Logan Airport's Land

mass88

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Imagine somehow, someway a brand new Logan was built somewhere else in the metro area. What would you do with the land it currently occupies? Blank slate, blank checkbook, what are you doing?
 
A few unstructured thoughts:
• Dig a network of canals and use the removed material to construct a harbor barrier to protect the entire inner harbor from sea level rise;
• Allow roughly 40% of the remaining land to return to it's original state as tidal marshes;
• Marine/Industrial uses on the south-facing edge;
• Phased mixed-use development over the 100 years.
 
Since Logan's prroximity to the city is one of Boston's biggest selling points for business, preserve part of it as a limited access, single runway, slot controlled airport with flights to DC, Chicago, SF, LA and London and develop the rest.
 
7 story rowhouses with a few taller blocks up to about 200'..... build that big barrier across the islands, then, dredge, and include at least 1 mile of sand beaches. maybe a section for the Piping Plovers and their ilk.
 
Grant HYM Investments generous tax credits/abatements to go slow on the Suffolk Downs redevelopment such that Suffolk Downs and this new land that was Logan could be studied and reimagined by experts with an eye toward making it a holistic redevelopment program that also included a long-term vision for Belle Isle Marsh--while keeping the latter a reservation.

Whether that means conveying the "new" Logan land to HYM, or bringing in another development partner to make them act as a kind of consortium, who knows.

After all, other than the Blue Line and Bennington Ave., Belle Isle Marsh is highly contiguous/interacting with Suffolk Downs' ecosystem. And on a straight line, the southern edge of Belle Isle Marsh is just 800 yards or so from the northern tip of Logan. Treating the three entities like a single unit could do a lot in terms of restoration.

Simply put, whatever HYM Investment would be permitted to do at Suffolk Downs in terms of balancing between urban development/ecological restoration, that should be eyed closely in terms of a similar scheme for the Logan lands--while not neglecting Belle Isle Marsh as the vital connector.
 
I'd like to see something similar to Vancouver's Stanley Park - which I feel is one of the best urban parks anywhere.
 

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