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Interesting article about the Boston foodie culture, and how it measures up to other cities.

restaurants boston foodies

Who knew? Boston ranks 3rd nation-wide in "diversity density."
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First, is there a wide range of ethnic and racial groups in your city — as opposed to a binary division between white and black, or native and immigrant? And second, is your city’s density high enough so that you really encounter people from different ethnic backgrounds on sidewalks and other shared space, as opposed to simply driving past their neighborhoods on your way to the mall?

The diversity density index measures both at once. And if you use data from the most recent census, you see something surprising: Boston is the third-most diverse city in America, outside of New York and San Francisco.

Diversity density counts the number of people per square mile who do not claim membership in either of the county’s two largest racial/ethnic groups. The result gives you a rough approximation of the likelihood of running into people of a variety of different ethnic backgrounds during a brisk walk across town.

Suffolk County, most of whose residents are in Boston, has 12,338 people per square mile, making it the seventh-most crowded county in the United States. Take away its two largest ethnic groups (non-Hispanic whites and Hispanics), and there remain 3,957 people in other categories per square mile — the sixth highest concentration of all US counties and county equivalents. (Of the five leaders, four are boroughs in New York City.)
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boston robert_david_sullivan density diversity cities

Interview with Justin Crane, co-founder/ co-chair of New England's biggest design festival / urban architecture mash-up:
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How did Common Boston emerge?

It originated humbly about five years ago, with a bunch of recent architecture grads just sitting around in a cafe. We were thinking about Boston...about how it has the highest percentage of architects of any city, and a general public that's very active in their community -- yet the two don't always see eye-to-eye. Boston is in many ways a birthplace of community activism, and we wanted to get the neighborhoods excited about such a big part of the city -- architecture.
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justin_crane architecture boston design urbanism common_boston

Would be great to see something like this get built:
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Stalled projects are a blight on any city’s landscape, but several Boston architects are looking to turn those mid-construction eyesores into useful (and cool-lookin’) spaces. With the economy in the gutter, many developers’ plans were squashed, but rather than sit idly, the Boston Globe asked architects to take a look at the sites and envision completely new projects that use the existing structure to improve the city. Höweler + Yoon and Squared Design Lab took a stab at the stalled Filene Development at Downtown Crossing and envisioned “Eco Pods,” a prefab, bio-fuel producing building that can adapt, change and grow over time.

Robotic arms attached to the building would move the pods around to optimize growing conditions. Voids are created when the pods are reconfigured, leaving behind space for public parks or botanical gardens. Bio-fuel created within the pods is used to power the robotic arms and the remainder would be used elsewhere, possibly to assist construction. Once construction is complete, the pods could be taken and reinstalled on another building and be reused. As Höweler + Yoon says about the project “This is anticipatory pre-cycled architecture, capable of generating a new micro-urbanism that is local, agile and carbon net-postive.”
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ecological_urbanism futurismo boston inhabitat architecture biofuels

Interesting environmental/ sustainability angle: Boston's Children Museum is stepping up its green credentials:
"The museum expansion and renovation was designed to enhance the building's connections to its urban waterfront site, guided by a desire to build environmental education opportunities into the design. From the adaptive reuse of the onsite 19th-century wool warehouse and industrial site to the new graywater storage system and green roof, the museum has become an environmental teaching tool for its young audience, in addition to becoming the first LEED-certified museum in Boston."
And:
"The museum is a working exhibition that demonstrates green building elements. The programs incorporate three principles:

1. Green by Example: The "Green Trail" is a series of interactive stations with age-appropriate explanations of the building's green elements and their relationship to the ecology of the area.

2. Green Hands-On: All programs will be based on current research on how children learn about the natural world. For example, children and families were invited to help plant parts of the green roof.

3. Green at Home: The museum will create a "Growing Green" section of its website for further interpretation of the building as well as steps for children and families to take toward greater sustainability in their own lives."

green_buildings museums boston childrens_museum environment