I lived in Cambridge/Somerville from 2013 - 2019 and always had the feeling that downtown was only for office workers during business hours. There never seemed to be anything to do after hours as all the workers left downtown at 5pm. If this proposal takes off it would be really nice to see a lively downtown on the evenings and weekends.
I live downtown (Leather District) and work downtown (Post Office Sq.) I think there's really quite a bit of stuff to do. Not NYC stuff to do level, sure, but definitely not a wasteland after dark either.
I do agree, there are some beautiful old office buildings around here that would probably make great residential buildings. That would be even better for the area.
Personally I'd live in Cambridge over Boston but, outside of the Financial District (which is pretty dead at night like it is in many cities), there's plenty of activity in the evenings. As another commenter said, it's not Manhattan but I worked downtown for about a year and lots to do.
