What we're reading this week | The #FridayFive
Encore Boston Harbor’s living shoreline
Lots of Lush
InspireDesign, August 19
Lifescapes International has completed its landscape design around the Encore Boston Harbor—a $2.6-billion development that opened its doors to the general public on June 23…To achieve a distinct contrast with the resort’s perfectly manicured resort gardens, native plant species offer a “natural” look at the river’s shore, stabilize the bank, create habitat and provide seasonal variety and interest on the shoreline. [READ MORE]
Boston’s Eastie Farm Builds Community and Resilience on the Front Lines of Climate Change
Civil Eats, August 21, by Meg Wilcox
On a hot afternoon, Kannan Thiruvengadam is checking the water level in rain barrels at the small community farm he helped create. He stops to chat with a visitor, Jessica Ventura, who grew up in the house next door, but has since moved away. As they reminisce, Thiruvengadam points to a hand-painted wooden sign (pictured above) that Ventura’s grandfather, a Salvadoran immigrant, had given him. It reads, in English and Spanish, “The only thing we all have in common is the earth.” [READ MORE]
What the Seas Will Swallow
PulitzerCenter.org, August 16, by Daniel Grossman
When Alex MacLean wants to see how buildings and open spaces in a city relate to each other, he rents a small plane, taxis down a local airport’s runway, and cruises low—at somewhere between 150 and several thousand meters. As the elements line up the way he wants, MacLean swings open the hinged window in his door and trains his camera on the ground. For several seconds, the plane—sometimes while spiraling downward—flies itself, as MacLean methodically frames his shots. [READ MORE]
Development Trends in U.S. Coastal Cities
Urbanland, August 19, by Mike Sheridan
In some coastal areas, developers, designers, and architects are taking the risk of severe weather events into account during planning. “Climate change continues to be a significant concern,” says Lou Vasquez, cofounder of BUILD, a real estate development company in San Francisco specializing in mixed-use residential development. “Nongovernmental organizations [NGOs] and governments are working closely together to prepare our region for climate change and to ensure we are planning future communities and developments with climate change in mind. [READ MORE]
Why Can’t I Take Public Transit to the Beach?
CityLab, August 16, by Linda Poon
New Yorkers still enjoy an abundance of beach access from their extensive subway system…In the Greater Boston region, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority bought and repurposed the right of ways from the old Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Railroad, which operated between the 1857 to 1940, to bring passengers to hotspots like Carson and Revere Beaches. But in smaller cities—even those close to the water, as the seagull flies—transit options can be scandalously limited. [READ MORE]