5 replies to this topic

[tocoto]

A couple of panos of DT Boston from a beach in Quincy, probably 6 to 8 miles from town.  From this angle, the skyline is so long it's hard to get the whole thing.  The area between the financial district and the JH is very densely built with buildngs topping out around 25 to 30 stories, and they don't show up much above the hills and trees.

[Scott]

During the 1980's an influential local judge was jogging down this beach and stepped in untreated human feces.
He then threatened the MWRA with an injunction banning any new hook ups into the local water/ sewerage sytem if a clean up of the harbor wasn't undertaken.
Essentially that meant no new development in greater Boston at all.
$4 to 5 billion later the fish are back and aren't covered in tumors.
There are no "beach whistles"- plastic tampon applicators or "Coney Island White Fish"- condoms that would litter the beach.
Also gone are the oil slicks or nauseating smells at low tide.
It's an amazing turn around.

In the fore ground is the Marina Bay retail/ commercial complex built on an old airport with its mix of throw back building styles and what is locally refered to as "those stupid Miami Beach looking buildings"   .
In front of that is Dorchester Street that leads out to Quincy's neighborhood/ peninsula of Squantum. The road floods during extreme weather and Squantum becomes an island.
Surrounded by salt marshes and the ocean, the area was, until modern times, used as grazing lands.

To the right jutting out into the harbor below the skyline is the black and white, JF Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
To the right of that, below one of the twin Harbor towers is Rowes Wharf and below the one on the right is VB #5,
ventilation building structure for the Big Dig that is across the street from the new convention center.

[Cotuit]

I've heard that though the harbour is considerably cleaner, irony of ironies, the very beaches that prompted the clean up remain stubbornly dirty. The Quincy Beaches especially Wollaston Beach, have a higher average of needing to be closed. Something to do with the storm run off systems in the area.  

[Cotuit]

This is what I was thinking of:

Wollaston Beach is the largest Boston Harbor beach, providing more than one and a half miles of shoreline access. This urban beach features a continuous walkway, seawall, and concession stands on the land side of Quincy Shore Drive. The Brett Bathhouse contains outdoor showers and enclosed changing areas. Easy access is available to park areas and a new tot lot at Caddy Park. Recent improvements of Wollaston Beach include new sand and improved handicapped access. Future plans to be completed within three years include additional resanding, traffic calming measures and new, safer pedestrian walkways and crossings that will provide access to a multi-use pathway, shade shelters, benches and tot lots. Construction of these improvements should begin in early 2003. Wollaston Beach is owned and operated by the Department of Conservation and Recreation.

The City of Quincy, the MDC, The Boston Harbor Association, and the Wollaston Beach Task Force are currently working together to resolve water quality problems. As part of the plan to address these issues, The Department of Conservation and Recreation recently filed an Interim Assessment for Quincy Shore Reservation, Wollaston Beach Restoration Project. The document identifies the impacts and mitigation measures related to five main elements of the restoration project, including the proposed beach nourishment, stormwater management, shore protection, site amenities and landscaping, and transportation. The replacement of catchbasins and installation of particle separators will be key in removing total suspended solids and improving water quality. Copies of the Assessment are available by calling 508-903-2078. Many of the recommendations for water quality improvements are outlined in the "Plan to Restore Water Quality at Wollaston Beach", 1999. Copies of the Plan's Executive Summary are available from TBHA by calling 617-482-1722.

Access: Wollaston Beach is directly accessible by foot from the many residential neighborhoods along Quincy Shore Drive. Ample parking is also available. Take Wollaston Beach/Ashmont Bus #217 from the MBTA Red Line's Wollaston station, or walk along Beach Street from the Wollaston T Station.

[Raleigh-NC]

I can't comment on the beaches outside Boston, but I can say that the panoramic views are very nice, indeed. Thanks for sharing them with us, Tocoto.

[tocoto]

The beach looked clean.  There were lots of shells, maybe a sign of life.  Come to think of it, the smell was OK too.  I didn't have a mercury test kit though.