Falling Short of Lofty Visions, Boston Greenway a Success Nonetheless

As the culmination of the Big Dig project that sunk Boston's elevated Central Artery, the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway was envisioned as one of the world's premier parks. Though plans have been curtailed, the park has become a beloved space.

1 minute read

August 19, 2013, 7:00 AM PDT

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj


"Five years after it opened, the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway is attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors a year, its attendance increasing sevenfold since 2009," reports Michael Levenson. "The park — for years maligned as a glorified median strip between downtown and the waterfront — has become something of a people’s park, a bustling urban refuge, despite its lack of major attractions."

"That the Greenway has been embraced by so many is a testament to the power of a patch of grass in an area dominated by concrete plazas and towering buildings," he adds. "Originally envisioned as an emerald gem that would one day rank with the world’s premier urban green spaces, it has instead become a democratic haven, a place for the masses to cool off and unwind, perhaps with a cold drink and a magazine."

"Urban planning experts may mourn that the Greenway is not yet all it could or should be. But city residents, workers, and visitors have voted, and they like it."

Sunday, August 18, 2013 in The Boston Globe

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