Help me find cool places to photograph

[ryanwanger.livejournal.com]

Hi everyone...I'm going to do some wandering around the Davis square area this afternoon, taking some pictures of houses/sites that are either currently being renovated, or in need of renovation. Let's be artsy and give it a fancy title: "The Faces of Development in Davis".

I spent 2 seconds coming up with that bland, uninteresting title.

Anyway, does anyone have any suggestions for places to photograph? I'm a huge dork, so I made a google map: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=114285391187782101145.000448217a387044b5e7e&ll=42.397062,-71.121454&spn=0.015846,0.040169&z=15
(You should also be able to find it on google maps by searching for "Davis Square Development Photos")

Please feel free to add locations to the map (sorry, most of those were just placed by hand...I realize it would have been more clear if I included the address along with the placemark), or just reply in the comments of this thread.

I will report back with links to all the photos. Thanks!

Updated: here is a link to the photos. These were taken by a friend of mine, and I am not going to go through and label them all. Hopefully this can turn into a bigger project where the photos can be mapped to where they were taken. Enjoy:

http://flickr.com/photos/bjm/sets/72157604101488733/with/2328157860/

Comments

[daft.livejournal.com]

I added a placemark for the Round House on Atherton & Beech. It's a bit outside Davis Square but it is awfully special. I haven't been over there in a while but it should be currently undergoing renovation after decades of neglect.

[ron_newman]

There's the seemingly never-ending Davis Square Loft construction around Howard Street, behind the bike path.

The soon-to-be demolished MaxPak industrial buildings, off Clyde and Warwick streets (or, just walk down the railroad tracks beyond the Cedar Street end of the bike path)

You already have Carli Fence and the Secret Donut Factory With a Collapsed Floor on your map.

[billharnois.livejournal.com]

58 Rogers Ave

[nonnihil.livejournal.com]

Second to that one! The place was falling-down dilapidated for at least a year -- there was a tree growing through the porch, fire damage on the third floor, and I am told someone had even stripped out the copper pipes -- but since December it's been gutted, re-sided, had serious foundation repairs, and is now rapidly on its way back to looking like a house.

[bobobb.livejournal.com]

We used to call it the murder house and made up stories to tell the neighbor kids....

[ceo]

Somewhere in the 70-80 range on the west side of Pearson Ave, there's a house getting redone with an interesting picture window on the third-floor gable. The troglodytes who own it are putting vinyl siding over wood shingles, however.

[ryanwanger.livejournal.com]

Thank you all so much for the suggestions! Actually, I never knew about the Round House until just yesterday. Keep the ideas coming!

(I'm excited about "Ghost of a House" on Churchill that was added to the Google map. I think I may have seen that like 2 years ago...shocked that it still looks like that!)

[snow-how.livejournal.com]

I was going to suggest this very house, if only because it's been "mid-flip" for well over a year now. It boggles the mind to think of the carrying costs on that beast because while I don't know what it actually sold for, I know that it was listed at $869k when it sold (back in '06).

And a neighbor told me those brown shingles that are being removed to make way for the vinyl, are asbestos. I have no idea if that's true or not, but at least one neighbor believes it to be the case.

Round House

[vonelftinhaus.livejournal.com]

You should really get over to the round house and check it out-very cool. but there doesn't seem to be any work going on that is visible at leadt from the outside; though there is a contractor's sign on the fence of the property.

[ceo]

Yes, progress appears to be very slow, though I was assuming it was at least in part because they dug up and replaced half the utilities on that street last year. I'll try to get a closer look at the shingles. You could probably see the house in my icon if my house wasn't in the way. :-)

[ron_newman]

This is not in Davis Square, but it's in Somerville. There's a boarded-up, abandoned house at the corner of Pearl and Florence streets in East Somerville. Other than the Round House, it is the only abandoned house I've seen anywhere in our city.

[ron_newman]

That was me. I don't know the full story, but the neighbors there are understandably unhappy. If you talk to the Cambridge Historical Commission, you'll get an earful.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

However, it's now *so* far on its way toward being a house that it has exterior walls and front doors, so there's a lot less to photograph than there was a month ago.

[billharnois.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that new vinyl is awful. How disappointing.

[wallacestreet.livejournal.com]

On Chandler Street (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=chandler+st+02144&ie=UTF8&ll=42.399487,-71.121293&spn=0.007487,0.010611&z=17&layer=c&cbll=42.39891,-71.121824&cbp=1,307.4759177604635,,0,4.832191430544611) around number 30 or so there's a house under heavy construction. Just across the street is one that needs help (and is up for sale, I think).

[mderidder.livejournal.com]

There is a vacant lot at ~32 Adams St that has had a For Sale sign on it for at least 3 years. There is an abandoned or seriously neglected building at the back of the lot.

Also, 22 Forster, while not "abandoned" has been empty since we moved in nearby (3+ years). Work has occasionally gone on, but the owner is pretty much absent.

[nomacmac.livejournal.com]

Not exactly in Davis, but on Medford St, just outside of Magoun Sq, there's a boarded up, half remodeled house. There was a "mysterious" fire a few weeks ago. From what I read, the owner submitted plans, but built something different, and never pulled permits for any of the work, so it's been half finished for years.

[maelithil.livejournal.com]

Aw. I lived down the street from it last year, and I never did find out what happened there. I'm kinda sad they're fixing it up, it was nice and spooky.

[teko.livejournal.com]

I don't have any decent recommendations except to say that I love doing this kind of photography, and I'm glad other folks are doing it too.

Here's a few...
http://www.nine8.com/

[ron_newman]

Somerville News article on the fire (read the comments, too)
Somerville Journal article on the fire
Another Journal article: Alderman Desmond wants the city to force the owner to demolish the house
This Somerville Journal blog entry says that the house's owner died on Feb. 28, less than four weeks after the fire.

[fefie.livejournal.com]

If you are venturing outside of Davis Sq, as many have suggested with fine examples, you might want to get a photo of the Armory. Seems to me that the areas of paint swatches have increased on the facade, and I bet it's going to get a fresh coat of paint and landscaping soon, as it's supposed to open sometime "this spring" as the new art center.

[ron_newman]

I put that on his map, too.

[elements.livejournal.com]

There are a couple abandoned-looking houses on College Hill Rd (a tiny little street that runs in a half-moon between North and Conwell).

[elements.livejournal.com]

I also really love the look of a lot of the houses in Union Square. I love (adore) my neighborhood in Ball Sq., but sometimes it gets me down how much the same the houses are (what I get for moving into what was a planned tract!). I love the huge and unique rambling houses around Union - especially on & around Walnut and Vinal.

I also love the houses on Powder House Terrace, where sometimes there are 2 flights of steps up the hill from the street just to get to the first set of steps that are actually part of the house. And on the corner of Powder House Terrace and Liberty, opposite the park, is one house I love because it just looks so warm and homey. My fantasy if-only-I-could-afford-to-actually-ever-buy-a-place-here house.

[ryanwanger.livejournal.com]

Those photos are fantastic. Thanks so much.

Also, if you are into pics of abandoned buildings...do some googling on "Urban Exploring", and check out this site: http://www.uer.ca/ which has a database of locations all over the world along with tons of photo albums from exploration trips.

[ryanwanger.livejournal.com]

I just walked down it (using google streetview) and they all looked fine to me. I'm curious which ones? http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=somerville,+ma&ie=UTF8&ll=42.410174,-71.128197&spn=0.00198,0.005021&z=18&layer=c&cbll=42.409181,-71.128937&cbp=1,106.56047483562014,,0,8.909988540168692

[derekp.livejournal.com]

I just added a house on the corner of Sycamore and Broadway. I noticed it for the first time yesterday. I don't think it's abandoned by any stretch, but it's such a gorgeous house that is completely neglected.

[ryanwanger.livejournal.com]

I gaze longingly at this house every time I drive past.

[elements.livejournal.com]

The ones that StreetView thinks might be 38 and 44 (next to each other). They don't look as run-down on StreetView as I remember them looking the last time I was in that neighborhood, maybe in January. The brown one ("38") in particular I remember looking empty.

[ryanwanger.livejournal.com]

I updated the post above, but thought I should reply also (for those subscribed to the comments).

Link to the photos is here: http://flickr.com/photos/bjm/sets/72157604101488733/

I'd like to do more of this, and do cool stuff like link the photos into the Google Map. But I'll save that for another time.

[ron_newman]

Thanks. Can you tell us which photos were taken where? I'm especially curious about the boarded-up house. Are some of them inside the MaxPak building?