Boston is a walkable city at the sea's edge with a strong park tradition. Boston Common is the oldest public park in the United States, set aside in 1634 as a pasture and militia training ground. Today it is a welcome 18-hectare (44-acre) green space in the heart of the city. In the summer, concerts are held in the Common. Across from the Common is the Public Garden, the first botanical garden in the country and a popular recreation area noted for the swan boats on the lake.
Nearly 100 years ago, U.S. landscape designer Frederick Law Olmsted enhanced Boston's park system by designing an “Emerald Necklace” of open spaces throughout the city. Olmsted transformed a marshland in the Back Bay into a park of pools and meadows called The Fens. It has the Museum of Fine Arts and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum at its edge. Olmsted also designed 200-hectare (500-acre) Franklin Park, which is noted for its zoo. The zoo houses the African Tropical Forest Pavilion, an enclosed tropical environment, and Bird's World, a walk-through aviary. Nearby in Jamaica Plain, the Arnold Arboretum maintains more than 14,000 trees, flowers, and shrubs. Harvard University administers the arboretum as a research and educational facility.
Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Boston Information info
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