I respectfully think that residential is very helpful for the area which is in a housing crisis. It’s actually a concession from the developers who could make money money by just going all commercial, but it’s worse for the city not to have more people housed near jobs.

Ownership is key, or retail needs to be supported/subsidized to make this area develop more as a place to be.. right now it’s just a wind tunnel!

Cindy Mathers
Shade and green space- A place to relax and enjoy the day, NOT more concrete and hardscaping as shown.

Fire pit is a great idea, I really like the one at one Kendall Sq

Paul F
A winter market selling artisan gifts/crafts. Food and drink vendors. Fire pits and games.

Michael Shirer Shirer
If it's a wind tunnel, this will be no man's land in the winter.

urban oasis

Having some enclosed spaces? :) maybe a series of very small shops/inexpensive pop up spaces that allow restaurants to serve up food/drinks during activities?

Cafe Beatrice/elmendorf/grace note type coffee shop/small bistro, or border cafe type fast casual Mexican/Cajun?

Comfortable tables with access to WiFi and reasonably priced coffee/snacks for meetings and work. Could a corporate cafe welcome the public here? The big things I would suggest changing here are not making the tables close together in one patch, but providing a few shaded areas with Some opportunities for quiet/isolated activities. Cambridge crossing did a nice job of this The flexible recreation courts sound like a bad idea, those always end up being underutilized and run down, because they have no unifying activity or vision to keep them updated. I strongly recommend more grass (this is all brown /paved?) or at least much much more shade rather than more exposed pavement.