Category: Event

Seaport Walk: “A Stroll Through the Seaport: Past Present and Future”

Seaport Walk: “A Stroll Through the Seaport: Past Present and Future”

Every season WalkMassachusetts invites our supporters and friends to join us for free, point-to-point walks along 1-1.5 mile routes where we hear from guest speakers who discuss local projects, area history, built environment changes, and more. It gives us a wonderful opportunity to learn new things about our neighborhoods, connect with our supporters beyond a screen, and of course, walk!


Image: Yanni Tsipis, Senior VP of Fenway | Seaport Development at WS Development explains how this plaza was made to feel welcoming to visitors and residents alike. 

For July, we held a walk called “A Stroll Through the Seaport: Past Present and Future.” Yanni Tsipis, the Senior Vice President of Fenway | Seaport Development at WS Development guided us along a fully accessible walking route in the Seaport District.  The route began at Our Lady of Good Voyage Chapel and ended at Cisco Brewers Seaport.


Image: Using wood instead of asphalt or concrete can help mitigate the urban heat island effect.

The Seaport District has famously undergone many changes since the early 2000s, going from a largely uninhabited industrial port to a bustling mixed-use neighborhood today. WS Development has devoted their 33 acres of land to “residential, hotel, office, retail, entertainment, civic and cultural uses, as well as signature public open spaces.” For over a decade now, WalkMassachusetts has assisted with walk audits and advised on projects and development to ensure that the area is walkable and welcoming.


Image: Yanni discusses the expansion of the green spaces next to the Institute of Contemporary Art.

Throughout the walk, Yanni took care to explain the intentionality behind WS’ design choices: planter boxes with native wildflowers that buffer pedestrians from traffic; playful sculptures that create a welcoming energy; the use of wood, grass, and trees to mitigate heat; the gently sloping foundations that will be resilient to sea-level rise.


Image: Yanni explains that the building under construction out of frame will be net-zero carbon and source its electricity from renewable resources.

Thank you so much to all who joined us! To read more about Seaport’s history and future, check out this oral history in Boston Magazine. 

Keep an eye out for our next event! We’re heading to Franklin Park on September 19th!

Thanks for coming on the 2023 Bob Sloane Walk

Thanks for coming on the 2023 Bob Sloane Walk

Thank you so much to everyone who joined us yesterday for our 2023 Bob Sloane Walk! It was a pleasure to gather with friends, learn from our speakers, and enjoy a walk (despite the rain!) through downtown, Boston Common, and the South End. WalkMassachusetts has a yearly tradition of leading a free walk each spring along a short route that includes stops where we hear from guest speakers. This was our second year hosting a springtime walk in honor of Bob Sloane, a co-founder of WalkBoston who passed away in May 2021. He was a true pioneer in walking advocacy and a pillar of our organization. We thank those who shared loving memories of him throughout the event.  

We’d also like to say a big thank you also to our wonderful speakers! Shawn Quigley, a Park Ranger with the National Park Service, gave a moving account on the history of the 54th Regiment, one of the first Black regiments of the American Civil War, at their memorial just across the street from the State House. 

Nathan Frazee, a Project Manager from Boston Parks and Recreation Department shared about the process and implementation of the Boston Common Master Plan. 

The last talk was given under the arms of ‘The Embrace’ Memorial by Brian Sandford, a designer with MASS Design Group, the nonprofit architecture firm behind the memorial’s design and realization for their client, Embrace Boston. We ended the evening with drinks at MASS Design Group’s office space in the South End while perusing their “Making the Embrace” exhibit. Thank you to MASS for welcoming us into your fantastic space.

(We even glimpsed a rainbow before the sun set.) 

Thank you for helping us honor Bob Sloane’s legacy and continue his advocacy work. Keep an eye out for more events this summer! 

Event – 2023 Bob Sloane Walk

Event – 2023 Bob Sloane Walk

Please join us on Wednesday, May 24th at 5:30pm for this year’s Bob Sloane Walk.

Sign up today!

This walk is in honor of Bob Sloane. Bob was a co-founder of WalkBoston (now WalkMassachusetts) and passed away in May 2021. He was a true pioneer in walking advocacy and a pillar of our organization, and we honor his legacy by hosting a walk each year in his name.

Each spring, we lead a free walk with a ~1-1.5 mile route that includes ~2-4 stops along the way where we hear from a guest speaker. We start or end near public transit, and usually end at a place where people can mingle/have a drink if they’d like to continue conversations.

Since this is a point-to-point walk, we encourage you to use public transportation, walk, or bike to the start so that it is easy for you to head out afterwards.

SPEAKERS & TOPICS

  • City Hall Plaza Redesign 
  • Park Ranger, National Park Service; Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Regiment Memorial
  • Nathan Frazee, Project Manager, Boston Parks and Recreation Dept.; Boston Common Master Plan
  • Chris Scovel, RA, LEED; Design Director, MASS Design Group; The Embrace

ROUTE

We’re starting behind the Government Center MBTA Station (corner of Cambridge St and Court St), which is also where our first speaker will talk about the redesign of Boston’s City Hall Plaza. 

From there, we’ll walk along Tremont St, take a right on Beacon and get to the Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Regiment Memorial across from the State House, where a National Park Service Ranger will join us to talk about the monument and the renovations.

Next, we’ll head to the Frog Pond in the Boston Common, where we’ll be joined by Boston Parks to talk about the Boston Common Master Plan. We’ll then stop at The Embrace to hear from MASS Design Group about the memorial. From there, we will then continue on to MASS Design Group’s office in the South End where they currently have an exhibition called “Making the Embrace.” We’ll end with a drink on their outdoor deck, or invite you to check out one of the many bars and restaurants near their office in the South End!

The walk route is fully accessible. Since the Boston Common entrance at the Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Regiment Memorial only has stairs, we will use the sidewalk on Park Street toward Park St Station, and enter the Boston Common at the corner of Park and Tremont.

View the tentative route on Google Maps here.

We hope to see you on May 24th at 5:30pm. Please RSVP today!

Green Line Extension Opening

Green Line Extension Opening

WalkBoston’s Program Coordinator Ava Dimond had the opportunity to attend the Green Line Extension’s (GLX) official opening ceremony in the Tufts Joyce Cummings Center on Monday, Dec. 12th. She stepped onto the Green Line at Haymarket station and comfortably rode it all the way to the Medford/Tufts stop, passing 5 new stops along the way at College Avenue, Ball Square, Magoun Square, Gilman Square, and East Somerville. The Green Line Extension is anticipated to carry riders on more than 50,000 trips each day, allowing residents of Cambridge, Somerville, and Medford to streamline their trips to downtown Boston and beyond. 

As the audience filed in and buzzed about the how the first rides went that morning (starting with an extremely well-attended 4:45 a.m. train departing Tufts), university a capella groups Essence and the Beelzebubs gave fabulous performances while Jumbo (the Tufts mascot) ambled around wearing a Charlie Card on a green lanyard. Speakers at the event included Tufts’ President Tony Monaco, Governor Charlie Baker, Senators Liz Warren and Ed Markey, Mayors Katjana Ballantyne and Breanna Lungo-Koehn, as well as officials from the T, many wearing green.

Like much of the media surrounding the GLX, the tone was celebratory and optimistic— but every speaker dutifully acknowledged the project’s enormous expense, major challenges from its inception decades ago, and seemingly endless delays. Having been officially in the works since 1991, the $2.3 billion project stalled over and over again due to lawsuits, funding struggles, and later, the COVID-19 pandemic. As trains serenely rolled in and out of the Medford/Tufts station just behind the speakers, it was hard not to reflect on the immense amount of community organizing, political will, and physical labor the GLX and the adjoining Community Path Extension (CPX) entailed. Some speakers, like Sen. Warren, alluded to the hope that one day soon Medford/Tufts will be just another stop until the Green Line and Community Path reaches Route 16. Many dream that this project represents a new beginning, and not the end, of an accessible, reliable, and affordable 21st century transit system for the Greater Boston area. 

We were glad to see Mayor Ballantyne take the time to shout out the Community Path Extension. In 2015 and 2016, the CPX’s future looked uncertain due to ballooning Green Line Extension costs. Thanks to the persistent lobbying by local officials, committed residents, and advocacy groups such as Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership (STEP), the Conservation Law Foundation, and more, the CPX became a reality. WalkBoston would especially like to congratulate Friends of the Community Path, a longtime supporter and collaborator on walkability, on this exciting success. When the Path’s current extension project is finally completed, “bicycle users and pedestrians will be able to enjoy a continuous off-street pathway between Davis Square and Paul Revere Park on the banks of the Charles River in Boston’s Charlestown neighborhood.” We look forward to walking the path soon!