Web 2.0 and The Search For Boston Condos

The Boston condo market is currently undergoing a defining period of development and growth. Alongside this change, the resources available to consumers to help navigate the market are also evolving into much more sophisticated tools. While the condo market owes many of its advancements to city sponsored renewal projects such as the Big Dig, the innovations in available resources are due to the Internet and the emergence of Web 2.0. The premise behind the newly termed "Web 2.0" is that the Internet is no longer a place where visitors only jump from site-to-site reading information, but rather they are now able to interact with both websites and other users, utilizing the Internet as one large computing platform, and consequently adding value to each individuals unique experience. Boston Condo Group is proud to announce the development and integration of Web 2.0 dynamics into its website, bostoncondogroup.com, giving buyers and sellers an improved arena of tools and possibilities that will change the way they search, navigate, and gain knowledge of the condo market.

Up until now, most real estate websites have been able to offer nothing more then brochureware, meaning they display properties and buildings with information equivalent to a simple paper brochure. When maps have been presented on a page, it has only been to show the location of a specific property. Boston Condo Group has taken this function to the next level by integrating Google maps and API technology on each of their building pages. There are several hundred condo buildings of at least medium size in the city, but the problem is that most people have never heard of them or are not familiar with their exact locations. Visitors often find real estate sites after performing a broad search based on a city area, or after searching for a buildings that they are familiar with. When a visitor views a building's page on bostoncondogroup.com, they will be able to see the building pinpointed on a Google map, and then they will have the opportunity to "Display Nearby Buildings". Using this function triggers the interactive map, and all condo developments in the area will pop up in the form of red pushpins. The user has the ability to click on each of the pushpins, bringing up the name and picture of each development. They are also given the option to go to that building's specific page where they can view additional pictures and learn more about the development.

Boston Condo Group also makes it easy for their content to be tagged and shared among larger networks. In the past, when an individual found a page with useful information, they were able to bookmark that page so that they would be able to relocate it later. Web 2.0 has flourished social networking communities, meaning that Internet users now have the ability to bookmark pages on a network much bigger then just a group of people who use one individual computer. They can now tag them in an online social community where pages can be evaluated by other users, shared with millions of people, commented and discussed, and retrieved from any computer that simply has an Internet connection. Bostoncondogroup.com makes it easy for site visitors to participate in social networks by integrating simple "add to" buttons for 4 of the major communities, "del.icio.us", "digg", "Google", and "Yahoo".

Condo Living On Boston's New Greenway

In 1959 Boston authorities made a tough decision when figuring out what to do with the overflow of traffic moving to, from, and through the city. Their solution was to erect a 6 lane elevated superhighway, one that would slice the city in half. The Central Artery, as it was called, displaced 20,000 residents from their homes, and severed Boston's Waterfront and the North End from the rest of the city. The ability for these neighborhoods to economically compete in the city's commerce were cruelly diminished. 25 years later, when the volume of traffic on the Central Artery began creating over 10 hours of congested traffic per day, and as the severed neighborhoods were still harboring their grudges, a solution was planned once again. This time it was called "The Big Dig".


The Big Dig broke ground in 1991 with a mission to remove the entire Central Artery, replacing it with an 8-10 lane expressway below the surface. It would require huge connector ramps on either side of the tunnel, and as an added bonus, the Ted Williams Tunnel would be constructed to connect Logan Airport in East Boston to South Boston, thus creating an alternate route for travelers approaching from the South and West. When it was all said and done, the Big Dig disrupted 7.8 miles of highway. If each lane of those highways were laid down one after the other, it would stretch out for more then 161 miles. The project is currently in its final stages, 15 years later.


Although the finishing touches still need to be applied, Boston residents are already realizing the effects of the Big Dig. The North End and the Waterfront are once again a part of the city, whereby residents can easily stroll from one neighborhood to the other. The sound of traffic is buried beneath the streets, and the once poisoned property along the Central Artery is busting with construction and realizing a growing volume of commerce. Besides bringing the city back together, the Big Dig is responsible for the creation of more then 260 acres of open land. Where the old artery once stood stretching through the city, a strip of parks, art centers, and recreational facilities are being built. The Rose Kennedy Greenway, as the strip will be termed, is being lined with new hotels, restaurants, shops, galleries, an arboretum within, and several new luxurious condominium residences. Rowes Wharf and the Boston Harbor Hotel have had the pleasure of watching the entire Greenway laid out in front of them. Other condo buildings, either new construction or recent conversions, have recently opened their doors in time to take full advantage of the areas new atmosphere. These include Greenway Place, Folio Boston, Broadluxe, and the Residences at the Intercontinental. There are several residential communities planned for the future, including Russia Wharf, which will position itself should-to-shoulder with The Intercontinental.


The Greenway represents something brand new for a city whose streets and neighborhoods have already fathered so much history. Being a Boston resident affords each individual the ability to observe and contribute to this exciting era. Living along the Greenway and among all its integral surroundings offers a promise of something novel and unique in a city where that is often rare. The Rose Kennedy Greenway will be a hub of anticipation, of activity, of fresh character, and of exhilaration.

For a virtual tour of the Rose Kennedy Greenway, visit "Neoscapes A City In Bloom"
Statistics Source - Massachusetts Turnpike Authority

Boston Condo Mapping

Boston has always been a difficult city to navigate, both by foot and vehicle. Many residents spend a couple of years before they have a comfort and general awareness of its streets and neighborhoods. It has its own unique flavor, something that sets it apart from all other U.S. cities. Bostonians will generally offer a clever smirk when it's likened to a European Capital rather then a State Capital. Buyers in the market for a Boston condo must have knowledge of the neighborhood they are searching, as well as the full array of potential properties in the area.
BostonCondoGroup.com originally set out to deliver a website that offered information on all condo developments in the city, as well as all condo properties listed on the MLS. With new developments popping up all over the city, some that are riding old neighborhoods back into favor, some that are re-establishing the waterfront, we soon realized that visitors needed a tool that would better help them find all that is available. As an example, many residents are often shocked when they realize just how many projects are going up on the border of Back Bay and the South End. They have heard the names of these new developments in local publications, but it's much more real when they walk by on the street and see the steel beams rising up into the sky. If BostonCondoGroup.com is going to deliver the city's most useful condo resource, we need to find a way to present this pertinent information.
Fulfilling this need for buyers, we have integrated Google maps with API technology into each of our condo building pages. "Condo Building Pages" offer a unique page for each individual condo development. Here we present information about that development, such as number of units and available amenities, we show interior and exterior pictures, and we show a large map the pinpoints the position of the building within the city. Many times visitors find these pages after performing a search for that particular building through a search engine, or by navigating to it from one of the site's neighborhood pages. A visitor can then take advantage of our interactive map features, by clicking "Display Nearby Buildings". All condo developments in the area will pop up on the map in the form of a red pushpin, such as the screen shot below:

Visitors can click around the map, and click on the different red pushpins. Pictures of each particular development will be displayed when its corresponding pin is pushed. If a visitor wants more information about a building they have discovered, they can click "Show Me This Building Information" and they will be taken directly to that development's "Condo Building Page".These interactive maps offer prospective condo buyers a wonderful tool to search the many condo developments in Boston, a way to discover both the old and the new real estate buildings, and perhaps gain a little geographical awareness of The Hub.