both Starwood Resorts properties–is slated to continue through 2015.
PROJECT: Government Center Renovation Project (City Hall Plaza)
SPECS:
-If you haven’t heard the awfully inconvenient news yet, sorry to break it to you, but the Government Center T stop is closing for two years. You heard that right. Two. Whole. Years.
-Jokes aside, contractors will be installing long-needed Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant elevators and related upgrades.
-Beyond the train station design, the entire area will be hooked up with sleek surface fixes plus new lighting galore.
PROJECT: The Belvidere-Dalton (Back Bay)
SPECS:
-This upscale lodging mecca at the cross of Dalton Street and, you guessed it, Belvidere Street, will half-belong to full-time tenants, with the rest used as a five-star hotel.
-For those who dig privately-owned public recreation areas, there will be a 4,300 square-foot park included on the property.
-If you’re measuring, at 58 stories, the Belvidere-Dalton has been advertised as the third-tallest building in Boston.
[Additional research for this story by Christine Young]