Essay Questions on Boston City
- Three elements from Kevin lynch “the city and its elements” about Boston City
- Paths
- The Ross Kennedy Greenway is a key path in Boston City. It is a linear urban park consisting of landscaped gardens, fountains, art, promenades and a special lighting system stretching more than one mile through Boston’s Financial District, neighborhoods and Harbor communities. A lot of traffic is also uses the underground tunnels built after modernization of the pathway recently.
- The Freedom Trail is a walkway 2.5 miles long through Boston City that serves as a historical feature bearing many memories of the US’s history and independence. It follows a red brick line that leads to 16 significant historic sites and some landmarks such as the Gold-Domes State House and Park Street Church.
- Landmarks
- The Prudential Tower is a key Landmark in Boston City. The building has more than 50 floors and from it one can see the whole of Boston’s downtown and the historic area.
- The Christian Science center- this building is found near the Prudential Tower and Charles River.
- The John Hancock Tower is another key landmark- Unlike several other landmarks that are old historical buildings, the John Hancock Tower is a very notable building courtesy of its illuminated Beacon with its color forecasting the weather!
- The Old State House is another notable landmark. It has a gleaming Gold Dome and is quite noticeable from top buildings in Boston area and from across Charles River.
- Nodes
- Beacon Hill, found near Boston Common is a lovely place to stroll. It bears gas-lit cobbled streets, quaint shops and beautiful homes.
- The Boston Common- is another key node in Boston City. It is the oldest city park in America and lies on the banks of Charles River. It is a popular and exciting place to be and many Bostonians frequent the part for relaxation.
- The Quincy Market is a key eating and common place where Bostonians spend quality time. It is located near Samuel Adams Hall.
- The Bunker Hill monument is also a key node found along the Freedom Trail.
- Evaluation of the process and elements of comprehensive plan in local areas
The Boston cityscape is one of the most beautiful in the US. Nicknamed the “walking city”, Boston City was adequately planned to accommodate sufficient walkways, parks and recreational sites. The Paths crossing the city are wide, curve beautifully but there are some sections that exude ambiguity of directions especially on the paths near Charles River. The “Big Dig” project rectified several mistakes about transportation in Boston City and the city’s population now has easier access to several parks and the general mobility within the city has improved. However some roads such as the 1-93 SouthEast Expressway through Milton experiences heavy traffic jams with motorists taking up to 40 minutes for a 10.4 miles stretch! This has led Boston city to rank 8th among the 10 cities in the US with the worst traffic jams
- Diagram of Boston City and its environs
This diagram shows Boston City and its vicinity. The diagram shows some of the highly urbanized places in Boston at the centre with the lesser urbanized places at the periphery of the city. The outskirts show residential areas such as Dorchester, Charlestown and Harvard areas. 4. Social aspects of planning and the major functions served by “way stations”
The social aspects of planning a city relate to the location of entertainment areas, parks, recreation sites, eateries, movie theatres among others. Social areas have to be near each other for instance, a movie theatre near facilities that can be used as an eatery. In addition, the social places have to be located in such a manner that intense social activity areas such as parks are away from the financial district or the areas set aside for industrial development. “Way Stations” serve several functions among them the control heavy rail traffic in and out of industrial areas of cities. They also serve as communication linkage points say between road and rail transport including the exchanges points of commuter trains.
5. Reasons why planning is highly political in this country
Planning influences the allocation of resources. The more a place is allocated more resources from the federal government, the more the political leaders who engineered the planning and allocation of resources are likely to be voted back to power.
Since the ancient if times, cities emerged from certain political occurrences. Boston city is famous for being the place where the declaration of independence was made and as such it’s planning takes into place the significance of political events of the yesteryears and their influence on modern politics.
Planning of cities determines the pattern in which people shall be drawn to that city. It also determines the settlement pattern of people into that city and with such demographics; politicians can manage to create large voting blocks. that people are attracted to
- Rennaisance and Baroque planning style- This style was commonly used in the planning of European cities such as Florence, Rome, London among others. They were planned to have many buildings close together with minimal spaces that can serve as parks. The cities bore plenty of renaissance ideals.
- Garden City planning- This style encompasses the creation of green parks and beautification gardens within the cities. It is common in the US with cities such as Boston, New York and Los Angeles.
