EMERALD NECKLACE

The 'Emerald Necklace' consists of an 1,100-acre chain of parks linked by parkways and waterways in Boston and Brookline, Massachusetts. The Emerald Necklace includes:

★ Boston Common

★ Boston Public Garden

★ Commonwealth Avenue Mall

★ Back Bay Fens

★ The Fenway

★ The Riverway

★ Olmsted Park

★ Jamaica Pond Park

★ The Jamaicaway

★ Arnold Arboretum

★ The Arborway

★ Franklin Park

The parks are almost contiguous with one another and are irregularly-shaped according to whatever land was available at the time of each park area's foundation.From Boston Common to Franklin Park it is approximately 7 miles by foot or bicycle through the parks.^[1]
Several components of the Emerald Necklace pre-date the plan to unite them. Some links of the Emerald Necklace not only offer an opportunity for recreation in a wooded environment, but are also ecologically-important urban wilds that provide nesting places for migratory birds and improve the air quality of the city.

Contents

History

Shape

Jurisdiction

Recent Improvement

The Conservancy

Other Areas

Sites along the necklace

References

External links

History

This linear system of parks and parkways was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted to connect the Boston Common (dating from the colonial period) and Public Garden (1837) to the great country estate known as Franklin Park.
The project began around 1878 with the effort to clean up and control the marshy area which became the Back Bay and the Fens. In 1880, Olmsted proposed that the Muddy River, which flowed from Jamaica Pond into the Fens, be included in the park plan. The current was dredged into a winding stream and directed into the Charles River. The corridor encompassing the river became a linear park. Olmsted's vision of a linear park of walking paths along a gentle stream connecting numerous small lakes was complete by the turn of the century.

Shape

★ See Diagram
As implied by the name "Emerald Necklace", these parks do not proceed in a straight line but rather form a sort of "L" shape. The Emerald Necklace begins near Boston's Downtown Crossing, proceeds along the Boston/Brookline Border, then curves back into Jamaica Plain. At the south border of Arnold Arboretum, at the point most distant from its beginning, the Emerald Necklace is in Roslindale.

Jurisdiction

★ Arnold Arboretum is leased to and managed by Harvard University.

★ The West banks of Olmsted Park and the Riverway are under the jurisdiction of Brookline.

★ The rest of the Emerald Necklace is maintained by the City of Boston and the Department of Conservation and Recreation.

Recent Improvement

Over the past decade, almost $60 million in capital expenditures for parks and waterway improvements have been made in the Emerald Necklace by the City of Boston and the Town of Brookline. These efforts have included improved pathways, plantings and signage, bridge repairs, and the restoration of boardwalks and buildings. In some areas (especially Franklin Park) these efforts have only begun to address the over fifty years of neglect the Emerald Necklace has suffered.¹

The Conservancy

The Emerald Necklace Conservancy was established in 1996 to support and build upon public sector initiatives. A not-for-profit organization, the Emerald Necklace Conservancy is a public-private partnership comprised of community, business government and institutional representatives, residential neighbors, representatives of Necklace-related associations and interested citizens.¹

Other Areas

There are a few other green areas in the vicinity of the Emerald Necklace which are never considered a part of it but are worth mentioning:

★ Charles River Esplanade is not contiguous with the rest of the Necklace, but is not far from Commonwealth Ave and is a scenic greenspace.

★ Forest Hills Cemetery fills in much of the area of Forest Hills between Arnold Arboretum and Franklin Park and is a beautifully-landscaped and waterscaped 275-acre attraction in its own right.

★ Larz Anderson Park is a wooded, landscaped, and waterscaped 64-acre parkland that extends into Brookline from the vicinity of Jamaica Pond. It was donated to the public in 1948.

★ Olmsted's early designs included The Dorchesterway, a parkway linking Franklin Park to Pleasure Bay. The parkway was never executed, leaving Pleasure Bay a separate unconnected park.

Sites along the necklace

Along or near the Emerald Necklace one can find:

★ Hatch Shell

★ Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

★ Museum of Fine Arts

★ Emerson College

★ Emmanuel College

★ Fenway Park

★ Franklin Park Zoo

★ Landmark Center

★ Massachusetts College of Art

★ Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

★ Massachusetts State House

★ Simmons College

★ Symphony Hall

★ Wentworth Institute of Technology

★ Wheelock College

References

1. City of Boston - The Emerald Necklace

External links

★ The Emerald Necklace Conservancy

★ City of Boston Website