OK, no one calls it this yet, but pretty soon the new Lafayette Square Park will be done and the Central Square Theater will be up and running and (especially if there's comedy there) Laf-Central will just seem like a natural name for it.Anyway, this is precisely the area I was talking about in that post about the sloppy Central Square parking situation. Check out the unsightly rash of hideous blue parking lots in the top image looking down Main Street and Mass Ave toward MIT and Boston (these are the same polygons used in this map).
And then imagine it with about 2 million extra square feet of residential and commercial development, building on nothing but existing asphalt.
Yeah, I hear you. This is the kind of massing monstrosity that inspires rage in planners and local traditionalists, but it looks cool in google earth. And think about the energy this would introduce - not to mention continuity with Kendall - Portland Street and Prospect.
The Lafayette-Central Buildout should serve as the pilot project for creating Boston's Emerald Spine.
By the way, all of the little brown buildings are accessible via the good work of the Virtual City Collective and MassGIS. Thanks guys, for keeping mapping fun.
