Why Boston’s most hated neighborhood is actually its most misunderstood success story

Now that G.I. Joe, Mr. Potato Head and the Twilight Sparkle are moving in, it might be time to ask the question: Why don’t we just stop dissing the Seaport?

Hasbro announced this week that it had chosen Boston’s most maligned neighborhood for its new headquarters, abandoning Pawtucket, Rhode Island, in the process.

Which got me thinking: wouldn’t any city be proud of turning empty parking lots and underused industrial land into a sparkling and vibrant “second downtown”? And to do it over the course of just two decades?

Almost as soon as I’d posted on LinkedIn about Hasbro’s news yesterday, a commenter chimed in about the company’s choice of an office on Summer Street, near the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center: “The Seaport is a Minecraft-esque copy-and-paste piece of land, devoid of any soul, personality, or recognizable landmarks…”

‘Surprisingly large crowds’

That crabby take on the Seaport is commonly heard around Boston. The buildings are all glass boxes, people gripe. There are too many chain stores and restaurants. The MBTA’s Silver Line is just a bus cosplaying a subway. The traffic is terrible, and the lines to get into the holiday market or Cisco Brewers’ outdoor beer garden are too long.

“There are surprisingly large crowds on weekends, but I think the place still has this corporate feel that lacks the lived-in feel of Boston’s older neighborhoods,” said Jim O’Connell, a Boston University professor who teaches urban planning.

I’m reminded of the Yogi Berra quote: “Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.”

The Seaport isn’t Harvard Square, which has been a center of commerce since the 1600s, or Newbury Street, which began to take shape in the 1860s, after the Back Bay was filled in. It’s also not Downtown Crossing, which thrived through much of the 20th century — remember Filene’s Basement and Woolworth’s? — but then petered out in the 21st.

Seaport is a happening place

It’s a new place, and while living there is too pricey for me — you can rent a one-bedroom apartment for just $3,400 a month — it has a lot going for it.

A partial list would include: the Boston Harborwalk waterfront walkway; a world-class modern art museum that often hosts outdoor dance parties and Red Bull cliff diving; two independent bookstores, about one hundred yards apart; a Trader Joe’s; water transportation that can take you to East Boston, North Station or Provincetown; three different beer gardens or breweries; and a new park, the Harbor Way, designed by the same firm that created Manhattan’s High Line.

There’s also stuff to do after dinner, which hasn’t historically been Boston’s strong suit, like seeing a live performance at the Leader Bank Pavilion or Grace by Nia, catching a movie at Alamo Drafthouse, knocking back a few drinks at a secret bar tucked behind a taco shop, or challenging friends to a game of darts, bowling, Formula One videogame racing, ping-pong, or indoor mini golf. An outdoor pickleball and padel complex is coming soon, as is a new museum focused on finance.

I should mention that Hasbro makes Twister, Battleship and Scrabble — so perhaps a classic games bar could be in the Seaport’s future?

Is Boston finally serving up fun for young people?

Is Boston finally figuring out how to serve up fun to the young people who come here for college — and might want to stick around?

It’s also a neighborhood that has managed to preserve some callbacks to the old days, like the still-active Boston Fish Pier, the dry dock ship repair facility, the former Army warehouses that now serve as Reebok’s headquarters and longtime hangouts like the Barking Crab and Pete’s Harborside. (R.I.P. Anthony’s Pier 4.)

“People diss it since it’s expensive and new,” said entrepreneur Paul English, who moved to the neighborhood from Arlington. “They say [it has] no old warm charm like the Back Bay. But it is super vibrant with so much to do.”

He also says it attracts a more diverse crowd than many other parts of the city.

Daphne Zohar named her biotech company after the neighborhood: Seaport Therapeutics, which is developing new medicines for depression and anxiety. She said Seaport “has become one of the leading biotech hubs, a mini-Kendall Square.”

Zohar said she frequently takes walking meetings along the harborfront, and that the “proximity to the airport is very convenient for people visiting us from out of town.”

“The Seaport does attract an interesting demographic, mostly single professionals ages 25 to 45, many of [whom] are entrepreneurs, which has more pluses than minuses when you are in that age range,” said Jesse Witkowski, an entrepreneur who lives and works in the neighborhood. “The restaurant scene is solid,” and there are often special events taking place, he added.

“Where else in the city do hip young people and empty nesters co-exist so happily?” asked Cait Brumme, the CEO of MassChallenge, an entrepreneurship program that operates out of office space on Fan Pier.

“I walk the perimeter of the Seaport a couple mornings a week, including the Fish Pier, which is very active at 6 a.m.,” said Joyce Sidopoulos, who lives in Bolton but works in the Seaport. “I tend to see the ‘regulars,’ along with new faces every walk.”

Sidopoulos helps run Mass Robotics, an incubator for robotics startups that holds its annual “robot block party” in the neighborhood later this month.

The city of Boston is coming up on its 400th birthday in 2030. Since the beginning, we Bostonians have been champion complainers: who the heck laid out these cowpaths? Why do the taverns close so early? Can’t someone turn off those lanterns in the Old North Church?

Sure, you could complain about the Seaport. Or you could just go there and have fun.

Hasbro, will you bring the giant Jenga?