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Thanks, Carrie, for such an informative article. The pictures are breath-taking. In Robert Parker's Spencer books, he often writes about the Boston Gardens, and I've wanted to see them. I believe Olmstead also designed the gardens and grounds at Biltmore.
Robert Parker's Spencer books are absolutely set in Olmsted's Boston, from Spencer's Comm Ave office, to jogging along the Charles River, to shoot-outs in the Fens. I forgot to mention that the Emerald Necklace, as shown in that 19C. map, goes from the Boston Common, through the Public Garden, down Commonwealth Avenue before it turns down the Fenway, the Riverway, the Jamaicaway and the Arborway (named for the Fens, the Muddy River in Brookline, Jamaica Pond and the Arboretum, respectively). I'm not sure about the Biltmore but there is lots of information about Olmsted online! xx, Carrie
Olmstead designed Forest Park, which is about six blocks from my home. The idea of a necklace of parks is a wonderful image, and I agree . . . given the attitudes towards development in the 1950s and 1960s, all the wetlands would be highrises.
Thanks, Seandor. I'm glad you liked it. This article took me an unusually long time to complete because right as I was finishing it up, my husband took his one required science course. He learned all about wetlands and the Boston Harbor Cleanup and the fact that Olmsted's planning did destroy systems they didn't even realize were important back then. But I had ethical writer's block - how could I talk about what a genius the guy was if he had done so much harm? I actually went to the Emerald Necklace Conservancy office (it was across the street from one of my doctors) and got one of the ladies there to talk me back into being pro-Olmsted! xx, Carrie
