Boston is creating a new kind of city, one which mixes work, residence, recreation, and entertainment in an enhanced public realm that celebrates the harbor.

Despite turning its back to the water for much of the 20th Century, Boston Harbor itself is becoming a primary recreation ground. Water-oriented spaces are linked by the Harbor Walk. Residences, once isolated in the North End and Chinatown, are now a presence throughout downtown. Faneuil Hall Market Place, the Aquarium and the Children’s Museum will be connected by important new public places.

Completion of the Rose Kennedy Greenway enhances this evolution. In addition to creating new open space, housing and work places, the continuity this strand provides from Causeway to Kneeland Street gives the Downtown a new form, knitting the harbor and neighborhoods into a Greenway District.

Many departments are bound in a joint effort with area stakeholders and the civic community to build this new model for Boston’s streets.

This collage of real and recent plans, many in various stages of implementation, shows the concentration of interest and effort around the Inner Harbor. Most of these plans and projects include at least 1/3 residential uses, and in many cases more. The crossroads are shown in orange.