This week’s classes proved extremely useful in determining what traces I will be looking for when I visit my site this weekend. On Monday, a select group of people, myself included, presented on the trends observed in their site over the course of history. These presentations proved extremely useful due to the discussions that occurred following each presentation. One discussion I found particularly insightful was when I inquired Angela about whether or not the Central Artery had provided any positive effects. I asked this mainly because I wanted to compare the effects of the Central Artery on the Financial District with its effects on the Bulfinch Triangle.
She then went on to mention how the expressway was elevated and typically congested with traffic. This prompted me to ask if she had noticed a large collection of billboards near the Greenway (where the artery used to be). It is reasonable to think that any elevated street with lots of traffic would be a great target for advertisement. As it turns out, she had noticed a lot of large billboards in that area, but hadn’t known why they were there. Additionally, this made me realize that I should be looking for large billboards in my site as well. Since there was a row of buildings constructed next to Canal Street where the artery used to be, I realized I should be looking for billboards one block west of the Greenway, instead of directly next to it. This is one of the first traces I intend to verify when visiting my site.
During my first visit to the Bulfinch Triangle for Assignment 1, many questions were raised about peculiarities I found within the site. For example, I noticed many buildings were torn down to make room for additional parking space. I intend to determine how many of those parking spaces were opened up in the 1930’s when the automobile had become available to the majority of the population and how many were opened in order to meet the increased traffic to the site due to notable buildings such as the TD Gardens. I also noticed some very new or renovated buildings adjacent to buildings that were old and vacant. I intend to look into the history of these particular buildings to determine why some are in terrible shape and why some have been continuously renovated. The work I have done for both Assignment 2 and Assignment 3 has prepared me to answer these questions. I am eager to revisit my site and put my knowledge to the test.