iThe Boston Globe is reporting this morning on exciting plans to improve the Boston Common, America's first public park. The Common and its neighbor, the Public Garden, are on the top of any list of the most special public spaces in Boston, or anywhere in the United States, but, for most of my life, it has suffered from insufficient attention. In the past few years that's begun to change and, based on today's report, the pace of that change is about to change dramatically.
The "grand reimagining" of the Common is possible because the nearly complete Winthrop Center tower is going to cast new early morning shadows on the Common. To compensate for that negative impact on the Common, and its trees, $28 million dollars was dedicated to the improvement and maintenance of the Common. Because $28 million doesn't buy what it used to, additional funds will need to be raised elsewhere to make the grand reimagining a reality.
In the midst of our climate crisis, we know that cities are "heat islands" so urban residents are going to be disproportionately adversely affected by rising temperatures. The Common and other urban parks provide critically important respites from that heat, in addition to providing natural opportunities for the retention and infiltration of storm water from the supercharged storms in our future. For these Environmental Justice reasons, among many others, investment in our urban parks is essential. Hopefully this reimagination is only the beginning.
The grand reimagining calls for both ambitious new projects and more subtle improvements, with a goal of making the Common even more inviting and navigable. So, dog owners would have an enclosed park to let their pets run free. The Parkman Bandstand would have a ramp for people with disabilities. And the athletic fields would welcome soccer and basketball players for the first time. “This really is a park for the entire city, not just a neighborhood park,” said Liz Vizza, president of the Friends of the Public Garden, a nonprofit that collaborated with the Boston Parks and Recreation Department to craft the Boston Common Master Plan.
