Activating Columbia Road: Reframing a Missing Link

Our team has identified three recurring themes in
the process of researching the Columbia Road
corridor, previous planning initiatives, and similar
case studies. These themes are: framing and
anchoring, siloed interests and agencies, and
community engagement.
Framing and Anchoring
In every primary document and in almost every
mention of this project, the Columbia Road
Greenway is positioned as an extension of
Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace. While this is a natural
way to frame the project, it may not resonate with
as many people as we would expect. The historical
connection to Olmsted is a much larger draw for
architects, planners, and long-term Bostonians,
but does not take into account the immigrants,
communities of color, or newcomers to the area
since Olmsted’s time. Therefore, this positioning
may not be the most effective way to garner
community support and buy-in. However, reframing
to center the community does not have to entirely
negate the Olmsted history. This romantic vision of a
completed Emerald Necklace does have potential
benefits in a reimagined community process along
Columbia Road. As we have seen, leveraging
the Olmsted legacy is an effective way to garner
attention and resources. Is there a way for a new
framing of the Columbia Road corridor to remain
community-driven, but be fueled by Olmstedinspired
energy and support?
In a similar vein, the way in which this project has
resurfaced in the past few years has anchored its
subsequent positioning. For example, the way in
which the project was first envisioned as part of
the BSA’s Greenway Links Charrette Competition,
then promoted as part of the Boston 2024 Summer
Olympics Bid, before making its way into the Go
Boston 2030 and Imagine Boston 2030 reports, has
prevented any organic planning processes from
taking shape. Each planning initiative has built off
of the previous one, eventually leading back to
the charrette, which we previously mentioned,
was developed without community input. What
this means is that planners have found it difficult
to steer away from these prior processes and they
may never have the opportunity to approach
this project as a clean slate; the motivations and
beneficiaries of such a project have been lost over
time. However, despite this obstacle, we at least
interpret the enduring nature of this project as a
good sign that implementation will one day occur.
Lastly, many key contributors highlighted the
difficulty in framing this project as pertaining to
the “Columbia Road corridor.” Looking at a map,
it appears this 2.4 mile road is an integrated,
well-connected route; however, in actuality, the
corridor is quite divided, with no real centralized
sense of place among residents. Neighborhood
boundaries come right up to, but do not cross
Columbia Road. The heavy car traffic splits the
corridor down the middle, and busy intersections
splice up the area into disconnected blocks.
People living in the area relate to Uphams Corner
or Grove Hall, Dorchester or Roxbury, but our
research found that Columbia Road is seen as a
boundary and an edge, not a connection or a
public place. There is an intense need to forge
connections across neighborhood boundaries and
between major nodes, such as Upham’s Corner
and Franklin Park. Only when we connect these
disjointed places can a planning process address
Columbia Road in its entirety.
Siloed Interests and Agencies
In addition to hindering a sense of place along
the corridor, neighborhood boundaries also
contribute to a division of community involvement
and interests. Neighborhoods naturally define
communities and neighborhood identity is, of
course, valued and important. However, the
multiplicity of neighborhoods and community
groups along Columbia Road complicate the
planning process. Future engagement strategies
will need to work between and among these
multiple areas and groups to be successful.
Previous planning initiatives have steered in the
opposite direction, using fragmented approaches
which divide engagement by sub-neighborhoods.
While this can appear to be more efficient, it results
in neighborhood isolation and miscommunication
across neighborhood boundaries. When a plan
spans such a large area, planners must take
the extra step to relay information and promote
collaboration across neighborhood boundaries.
The City must similarly work to break down barriers
between zones, specifically between adjacent
planning projects and between related city
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