This is an exciting time along the waterfront as the city of Boston embarks upon a municipal harbor planning process.
Next month, the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) will select a consultant team to help plan and zone the downtown waterfront and Greenway districts. This area encompasses the 15-acre Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway and 26 individual waterfront parcels – totaling nearly 39 acres of water and upland areas. With the involvement of residents, property owners, businesses and the general public, the BRA hopes to have a state-approved plan in place by 2014 for the waterfront from Hook Lobster Co. to the Marriott Long Wharf Hotel next to Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park.
The approved plan and related zoning will help knit together the Greenway district, which follows much of the footprint of the dismantled elevated Central Artery and adjacent properties with the waterfront. The integration of this area will allow residents, workers and visitors to fully utilize and enjoy a clean, revitalized Boston Harbor. Using data and guidelines from past efforts such as the Greenway District Study Use and Development Guidelines, Crossroads Initiative, Boston Inner Harbor Passenger Water Transportation Plan and the city’s Climate Action Plan will facilitate a timely planning process.
Given the anticipated effort, the Municipal Harbor Plan should reflect the following:
A more comprehensive approach to planning. The BRA has indicated that it is seeking a multi-disciplinary team to help its work, which we strongly support. Not only must the plan consider the more traditional aspects of Chapter 91 planning such as height, amount of open space, water-dependent and non water-dependent uses and setback to water’s edge, but hopefully the plan will also reinforce current societal goals of public health and wellness, access for all regardless of physical ability, climate change action and environmental sustainability.
A waterfront for everyone. Demographic patterns show renewed interest by all age groups in wanting to live in urban areas such as Boston. The Menino administration has taken a leadership approach to encouraging a mix of housing options in the South Boston Seaport area, including smaller-scale, innovative housing for young professionals, artist live/work spaces, and affordable housing. As part of the mix of non water-dependent uses, the downtown waterfront/Greenway districts would benefit greatly from a plan that fosters a mix of market rate and more affordable housing options.
A robust public realm. The two districts currently have some of the best-known public spaces, including the much-used Rose Kennedy Greenway, the award-winning Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park, a much-welcomed Boston Harbor Islands Pavilion, a very popular Long Wharf plaza, the well-maintained Fidelity Park and completed HarborWalk segments with public art at Harbor Towers, New England Aquarium and Long Wharf. The districts also have some of the most unique exterior and interior public realm features, including a free public observation deck at Rowes Wharf, a priceless Boston Harbor map collection on permanent display in the Magellan Gallery of the Boston Harbor Hotel, an updated "Walk to the Sea" passageway through the newly-renovated Marriott Long Wharf Hotel, a free exterior harbor seals tank at the New England Aquarium, and the "Norman B. Leventhal Walk to the Sea" at Long Wharf. The planning process will potentially help integrate and foster additional creative exterior and interior public realm elements so that the public can use and enjoy the waterfront year-round.
A further activation of the waterfront and water. Boston Harbor is now one of the cleanest urban waterways in the country. The Municipal Harbor Plan should incorporate new opportunities for the public to access and enjoy the water by having property owners provide new docks, water taxi stops, marinas, water transit and boating programs for the general public. Public transportation and ease of getting to the area via water transportation should be emphasized in the plan.
With thoughtful planning and public involvement, the waterfront downtown/ Greenway districts can be the next great "common ground" for Boston.
Vivien Li is president of The Boston Harbor Association, www.tbha.org . Email: vli@tbha.org
