The Crossroads are intended to be “Great Streets”—streets of exceptional quality, but also vitality. Allan Jacobs, in his seminal book Great Streets, analyzed numerous streets known for their success and character to develop useful criteria to systematically evaluate street quality and vitality.

The feasibility study employed Jacobs’ original criteria, tailored to Boston’s character and the Crossroads goals, to “score” each Crossroad block by block, building façade by building façade.

Few would dispute the characterization of Hanover Street as an established “Great Street” of Boston—this scorecard helps to systematically explain why. The bars of black in the center of the diagram highlight the most successful segments of Hanover Street, where it scores high in multiple categories. Hanover receives consistently high marks for “qualities which engage the eye,” “definition,” and “transparency,” but only moderate marks for “design/construction.”