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.
"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."
FULL STORY: Greenway becomes people’s park in Boston

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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

Adaptive Reuse Will Create Housing in a Suburban Texas Strip Mall
A developer is reimagining a strip mall property as a mixed-use complex with housing and retail.

Study: Anti-Homelessness Laws Don’t Work
Research shows that punitive measures that criminalized unhoused people don’t help reduce homelessness.

In U.S., Urban Gondolas Face Uphill Battle
Cities in Latin America and Europe have embraced aerial transitways — AKA gondolas — as sustainable, convenient urban transport, especially in tricky geographies. American cities have yet to catch up.
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