Boston Plans Park Network for Resilience and Revitalization

Mayor Martin Walsh and the Trustees of Reservations have released plans for a network of parks along the Fort Point Channel, which they hope will both attract investment to the industrial corridor and mitigate the impacts of sea-level rise on its low-lying neighborhoods.

The channel runs from Boston Harbor to the railyard between South Boston and the South End, and is "one of the hottest pockets in Boston's real estate market," according to the Boston Globe. Conceptual designs call for connecting the parks through pedestrian bridges and artificial islands, bringing a string of green space to an area that is anticipating both major new development—from Amazon and GE—and increasing flood risk. 

A recently issued report, “Climate Ready Boston,” identified Fort Point Channel as a throughway that could allow water to inundate low-lying areas of the South End and Roxbury. Shoring it up — by changing the topography, installing water-absorbing marshlands, and giving water someplace to flow safely — could have great benefits.

Those benefits would extend from Fort Point to the downtown area, Chinatown, and South Boston, according to the mayor.