DESCRIPTION OF ISSUE
WHERE/WHEN APPLICABLE

DESCRIPTION OF ISSUE:
One of the extraordinary aspects of Boston's major greenspaces is their connectivity. Famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted designed Boston's park system as a string of parks connected by a waterway called the Muddy River and by a linear parkway/ roadway system. Collectively, this chain of parks has become known as the Emerald Necklace, and the idea has great resonance among Boston residents. The system of connected greenspaces provides continuous wildlife corridors and allows people to explore the city on bike or on foot, moving from sections they know well to sections that are new to them. Advocates for more recently established greenspaces such as the Southwest Corridor Park and the Boston Nature Center also seek to establish or reinforce connections between the Emerald Necklace and the newer parks.

In certain areas, parkways and original connections between greenspaces have been compromised. In other areas, connections between greenspaces have yet to be established.

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WHERE/ WHEN APPLICABLE:
Emerald Necklace and Boston Nature Center:
Currently, despite the fact that the Boston Nature Center is geographically very close to the Forest Hills Cemetery and Franklin Park, it is isolated from the other major greenspaces in the Heart of the City. Either Morton Street or American Legion Highway could more effectively link the Nature Center to other major greenspaces.

Emerald Necklace and Southwest Corridor Park:
Early planning literature about the Southwest Corridor Park refers to it as "a new strand of the Emerald Necklace." Technically, the Emerald Necklace and the Southwest Corridor Park connect at Forest Hills MBTA Station. However, the Forest Hills area is a major break in the continuity of the Emerald Necklace and the area is overrun with traffic and concrete. There is no sense of intersection and connection between the two park systems.

Arborway and Forest Hills Cemetery:
Signage and a clearer green connection might also facilitate the connection between the Arborway and the Forest Hills Cemetery.

Arnold Arboretum and Franklin Park:
The Arborway almost completely loses its greenway character in front of the Forest Hills MBTA Station. The historic park connection between the Arboretum and Franklin Park is lost.

Fallon Field and Arnold Arboretum:
Roslindale community groups have noted the poor connectivity between Fallon Field and the Arnold Arboretum.

Franklin Field and Franklin Park:
Around the 1950s, the connection between Franklin Field and Franklin Park in Dorchester was described as a "natural corridor of rocky cliff and field, wild flowers and tar pits" (J. Mirsky, "Who lost the Emerald Necklace? In search of Franklin Park." The Boston Globe Magazine, 1972). In 2002, the cliffs, fields, and wildflowers along Angel Street have been almost completely replaced by houses and streets. Blue Hill Avenue and American Legion Highway, with their four-plus lanes of fast moving traffic, also present major challenges for the connectivity of these two major parks.

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