The Mayor's big plans and big planning for Allston

The Mayor's press release mentions "a new neighborhood between downtown and Allston" which would be on the 91 acres of the Beacon Yards railroad terminal that Harvard purchased in 2003 for $75 million from from the Turnpike Authority. There have been suggestions that the railroad might move sooner rather than later, and I heard last week that the Romar trucking facility may be leaving its home in Allston near the Genzyme factory as soon as this summer.

At last week's Harvard Task Force meeting Kairos Shen repeatedly stressed planning for the "south side of Cambridge Street" and talked about Harvard and BU being neighbors in the future when the Beacon Yards is redeveloped.

The references to "an overall plan" and "blueprint" signal a huge change in how development has been done in Allston and Brighton in recent years and further confirms the planning effort described by Kairos last week.

Mayor eyes new greenway over part of Storrow Drive - The Boston Globe

"In Allston, on patches of land that are now crisscrossed by railroad tracks and Massachusetts Turnpike ramps, the mayor said he envisions a cluster of life-sciences developments that spur job growth and enliven the neighborhood. 'Our goal is not another industrial park like Kendall Square, but a neighborhood more like Harvard Square, a center of city life bustling with activity and commerce,' Menino said."

"It looks like there's an interest on the part of the mayor to develop an overall plan and have developers come in under those guidelines," Samuel R. Tyler, president of the Municipal Research Bureau said. "That hasn't always been the case in Boston, where the city has at times dealt with each development on a case-by-case basis, rather than on how they complied with an overall plan."

Mayor's Office Press Release

“Without a blueprint that beckons Boston to be even better, it’s easy to succumb to simple solutions that are unbecoming of a city as great as ours.”

A new neighborhood between downtown and Allston that captures and strengthens the growing residential population, biotech giants, universities and the Charles River;

Mayor Menino has directed a new team, consisting of BRA Director John Palmieri, DND Director Evelyn Friedman, and the City’s Chief Planner Kairos Shen, to present an action plan for to him by Labor Day.