Blue Cities work in Longwood Medical
and Academic Area
Like the Harvard-Allston campus, the Longwood
Medical and Academic Area (LMA) has a beautiful urban park system as its
front door. It is also one of the densest and most rapidly developing
areas of the city, with over two million square feet of development
proposed. The impacts of this development on the neighborhood, in terms
of issues such as traffic, noise and shadow are widely recognized. Less
understood are the impacts of the new development on the Emerald
Necklace.
As with the Harvard Allston Campus and Zakim North
Area, our goal is to support development that actually improves the
environment. Again, we anticipate using the template created through
the Harvard Allston campus project to help citizens, developers and
public agencies in an effort to make the growth in the LMA
environmentally sound. Properly guided, development in the LMA can lead
to improvements in the park system through capital projects and
increased maintenance and oversight, thereby having the potential to
improve the parks rather than cause further deterioration.
Following the outline
established at North Allston and Zakim North, CRWA has initiated a
similar effort in the LMA, collecting information, identifying potential
solutions and building support to implement them. Given CRWA's
experience with and knowledge base on the Muddy River Restoration
Project, which is being implemented in close proximity to the LMA, there
is a significant opportunity for applying lessons learned in the Muddy
River Project to restoration in the LMA.
Green infrastructure opportunities within the LMA
CRWA is an active
participant at the LMA Forum (organized by Medical Academic and
Scientific Community Organization (MASCO) and the BRA), which reviews
various on-going development/redevelopment projects in the area. CRWA
has worked in coordination with MASCO and the BRA to raise awareness on
the impacts of the new development on the Emerald Necklace and the Muddy
River that the LMA fronts (see sidebar).
In our work in the LMA,
we anticipate using the template created through the Harvard Allston
campus project to help citizens, developers and public agencies in an
effort to make the growth in the LMA environmentally sound. CRWA is
trying to set high standards for each development project through
commenting at various stages of projects through both the BRA’s Large
Project Review process as well as the Massachusetts Environmental
Protection Act (MEPA) review process. CRWA aims to set the bar high for
all institutions in the area for their stormwater management as well as
their contribution towards improvements in the park system through
capital projects, increased maintenance and oversight and better public
access, thereby having the potential to improve the parks rather than
cause further deterioration.
CRWA is working closely
with park advocates to ensure that the public benefits package in each
of the applications adequately addresses the priorities outlined for
park maintenance and river restoration. Because the historically
significant Emerald Necklace is already under significant stress from
poor maintenance, impaired water quality and heavy traffic, this element
is a critical part of the project.
As a part of looking at
the LMA area, CRWA is also working with public, private, non-profit and
business groups to address the groundwater depletion problems in parts
of Boston, including the Fenway. Impervious urban development, tunnels,
groundwater pumping, leaking pipes and the characteristics of urban fill
are all contributing to a falling water table under many areas of the
city, exposing wooden pilings to rot and causing serious structural
instability in many buildings. This has been a hidden problem for years
in Boston, but its scale and scope have continued to expand and it is
clearly one of the most important water resource issues now facing the
city. CRWA’s work on urban water infrastructure makes us natural
partners in the efforts underway to address the problem. CRWA has
convened various city agencies including the BRA, Boston Water and Sewer
Commission, Department of Public Works, and Boston Parks and Recreation
Department, and the Boston Environment Department (BED) is taking the
lead in planning a Low Impact Development retrofit demonstration project
in the LMA.
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WATERSHED INFO
