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Boston wouldn't be Boston without a middle class

Mike Ball begins to lay out the case for an un-Manhattanized Boston, i.e., one that still has a sizable middle class instead of a jumble of the very rich and the very poor:

... Ironically for the wealthy, their domination of the housing and employment markets can backfire. A city without the broad base of economic classes lends itself both to crime and to competition for civic resources. The mired poor require more, and more diverse, services, further taxing the city and taking resources from the activities and infrastructure that the wealthy want. ...

Sharon Gartenberg considers the condo-ized North End:

... Economics may make a high-end condo development more appealing than a small grocery store in the short term, but the city will lose something very special (not to mention lots of tourist dollars) if it allows the North End's special ambiance to morph into just another neighborhood of condo-dwellers.

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Comments

Exactly what is the "something very special" that the city will lose if it lets the fair and free market allows a developer to build a building, within zoning laws?

First, exactly what are you imagining is going to happen, and, second, how would you know this would happen?

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The issue here isn't new buildings, but rather the conversion of existing first-floor commercial spaces to residential use. Allow too much of that, and you definitely lose the North End's special local flavor.

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Thanks Ron. I am definitely for retail on the first floor. I'm sure you are aware there is a law mandating it, for new construction of most commercial (and residential?) space. Guess this time, the developer wants special treatment.

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