Tag: By Katie Koenig

  • History 5: Commonwealth Ave

    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…

  • Museum 4: Institute of Contemporary Art

    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…

  • Museum 3: Museum of Science

    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.…

  • Sustainable Sundays: Boston Harbor Islands

    By Katie Koenig Winter is upon us! Monday, October 14 was the last day to take a ferry to visit the Boston Harbor Islands, and I spent the day visiting Spectacle Island. It was drizzly most of the morning, but thankfully started clearing up by the time I got off the ferry on the island…

  • History of Boston’s Green Spaces 4: Public Garden

    By Katie Koenig The Public Garden was established in 1839, making it the earliest public garden in U.S. history. In 1977, a Landmarks Commission report suggested it be designated as a historic landmark, which later was accepted. Although it sits next to the Boston Common, the lands were purchased much later and decorated lavishly, with…

  • Museum Meanderings 2: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

    By Katie Koenig I haven’t yet made it back to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, although it’s on my to-do list this semester. I’ve been several times, and each time it’s felt like a new experience. It’s such an interesting way to present exhibits, organized into themed rooms and set up within an actual house…

  • History of Boston’s Green Spaces 3: Boston Common

    By Katie Koenig The Boston Common has existed since before the Revolutionary War. Early on, it was used for military training, farming, and even cattle grazing.  It has remained a major green space in Boston largely due to community advocacy, much like with the Esplanade. One such community organization is the Friends of the Common…

  • New Washing Machines on Campus!

    By Katie Koenig For several years, students have complained about broken machines, long wait times, and water puddling on the floor of laundry rooms, among other things. From interviews in 2022, the Berkeley Beacon cites that student misuse is one factor of these issues. Another is that students are responsible for reporting broken machines, despite…

  • Museum Meanderings 1: Peabody Essex Museum

    By Katie Koenig Living in the heart of Boston, there are so many things to do that I, at least, get overwhelmed with all the possibilities. Museums, however, are a weakness of mine, so throughout the semester as I go to museums, you might want to join! I live on campus, which is right next…

  • History of Boston’s Green Spaces 2: Franklin Park

    By Katie Koenig Franklin Park is another major green space in Boston, although perhaps less traveled by on-campus residents than the Common and the Esplanade. Where the Boston Common marks one end of the Emerald Necklace, a chain of parks across Boston designed to be traversed without ever leaving the green spaces, Franklin Park finishes…