Category: Sustainability in Boston

By: Katie Koenig Jamaica Pond Jamaica Pond was initially a kettle hole, which is a term for a body of water that was formed by glaciers. In Boston, a slab of ice buried under other sediment remained when the glaciers retreated. The slab of ice formed a depression in the ground, creating the pond. This…

By Katie Koenig The Riverway is the last location in the Emerald Necklace in this article series. It is right in the middle of this chain of parks, connecting Olmsted Park and Jamaica Pond with the Back Bay Fens. It follows the snaking path of the Muddy River, surrounded by vegetation, in order to complete…

By Katie Koenig If you’ve spent some time in Boston, you have probably already crossed paths with the Black Heritage Trail! It circles between the State House and the Charles/MGH stop on the red line, centered on Beacon Hill. The Black Heritage Trail is displayed in a different color on the same maps as the…

By Katie Koenig The Back Bay Fens In my last post, I covered the inland end of the Emerald Necklace. This time, I’ll explain the Back Bay Fens and Charlesgate, jumping back towards the Charles River. The Back Bay Fens is a 100-acre park located in the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood. The area hosts a myriad of…

By Katie Koenig The Harvard Museum of Natural History is a medium-sized museum, comfortably larger than the Institute of Contemporary Art, but much smaller than the behemoth that is the Museum of Fine Art. It’s just one floor, but there are many sprawling rooms with different exhibitions. The museum typically hosts a few different special…

By Katie Koenig Arnold Arboretum The Arnold Arboretum has a slightly different history compared to some of Boston’s best known parks. Instead of the city, Harvard University established it as part of their campus in 1872. Frederick Law Olmsted and Charles Sprague Sargent, the first director of the Arboretum, co-designed and constructed the park over…

By Katie Koenig The Museum of Fine Art could easily be considered one of the best-known museums in Boston. It’s a gorgeous neoclassical style building with a large staircase leading up to the front entrance. It’s actually one of the 20 largest museums in the world, with one of the largest collections of art in…

By Katie Koenig Commonwealth Avenue is probably my favorite street to walk down when going between campus and Newbury Street or the Hynes Convention Center. It’s striking in how wide the boulevard is compared to surrounding streets. Towering trees provide shade on the large walkway, splitting traffic down the middle of the street. As the…

By Katie Koenig The Institute of Contemporary Art is a small museum. You can find it in Seaport in an imposing metal and glass building, but the entrance is a small door on the side that opens into a full lobby to buy tickets. Outside, though, are large, plastic, spinning seats. They look a little…

By: Katie Koenig Next up is the Museum of Science, which overlooks the Charles River by the West End. Easily accessible on the Green Line, it’s got live animal exhibits, interactive experiences, and dozens of more traditional museum exhibits, not to mention the Planetarium! It’s a massive brick building that parallels the Green Line’s route.…