South Boston Sheds Its 'Gritty' Image

Five decades ago, the waterfront of South Boston reeked, and its economy was decidedly old-fashioned. Those longshoreman would hardly recognize the place now. "Southie" is now home to the gleaming Boston Convention Center, the Institute of Contemporary Art, and thousands of units of premium residential property. An estimated 17 million square feet of development is on the way.

The next set of jewels in South Boston's unlikely crown is outlined in a report that calls for the city to develop a new transportation plan for the area. Infrastructure that was designed to handle cargo ships cannot quite handle the influx of upscale residents and tech workers. 

"The report advocates transportation suitable for an area forced to shoot up, not out. Some suggested transformations should be relatively easy to accomplish — Silver Line expansions, upgrades to pedestrian infrastructure and new bike facilities. Others sound far more ambitious: urban rail connections, ferry services across the water and even an internal transit route to serve only the district." 

Though the report does not include specific proposals—and is not funded by a longshot—it attempts to think progressively about the city's growth and about what it will mean to build a 21st century neighborhood in the country's oldest major city.