Fort Point Channel

Great place to hang out and relax; lots of benchs to sit on if the grass is not your thing.
Meet up with Boston1 here too!

This is awesome use of public space. Great addition to the city.
this and the greenway are terrific place to walk

This barely qualifies as an entry in Unilocal.For those of you who don’t know the «Fort Point Channel» is a stretch of water that seperates Boston proper from Southie. And yes, it’s called «Southie».
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South Boston, the place which brought us hoodlums of all shapes and sizes, including Whitey Bulger (and his handler, Connolly!). South Boston, which used to be a close-​knit Irish neighborhood rife with the Irish gangs of yore. Now it’s become yuppified, and perhaps we should be thankful for it.
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The Fort Point Channel should not exist. If you look on a map, it’s the little bit o’ water just jutting in South-​East of the Boston Common — directly to the East of South Station. It’s a waste of space. You can’t go for a nice stroll along this thing, because the blasted Post Office takes up all of one side of it — and it’s illegal to walk on that side (thanks 9 – 11!). Basically, what the Fort Point Channel is, is a dumping ground for the waste water coming from the Gillette company. Don’t believe me? Go take a look. OK Maybe it’s not waste water — they actually use the water to cool down the engines in the factory. But it’s a joke. It’s SUPER WINDY here so taking a walk can be a pain.
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This whole area should be filled in. It’s because of this thing that we have such divided separation between Boston and Southie — and the whole Waterfront district. The Waterfront district is trying to become an actual place you’d want to go to, but there’s only a few roads you can use to get to it, and it’s not easily walkable to from Boston proper.
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Fort Point Channel should be filled in and turned into more buildings or parking lots for ME!

Dear Fort Point Channel,
You’re beautiful on a clear day, especially when I need a lazy stroll on the harbor walk. I love that I can count jellyfish in your calm morning waters, and how your waves glisten in the sunlight. I love being able to walk opposite the masses hurrying into downtown, and that my two lunch splurges — Sportello and Flour — are just around the corner. Those are just a few of your neighborhood’s perks.
But you, Fort Point Channel, are effin’ WINDY. I keep a brush at my office because of the snarls your gusts create. I have to choose my wardrobe based on the capability of flashing other pedestrians and traffic — wrap dresses are out of the question. My umbrellas break every few weeks. And I can’t even get into how people manage to forget how to drive once they hit this area.
Thank goodness for the railings on the bridges, and for those cupcakes from Flour.

The Fort Point Channel is amazing on a beautiful Summer day. I work right on it so it’s nice to be able to escape the office and grab lunch and sit by the water. Or just walk along the walkway next to the water, which runs about a half a mile from Summer Street to the fenced off section of Dorchester Ave at the end of the U.S. Post Office.
The Fort Point Channel also has lots of nearby attractions. Located within walking distance from South Station, The Children’s Museum sits on the bank of the Channel on Congress Street. Lucky’s is just a block away, and the ICA and the Waterfront are an easy 10 minute walk.
Unfortunately the Fort Point area has fallen victim to the Real Estate market downfall (even if it wasn’t felt that hard in Boston itself) and several developers have have slowed their focus in the area. The Achilles Project, Michael Krupps unique business that combined a designer clothes shop with a café called Persephone, just closed up shop this past week, as a sign of the times. Many other artist and studios feel that the developers that came in and purchased the spaces in the area are not keeping their «promises» to include such art studios in the future plans of the area. Definitely sucks because the Fort Point /​Waterfront area was suppose to be the «next big thing». I think more local shops and more family orientated places, such as parks restaurants and stores/​markets is what the area needs. Sure it’s nice to have the World Trade Center and all the business execs coming in and out of the area, but really… what about the people that are here 365 days a year?! Come on Boston (Mayor Menino, Gov. Patrick), show some love!

I recently learned about the Fort Point area — there is no other like it in the City of Boston. All of the buildings are old and remind you of the factories that use to be there. There are many shops that are popping up and great restaurants. The Fort Point Channel is great to be on during the summer because the cool air from the water cools you down.
I bring my friends who are visiting this area just to walk around — cool place, check it out! I would get off at South Station and Walk right across the Channel.

For my 200^th review I have decided to review my neighborhood. Let’s face it — most people don’t even know where Fort Point Channel is. I didn’t before I started dating a guy who lived there. It’s not really South Boston but it’s not really the Waterfront either.
THE GOOD:
–The Children’s Museum (I haven’t been since I was a kid but the changes they’ve recently made to it look pretty impressive).
— Open Studios and various other art exhibits in the Fort Point Artists’ Community.
— Dogs. Everywhere. There are at least a couple of very dog friendly buildings in this neighborhood.
— The Channel (not to be confused with the former nightclub that was before my time). I mean the actual Channel. It’s cool to see & smell part of the ocean daily. And there’s a nice walking and/​or running path.
— It’s walking distance to South Station and downtown.
— Lucky’s Lounge (for no other reason than when people have no idea where you live you can say «I live near Lucky’s» and they know what you mean.
— It’s really close to the airport and the pike going West. Equally close to 93 North & South.
— St. Alphonzo’s Kitchen — the best food in the most low-​key atmosphere.
— Sagarino’s market. This life saver of a market actually makes you happy to spend $ 5.00 on a gallon of milk. At least you didn’t have to drive to a market to get it.
— Parking. Since no one knows where it is, and there isn’t much here, it’s still pretty easy to find street parking.
— Walking distance to the Waterfront.
— The Achilles Project (I hesitated to put this in because I haven’t actually been there yet but I’ve done a drive-​by). And, it made the «new restaurants» Unilocal newsletter today. Plus, I know at least one of the owners is a Fort point resident which I like.
THE BAD:
— The Gillette Factory. It so doesn’t belong here.
— Traffic on A St.
— Congress St. Bridge has been closed for almost 2 years — will it even open again?
— There are residential buildings everywhere but there’s not a grocery store or coffee shop for miles.
— The 7 am construction, even on weekends.
— A 24 hour post-​office nearby (the one that’s always featured on the news where they interview people on the final day you can mail in your taxes) and those mail trucks have to park somewhere. How about a huge lot near my home?
— More parking lots. There’s a beautiful channel and views of the Boston skyline and it is all surrounded by parking lots. Mostly empty parking lots.
— The nearest cup of coffee is a 10 minute walk away.
I live here and I’m not leaving anytime soon. So, I’m choosing to believe the hype. This place has a lot of potential. There are a lot of projects in the works right now. This place is really going to be something some day. Yup, I keep telling myself this.