Is Mayor Menino standing in the way of progress?

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/04/28/chiofaro_taking_battle_with_menino_to_the_public/

This is a difficult topic to cover. The Mayor has legitimate concerns about what impact this project would do to the city. Unfortunately the Mayor seems to have missed the mark on his concerns. Mayor Menino controls all that is constructed in the city, he has the final say. The major concern he seems to be expressing revolves around shadows and the Kennedy Greenway. The property in discussion sits on the edge of the harbor to the East of most of the Greenway. The Greenway only gets used during the late Spring, Summer, and early Fall. The other times of the year, the space is much to cool to comfortably stay for any period longer than walking through to one's destination.

In the Summer the sun is at it's apex, and while these buildings would create shadows on the Greenway during a portion of the morning as the sun rises from the horizon, at noon the sun is located to the South on it's path across the sky and thus would light the Greenway with the desired sunlight the Mayor is suggesting this project would block. Perhaps the laws of physics don't apply in the Mayor's world, but every shadow study I can conclude predicts shadows falling to the East from this project by noon and not toward the Greenway.

Sun arguments aside, can we discuss the economical impact this project could have on the state as well as the country? We're talking thousands of jobs (architects, designers, engineers, construction workers, factory workers, laborers, transportation workers, retail workers upon completion, janitorial workers, etc). What do people that have jobs usually do? They buy things, thus increasing more products being made and more workers needed to produce the products as well as transport them, and load and unload them etc. This one project due to it's scale could help to transform the effects from the recession into a period of normalcy again.

It is safe to say that should this developer secure the funding for this project the mayor has an obligation to allow this project to move forward. If he doesn't, it can only be that he's afraid of progress and doesn't care about the families in this country that are struggling to survive due to lack of jobs. Mayor Menino, please do reconsider allowing the height limitations to be high enough so this project has an opportunity to be conceived, allowing the citizens of this great country, state, and city to get economically healthy again. It is plainly obvious the benefits in this instance far outweigh the negatives.

A Busy Schedule...same great services!

2010 has been great to Kurtz Design Studio. Many new projects have come into the office with a wide variety of project types. These varied project types enable the design process to stay creative and fresh. This is because one must approach each situation differently and thus present new perspective for solutions to the problems at hand.

So far Kurtz Design Studio received the commission for a single family home in Woburn. A complete renovation of the first floor; updating and introduction of a contemporary open floor plan. Next came the task of taking on a gut rehab of a condo in South Boston, preparing the unit for sale and thus had to keep budget at the forefront of the design. Shortly thereafter, a spectacular opportunity arouse from a past client for a new construction single family home located on 56 acres in Hingham. While this project has been challenging, it has provided many great design opportunities. Currently it's still in progress but construction drawings should begin soon.

A few more additions to homes were won in Lynnfield, Weymouth, and North Reading; a hair salon in Brookline, and an interior design project for some bathrooms in Waltham. Truly been a busy year thus far, however one constant has remained...personalized service was provided to all clients and will continue to be a theme for this architecture practice. - Design is what you make it.