Mayor Menino Inaugurates Everett Street Community Green Space

JUNE 21, 2010 - ALLSTON - At a celebratory ribbon cutting hosted by Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA) and Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation (ABCDC), Mayor Thomas M. Menino inaugurated the newly landscaped community green space along Everett Street in North Allston. The project is the first “green street” demonstration project of its kind to be completed in the City of Boston.

The Everett Street Green Space project created a lush, green streetscape at the St. Anthony’s Church site, next to the German International School of Boston. Nearly 2,500 square feet of asphalt parking lot were transformed into a new public green space that utilizes sustainable landscaping features to reduce stormwater runoff and beautify the neighborhood.  “This site represents the future of stormwater in Boston: pleasant, green, shaded and restorative of both land and water,” said Bob Zimmerman, Executive Director of CRWA. The green infrastructure system uses street trees to intercept stormwater, provide shade and improve air quality, illustrating the connection between green infrastructure, stormwater management and water quality.

The use of rain gardens, permeable pavement and stormwater tree filter system not only improves the site aesthetically but also collects and treats polluted stormwater runoff that would otherwise flow untreated into the Charles River. The attractive green landscape includes seven new trees, a rain garden, native planting beds, and more. The vegetation helps beautify the area while creating a new community green space for the residents of Allston Brighton.

“Allston Brighton continues to be on the cutting edge of environmental protection and sustainability,” said Mayor Thomas M. Menino.  “This green infrastructure project reduces stormwater impacts, shades the neighborhood, and helps our community adapt to increasing changes in our climate.  These are the types of green innovations we are fostering throughout the neighborhoods of Boston.”

The completion of the Everett Street Community Green Space is the culmination of a two-year community process which included meetings hosted by ABCDC and CRWA and led to the development of a conceptual plan for greening all of Everett Street, and publication of the Green Streets Guide for Allston Brighton. The Everett Street site is the first project from the Everett Street plan to be completed. 

This project was funded by the MA Dept. of Conservation & Recreation Urban Forestry Fund, the Harvard-Allston Partnership Fund, and the Boston College Neighborhood Fund.  Construction was done by a Blade of Grass, and Green Street Systems, two local firms that contributed significant volunteer labor to the project.  The project promotes the varied benefits of urban forestry including community building, water quality improvements and urban canopy enhancement.  Further, by retrofitting a site that was 100% impervious with innovative Low Impact Developments (LID) Best Management Practices (BMPs), the project provided an opportunity for combining stormwater management goals such as runoff reduction and water quality improvement with community goals for landscape improvements and public education on green infrastructure.

For more details on the project please refer to http://www.crwa.org/projects/everett_greenstreet.html