Streets Fit for People: Universal Pedestrian Design in the South Boston Waterfront

Adaptive Environments

Boston has an extraordinary opportunity in the South Boston Waterfront to create a place that really works for everyone. It is the largest area to be developed since Back Bay 150 years ago. Most of the area will be new construction without the constraints of accommodating an existing community. A record-breaking $20B worth of public investment - in the clean-up of Boston Harbor and infrastructure improvements - makes this long-neglected real estate very valuable. But that public investment also demands meaningful public benefit from development. A terrific streetscape is a core public benefit.

The success of this opportunity depends upon creating attractive and safe routes for everyone to make their way comfortably into and through the neighborhood. Homes, places to work, the Federal Court House, restaurants, the Convention Center, shops, museums, recreation and entertainment places, and parks are being designed and will continue to be created for years to come. Places must be knit together and linked to the existing residential neighborhoods by a state of the art pedestrian plan. With 75% of trips downtown made by walkers, pedestrian design cannot be a secondary concern in this new in-town place. It is important to commit to it now or forfeit the opportunity.

Streets Fit for People is a public forum hosted by two Boston-based non-profit organizations, Adaptive Environments and Walk Boston with dozens of collaborating organizations. The forum will bring together government, developers, people who live and work in the area, designers, engineers, advocates, and neighborhood residents to establish priorities for making a place people want to go. The goal is to establish the priority on pedestrian design and begin a detailed planning process in which everyone commits to making the South Boston Waterfront a model of streets fit for people.