Post AvnU2jV4hKc25M7xrs by babelcarp@social.tchncs.de
(DIR) More posts by babelcarp@social.tchncs.de
(DIR) Post #AvnTKZF7TOyhWzbYrw by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-07-04T17:41:58Z
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This is a humble comment for the people of Boston. I don’t know if you realize this, but the tourist experience in your city seems to revolve almost entirely around the Big Dig. (everyone mentions it in tours) Someone visiting from the other side of the world, with little prior knowledge of Boston, might come away thinking the city defined by one long construction project. And no one talks about how it made the city better? Just “it was so expensive!” Ok. But the city is so quaint and walkable.
(DIR) Post #AvnTdYOiq70oPc9LkG by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-07-04T17:45:23Z
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I assume it was good “economic stimulus” too? But mostly… it’s just really old news by now— In NYC we have the second ave subway which still isn’t done, and I HOPE no one walks visitors around weeping about it— it is very upsetting, yes, but it is not easy to dig holes under big living cities. I’m impressed that Boston did it in the end. Anyway. Just a thought.
(DIR) Post #AvnTeYHmk0IoM3NgXY by CowboyWho@libranigans.com
2025-07-04T17:45:12Z
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@futurebird ¿I thought every city had that one big, expensive freeway project that didn't help anything?
(DIR) Post #AvnTj1hvIInalKjyEq by YakyuNightOwl@mastodon.world
2025-07-04T17:46:21Z
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@futurebird It would be like Olympia, Washington getting famous for the work on I-5 that stretched out for decades.
(DIR) Post #AvnTzm6yX5bFJcRdOi by timo21@mastodon.sdf.org
2025-07-04T17:49:20Z
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@futurebird sounds like they have 'Traumatic Big Dig disorder'. Every big public works project gets that. Every giant airport built in the middle of nowhere, every downtown upgrade project, every big museum project, every major highway project, they all come with the same complainers even after the project is done and making life better for everyone.
(DIR) Post #AvnU2jV4hKc25M7xrs by babelcarp@social.tchncs.de
2025-07-04T17:49:55Z
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@futurebird London has built a number of new Tube lines deep underground over the last few decades without Second Ave Subway-style agita.
(DIR) Post #AvnU7OitNGNr5toa1o by steve@discuss.systems
2025-07-04T17:47:58Z
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@CowboyWho @futurebird Big dig is the rare example that actually was a tremendous improvement (after first disrupting everyone's lives for ~a decade and a half with its construction).
(DIR) Post #AvnU7PwOqWmas58sim by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-07-04T17:50:46Z
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@steve @CowboyWho And over budget engineering project! I have never heard of such a thing!IDK sounds like they overpromised and low-balled to get it to a point if no return and that is sometimes the only way to do be projects? It’s not like there isn’t anything else interesting in the city to talk about.
(DIR) Post #AvnUBo76uky504FHBA by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-07-04T17:51:36Z
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@babelcarp leave us alone— we are trying :(
(DIR) Post #AvnUI692muFIf09KL2 by swachter@toot.boston
2025-07-04T17:52:41Z
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@futurebird Look it was a massive trauma for the city and there’s nothing we love better than trauma-dumping.
(DIR) Post #AvnUXOUmqIvHuxc4qO by steve@discuss.systems
2025-07-04T17:55:28Z
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@futurebird @CowboyWho they absolutely over-promised and lowballed it, but on the other hand, if they hadn't there'd most likely still be a giant elevated chunk of I-93 running right through the center of that "quaint and walkable" city, so I have a fair amount of sympathy for the politicians who walked into it knowing full-well what was happening.
(DIR) Post #AvnV0Gff0tCw32T2J6 by serverlessaoife@mastodon.social
2025-07-04T18:00:40Z
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@futurebird Oh, I have *thoughts* on how they could have made 2nd ave pretty easy, but it would have upset UWS boomers so Cuomo sabotaged what was supposed to be a simple but proper four track cut and cover subway to turn it into a too-deep vanity project and graft handout that will forever be compromised. To drive the point home that it was done this way just for rich UWS types, once it gets to Harlem it's cut and cover again.
(DIR) Post #AvnV5X7bHHGCW62x7J by numist@xoxo.zone
2025-07-04T17:59:39Z
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@steve @futurebird @CowboyWho I've found it's way easier politically to get rid of giant elevated freeways by simply living in a seismically active zone.
(DIR) Post #AvnV5YHuwP6i8Nshpw by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-07-04T18:01:38Z
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@numist @steve @CowboyWho oh well then we will all just jump up and down on the cross bronx expressway overpasses until the earthquake scientists get upset and demand its buried properly (or deleted)
(DIR) Post #AvnVG1QBTkLPNxjyKG by parsingphase@m.phase.org
2025-07-04T17:59:19Z
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@futurebird TBF half the city is only accessible because of the dig. Would be a very different place without it. Mind you, I wasn’t here living through it. On another note, was your water trip on the legendary duck boats?
(DIR) Post #AvnVG2ekt3atDRZ7g0 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-07-04T18:03:31Z
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@parsingphase no just a regular one
(DIR) Post #AvnVQl7QQp440e5OYC by Scmbradley@mathstodon.xyz
2025-07-04T18:05:27Z
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@futurebird I visited Boston in the early 2000s and they were talking about the big dig then! Amazing it's still a subject for discussion.
(DIR) Post #AvnVWbfIUdFkQWiYbY by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-07-04T18:06:34Z
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@Scmbradley it was “done” in 2007 it’s old news and the downtown looks amazing for it!
(DIR) Post #AvnVdXxwe3fSyskWMy by anguinea@mstdn.social
2025-07-04T18:07:46Z
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@futurebird @numist @steve @CowboyWho Now THAT would make a good walking tour anecdote.
(DIR) Post #AvnVzZb9Fz5OPkabU8 by BLTpizza@mastodon.social
2025-07-04T18:11:44Z
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@futurebird @numist @steve @CowboyWho I think enough people all walking in lock step can cause elevated structures to sway and eventually collapse. Or is that just suspension bridges?
(DIR) Post #AvnWpdb5dL3nsLO8YK by Asbestos@pnw.zone
2025-07-04T18:21:08Z
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@futurebird@numist @steve @CowboyWhoThe seismicly active thing worked like a charm for #seattle The stupid elevated two tier viduct that ran right between the water and the downtown is now a tunnel. I'm sure it was over budget but it was not too bad. The very first time I saw it I was like "what fucking idiot decided to do that?"
(DIR) Post #AvnWrkhgBRAYUiTkVk by Jeanniewarner@wandering.shop
2025-07-04T18:21:34Z
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@futurebird Boston should absolutely talk about its walkability, since nobody that lives there and wants to drive there. There are tons of little neighborhood dive bars and restaurants and delicious things to sample. And if you happen to go to a Bruins game, it's one of the best experiences at any NHL arena. They actually have bars and food courts right across the street.
(DIR) Post #AvnYI4d4p3ENmCROb2 by CowboyWho@libranigans.com
2025-07-04T18:37:31Z
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@futurebird @steve What about @wgbh? They're from Boston and they're pretty cool. I have there logo permanently burned in my brain from all the PBS shows they've produced over the years.
(DIR) Post #AvnYNCbeaj2hxsDkWm by StumpyTheMutt@social.linux.pizza
2025-07-04T18:38:23Z
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@futurebird I stayed for a few nights in an economy room at the Copley Plaza. Boston is an amazing walkable city!
(DIR) Post #AvnZhP5dzEzCQbRem8 by mattmcirvin@mathstodon.xyz
2025-07-04T18:53:16Z
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@futurebird It did make the city better-- but it also epitomized a pattern of neglect of public transit that the city is only really starting to dig itself out of. They promised and never delivered a North-South mainline rail link that would have been utterly transformative if it had happened. It probably won't happen in the next hundred years.
(DIR) Post #AvnaAbl1y5Yu76jGZk by masukomi@connectified.com
2025-07-04T18:58:33Z
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@futurebird It wasn't good economic stimulous. It was one of the biggest financial fuckups ever. RIDICULOUS amounts of grift and overruns going into the pockets of rich people. AND by the time they finished it couldn't support the current numbers of cars.That being said, I'm surprised they're still talking about it to tourists because it's been done for so long now, and frankly the park it created doesn't actually impact most people's lives.
(DIR) Post #AvnaX9Zgux9tMmAwzY by jztusk@mastodon.social
2025-07-04T19:02:38Z
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@futurebird You're right, Boston isn't just one construction project. It's a series of construction projects! Seriously, it's amazing how much of it is landfill. I'm currently writing this sitting above a filled-in malarial marsh. I'll see if I can find a map superimposing the original outline on the current city. It's impressive. (P.S. Honored to have the Queen of the Ants visiting our humble city.)
(DIR) Post #Avnb2WDykwTYafyZgO by stevegis_ssg@mas.to
2025-07-04T19:08:18Z
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@futurebird Sorry! I don't interact with tourists that much, but let me assure you that we do talk about how it made the city better. The Greenway is so beautiful, where there used to be a huge depressing scar cutting apart neighborhoods.It's just that it was traumatic to live through. Everywhere was a construction site, every week the exits were in a different place, and the should-be-criminal decision to saddle the TRANSIT SYSTEM with the costs still has repercussions today.
(DIR) Post #Avnk9HOdBVISDTG05Q by justindumlao@mastodon.social
2025-07-04T20:50:22Z
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@futurebird I’ve only ever experienced Boston post-Big Dig and love the walkability.