Rose Kennedy Greenway

tysmith95 said:
I don't understand what's wrong with it. Since when are parks anti-urban?
Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with a park. However, that Atlanta illustration is of a COURTYARD, not a park. Where is any continuity with that to the city around it? It is a fortress bound by buildings. It is a campus courtyard. Notice the buildings are the walls to the park. How do people get there? That is the problem with Northpoint. The Rose Kennedy Greenway is integrated with the city. Post Office Square is integrated with the city. That place in Atlanta and North Point are courtyards and are not interwoven. They are beautiful to LOOK AT, however.
 
stellarfun said:
whighlander, few dispute CLF's extensive involvement with transit improvements (realized, hoped-for, and fantasy) associated with the Big Dig. However, this is about lawns, trees, and shrubs, and I await evidence that the CLF are latter-day Johnny Appleseed's or Luther Burbanks who foisted this green carpet on the unsuspecting citizens of Boston.
Click to expand...

Stellar -- i will admit that after spending some time reading that report from the Rappaport Institute at the kennedy School that the players have more uniforms then there are teams

You might not find a formal CLF document maaking the pitch for the parkishness -- yet the various groups mentioned in the report all have such overlapping memberships -- that the finger prints of the whole Dukakis cohort including those in the government and those outside such as the Greenspace Alliance and the CLF are awoven throughout the agreement [mixing a few choice metaphors]

Dukakis might be famous for the "Fish rots from the head down" comment -- but he's always operated as though he was a disciple of the "Mahatma" -- Martin Lomasney Ward boss of the old West End who famously said:
“Never write if you can speak; never speak if you can nod; never nod if you can wink”"
Click to expand...

So I'll admit that the people who winked or nodded and so ordained that the 75% Parkland was written into the Big Dig land use agreement -- well they may never be officially known

However, we all know who they represented and the CLF was in the midst possibly with the sotto voce support of some owners of existing towers who just as in the case of P.O. Square Park didn't want competition?
 
whighlander,

"The very lack of evidence is thus treated as evidence; the absence of smoke proves that the fire is very carefully hidden." ~ C. S. Lewis
 
Here's a question for all you arborists out there: decades from now, can we expect the Greenway's trees to grow to a size comparable to those on the Comm Ave Mall? Or are their roots too constricted by the tunnel running underneath?
 
lexicon506 said:
Here's a question for all you arborists out there: decades from now, can we expect the Greenway's trees to grow to a size comparable to those on the Comm Ave Mall? Or are their roots too constricted by the tunnel running underneath?
Click to expand...

Here is the tree list.
http://www.rosekennedygreenway.org/visit/horticulture/greenway-plant-list/

Many different types of trees, different heights when mature, different soil depths needed.

I recall some years ago an article/broadcast that Harvard was re-planting Harvard Yard. And the replacement trees were of different species, and the relatively uniform appearance of the trees that once graced the Yard would be gone. Arborists and landscape architects came to realize that planting all the same species increased the threat and spread of tree diseases. Thus, the Comm Ave approach is passe.
 
lexicon506 said:
Here's a question for all you arborists out there: decades from now, can we expect the Greenway's trees to grow to a size comparable to those on the Comm Ave Mall? Or are their roots too constricted by the tunnel running underneath?
Click to expand...

Lexicon -- Simple Answer -- No

First they are typically varieties specifically selected to be limited in size

2nd they typically don't have much room for the roots -- so they are destined to be undersized unless some sort of hydroponic feeding system was installed when they were planted

Finally -- However, all that said -- there are some that have the potential to get big if they are planted in deep soil and far enough from the winter salt:
[Washington and Valley Forge variety] American Elm
Valley_Forge_USNA_1.jpg

European Beech
Fagussylvatica.jpg

Weeping Willow,
Red Oaks
Red maples
Pagoda Tree


But overall while the rest wont become towering -- they will get big enough over the next ten to 20 or so years to have a major impact on the look of the place year round

for the really curious as to what is being planted on the greenway -- here's the URL for the complete plant list
http://www.rosekennedygreenway.org/visit/horticulture/greenway-plant-list/
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I think the Greenway's aesthetic will continue to improve as the trees grow. The greenway was far too vast when it first opened, but that has already improved considerably.

I think the Comm. Ave. mall is an interesting comparison, but that we would expect the Greenway to be much different for many reasons. First, the trees aren't planted in straight lines, so even if they were all a similar species, the effect would be different. Second, Comm. Ave. mall is much narrower. And third, the greenway is designed to have a varying topography throughout (subtle changes in ground level; hardscapings; fountains and features, etc), so you can't really achieve that "tree-lined corridor" effect.

Don't get me wrong, I love the Comm Ave. mall and wish there were another instance of it somewhere in Boston, but the Greenway just doesn't have the right ingredients.
 
the new mural is looking really cool ... definitely the best since the first one imo

I can only post the link hopefully someone here gets down there for some pics

https://flic.kr/p/Nj4raN
 
It's pretty good, but I feel like its missing something, it seems unfinished to me for some reason.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top