The big questions interest me -- the urban questions, the political questions, the generational questions.
Many urban design and planning decisions are small in nature -- is there enough bike parking?; should we have wider sidewalks or more trees?; should the building be 40' or 55' in height? Those questions may have important implications, but they impact tiny aspects of what happens in a city.
Every once in a while however, very large choices come to the fore, and cities change rapidly and massively.
We are in one of those times right now when big parts of Cambridge and Boston are transforming (or being transformed) right before our eyes -- Kendall Square and the Seaport District to name two.
Presumably, there are many reasons for this explosion of growth and change. Massive spending on urban infrastructure may be one reason -- no better example than the Big Dig. There clearly are other reasons as well.
Whatever the reasons, the changes underway will impact daily life in Cambridge and Boston for at least two generations and probably more -- we are in a growth/change phase that will shape the course of the 21st century city.
The scope and the scale of these impacts require a bright set of minds to analyze, understand and document this important period in the life of this important city and region.
Sam Seidel
