Boston a habor city

Hi everybody,

On Wednesday, Sep 22., we went on a field trip to explore the Boston harbor. At 9.00 am we started our excursion at the Christopher Columbus Park. The Boat took us around the harbor.

I learned that the Boston harbor consist of 34 islands, which belong to the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. Some of the Islands are Long Island, Spectacle Island (named after its shape), and Snake Islands, and more.

The Bostonians spent a lot of money to clean the harbor, over $5.0 bn, now it is one of the cleanest in the US. This led to a dramatic increase in real estate prices along the waterfront. Before the cleaning, the premises were mostly used for public housing to shelter the poor. Not a good idea as Bruce pointed out, the houses are away from schools, super markets, and jobs. Hence, are not suitable for people who cannot afford a car to go to these places.

Another big project around the harbor was the big dig, a city development project that submerged the highly frequented inner city highway. It started in 1982, and was finished just recently. The initial costs were estimated to be $2.4 bn, however, this could not be achieved, and the actual cost rose to a total of $15.0 bn. Luckily, as Bruce said, the costs were shouldered by the federal government.

Finally, I want to concentrate on the history of the harbor, and how it affects todays prosperity, and economic progress of Boston. Due to its location the harbor was soon one of the most important ones in the world, attracting a lot of trade and commerce. This brought wealth to the city, at one point the richest city in the world. The wealthy traders built churches and colleges, such as Harvard, MIT, and BU. In addition, the sea trade required sophisticated financial institutions to handle the transactions. Both, the colleges and the banks found back then, account for Boston’s current economic success. The university and colleges further higher education and research, while the banks provide attractive jobs to the college graduates to keep them in the city.

I think that the field trip helped me to extend my mental picture of Boston, and will help me to understand this growing, vibrant city furthermore throughout the semester.

Take care!

Malte