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So there were aqueducts that were already bringing in water into the chestnut hill

reservoir before the spilling? >> That's right,

the first aqueduct was put in at 1848 that was from

Lake Cochituate out in Natick. >> Right.

>> So that was actually here,

also the reservoir, right outside the window here,

was built somewhere between the end of the Civil War and 1870.

So that was here and

one of the parts of the city that was really growing the fastest

were the higher elevations of Boston. >> Mm-hm.

>> That was parts of Dorchester

>> Right.

>> Roxbury, even Beacon Hill.

Oddly today the wealthier inhabitants tend to like the higher areas,

but back then it was the newer citizens that were asked to

live in the higher locations. >> So if you're gonna move water from

the Chestnut Hill reservoir, up to Dorchester Heights, you gotta

have something to pump it, right? >> That's exactly right.

So in 1887, this site was built, intended as a state of the art pumping facility.

There were a number of supplies, water supplies, at that time and aqueducts.

So it wasn't at the beginning of the formation of the system,

it was really I'd say, when it became modernized.

So by great fortune,

one of the most innovative steam engineers of his day, Arasmuth Darwin Levitt,

figured out a way to make a pump double the capacity of the other two pumps.

And he was actually working in Cambridge at the time and

it had an enormous amount of experience in customized pumping engine.

And that's a key here because, the only way to make this happen was to

actually install it at an angle, some part of it is sort of down in the ground and

very unusual, it's a unique piece of equipment.

It was amazing that he was able to do that, he added a few twists that were very

cutting edge, one of which was to make the speed of that engine much faster

than a normal [CROSSTALK]. >> How many millions of

gallons could this? >> Well,

this one would be 20 million gallons. >> Wow, so huge increase [CROSSTALK].

>> Speed,

which is the revolutions of the flywheel, essentially would

normally steam engines move very slowly. >> Mm-hm.

>> Very stately,

if you ever seen in operation, it's about 30 revolutions, 35 revolutions a minute.

His was 50, so it was really racing in order to pump more water,

the system was absolutely overwhelmed by demand.

Another massive wave of immigrants had come in and it was felt finally at that

time the legislature decided okay, well we need to then now, expand the building.

And we need to put in the biggest possible pumping engine,

with the most capacity that we have available.

And so at that point, engine number four,

this one behind me here, the Allis-Chalmers engine, was installed and

it was built while the addition was put onto the building.

So if you look above, there's a giant bridge crane

that brought many of the massive components in through the windows,

essentially, as it was being built around it.

And that new engine

added 30 million gallons a day. >> This massive Allis-Chalmers

engine behind us. >> Behemoth of an engine, and

it was quite a bit different from the Rasmus piece.

The Rasmus was sort of, as I mentioned reacting on the fly,

building it as best his could in a situation that wasn't ideal.

The Allis engine on the other hand, was exactly how it's envisioned and

it was at the beginning of sort of the manufacturing franchise concept.

So that giant engine came in pieces on the railroad here,

it came with its own engineers and instructions.

They monitored it as it was put together and

made sure it functioned at full capacity.

The Worthington Engine is particularly interesting now,

this comes after World War I. >> Mm-hm.

>> And you can see it's enormously

different in many ways from the other two engines.

Not only is it a not a triple expansion vertical engine like the other two

it's a horizontal dual expansion engine, but it's quite a bit smaller.

What it does have is it's refined to the point of

incredible simplicity and excellence.

There were thousands of these types of engines that were able any city or

town could buy them to pump sewage or

water, easily install them. >> So, we'd move from the highly bespoke

tailor-made Leavitt engine to an era of mass producing these behemoths.

>> Mass production is exactly the key,

there's not much flare to it,

it works great. >> Yep.

>> And it's a production

piece. >> Yep.

>> But it's all about the money in

the end. >> Right.

>> It's no superfluous expenditures.

And the irony of all of that is that the steam age, really,

ended right about the time that that engine became perfected and easy to get.

For more infomation >> The Boston Waterworks Museum - Duration: 5:28.

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Transportation in Boston's Innovation District - Duration: 2:55.

SPEAKER 1: So transportation access is crucial to any neighborhood,

and this is the transportation access in part for the innovation district.

SPEAKER 2: Once the Silver line knit the seaport together

with the rest of the city, it made it easy for residents and employers

to get in and out of in their staffs.

It became very appealing.

The Silver Line is a big piece of public investment, public infrastructure that

made the private development possible.

So the Silver Line along with the elimination

of the elevated central lottery--

SPEAKER 1: Made this-- made this possible.

SPEAKER 2: Absolutely.

Getting transportation right is key to ensuring that this is a quality place

to live, work, and play.

A place that continues to draw people to the Waterfront,

and we're looking at rerouting traffic and maybe

extending some streets to form better connections within the Seaport,

so that people can not only get in and out of the Seaport well,

but people can get around the Seaport once they're in it much easier.

SPEAKER 1: Well it's hard not to think that this is an instance in which

where you really want to think about Back to the Future.

That actually the best way to get around areas this dense is your feet.

SPEAKER 2: Correct.

SPEAKER 1: The pedestrian traffic is got to be a crucial part of the long run

transportation.

SPEAKER 2: There's no question.

It's very rare, I come over here maybe once

or twice a week from Boston City Hall.

It's about a 15-minute walk for me to get to the Seaport.

To get all the way to the other end of the Seaport,

it's probably about 25 minutes.

It's utterly walkable.

SPEAKER 1: Right.

SPEAKER 2: But to the extent you're not walking and to the extent

you're not driving, we have mass transit options

that we continue to improve upon.

And another thing we're working on, again

in conjunction with the planning effort that was just

completed with other city and state agencies and other area nonprofits,

is breathing life into a robust, predictable water transportation

system.

Our goal is to knit the Seaport together with the rest of downtown

and even North Station.

SPEAKER 1: So this is to both downtown and East Boston as well?

SPEAKER 2: Correct.

That would be its most mature manifestation,

where you would see the Seaport connected by regular water

transportation service to downtown, North Station, Charlestown,

and East Boston.

SPEAKER 1: Right.

And water transport has done very well for the tourist trade in Venice,

maybe it'll do well for the tourist trade in Massachusetts.

SPEAKER 2: So that's our next transportation frontier.

For more infomation >> Transportation in Boston's Innovation District - Duration: 2:55.

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Affordable and Unaffordable Housing in Boston - Duration: 4:55.

We're in the midst of a hot building climate.

Plenty of neighbors see the downsides of that.

But let's talk a little bit about the upsides of this.

Why is it so important that Boston build?

>> The past four years have been the biggest building boom in history.

If you look at square footage completed in the past four years,

we've added more than 20 million square feet to the built

environment- >> Wow-

>> In Boston, the vast majority of that,

about 80 percent of it is residential.

And that's really key, whether you live in one of those new units or

not that is being built right now.

You're benefiting from it because 45,000 new people have arrived in Boston,

a net population gain of about 45,000 in the past 6 years.

You'd have to go back the prior 30 years to get a similar number.

1980 to 2010 we had about 45,000 people arrive in 30 years.

We had 45,000 people arrive in the past 6 years.

We feel confident about demographic projections that we'll have

another 60,000 people net gain in Boston over the next 10 to

15 years- >> This is a very dynamic successful city

and a very dynamic successful metropolitan area.

And people want to come here for a variety of reasons.

And if we don't build housing,

it means that this becomes a boutique town affordable only to the wealthy.

>> Absolutely, and it's really difficult to convey that message

when people see high-end market rate product going up near them or around them.

Or downtown they find that threatening, this is going to be a city for the haves.

This a going to be a city for the rich.

>> Just look at the South End.

>> Exactly. >> I mean 30 years ago the South End was

cheap, right?

>> It's exactly what happened- >> Now it's gentrified and expensive.

>> There are a variety of neighborhoods around the city that will see

that same pressure on existing housing stock.

If we don't build new housing stock, we're gonna see prices go up in the two and

three families.

In the neighborhoods, people will sell to the highest bidder.

And the families that are so concerned right now about displacement and

gentrification will in fact be pushed out if we don't create new housing stock.

It is an objectively clear fact that we wrestle with every day.

Building for new arrivals as well as doing the very best we can

to protect against displacement and gentrification.

>> How is it that you think about the mix of new apartments?

Cuz not every new apartment has the same or

not every new building has the same impact on displacement.

>> Sure, it's a daily conversation within the agency as well as externally.

Neighbourhoods are very clear about the demographics.

They're concerned about,

there is one very basic consideration sometimes is rental versus purchase.

More stability is often perceived with condominiums and

purchase opportunities, and rentals more trangent.

My neighborhood of Allston-Brighton, that is a constant theme.

Too many rentals, not enough purchase opportunity.

>> What's the line, Christmas in August?

Of the people throwing out their furniture at the start of the school year.

>> Allston Christmas.

>> Allston Christmas.

>> Yes, Allston Christmas rolls around at the end of August,

early September every year when trangent 20 and 30 somethings.

Very often some have just finished their undergraduate or graduate experience.

Dump all their furniture >> [LAUGH]

>> And belongings on the curb,

>> And let somebody else deal with it.

A very tangible example- >> Manifestation of what

exactly is going on here, and people are very sensitive to it.

Now conversation goes on throughout the city.

Different neighborhoods have different wants and

needs associated with rental versus ownership.

But the mayor and the Boston Planning and Development Agency are committed to

the notion that we need to get as much affordable stock created as possible.

And that doesn't just mean,

affordable's a tricky term, sometimes it's low income, 30% of variant median income.

That's what we think about when we consider Section 8 housing.

Public housing, Boston housing authority units.

But we also talk about affordable housing in the context of middle income workforce

housing.

The working class who can't really deal with most of the market product

that's out there.

But could deal with something more expensive than a section A type unit or

a housing authority unit.

So we try to get a mix.

Low income, middle income, workforce housing, and

frankly the market stuff is kind of taking care of itself.

So it's a part of every market rate residential development we permit,

part of that is an affordability requirement.