When first introduced to the project, I immediately began to think of unique ways that the Emerald Necklace transects were related to each other that shows social and ecological processes and history. After thinking about the different themes I could pick for the project I decided to pick my theme based on the amount of greenery at the sites. Instead of picking sites based on their history I wanted to pick based off of their aesthetic.  I believe using this approach to picking the sites would help me learn more than I would have if I picked sites based off of their history or ecological processes. The first few sites have the most green and will start in the Emerald Necklace. The tour will end up taking you to downtown Boston where the sites have no green but are more historic and have a higher importance to the theme. This tour gives the viewer a wide view of Boston using two opposites types of aesthetic: green plants and grey concrete.  The purpose of this tour is to have the person tour different parts of Boston while also learning of their history and how they tie in to each other. 

Through my research of the different sites, I found connections between the sites that I was not expecting.  Small sites that I thought would be on the less important side actually ended up being some of the more interesting ones.  I found out that Boston is a very historic city with centuries of history in the most least likely of places. Even though I picked sites that I knew were historic as well as sites I knew were not as important, each site had an impact on the overall theme of the project.

When looking at all of the sites on the tour, the viewer sees just how diverse Boston is within a small area.  This specific route shows the viewer that even though Boston is known as being a densely populated city full of skyscrapers and concrete buildings, it still has its areas of forest and green patches in a sea of concrete.  While many people just think downtown Boston is the only part of Boston with historic significance, they will learn how that is not true. After finishing the tour, viewers realize how some extremely green sites such as Franklin Park and Back Bay Fens have lots of significance to the historical progression of Boston and its development.  The succession in the sites from green to concrete symbolizes how Boston urbanized and changed its aesthetic. Viewers see early Boston through open areas like the Arboretum and show the change to more modern sites such as Christopher Columbus Park which has a more modernized look but still has aspects of its early green stage with some open space left.  The viewer then ends at the current stage of Boston at Boston City Hall with arguably the most historical background and the least amount of green.    

        The path through the sites is specifically crafted to make the viewer think about what they are seeing.  Throughout the tour, the viewer is supposed to look beyond just the visuals of each site but really dig deep in the historical background of the site and what part it had to play in Boston’s history as well as shaping Boston into the place it is now. We want the viewer to really put themselves in the mindset of new, developing Boston and think about what the site’s use was and why it was built.  Some sites, such as Boston Public Market and Paul Revere Mall, are more modern with the purpose of gaining money for businesses and attracting customers. However, some places have very complex beginnings and are an intricate part of Boston’s beginnings, good and bad.  

With this specific topic and sites on the tour, there is not much connection to urban segregation in early Boston.  Since none of these places are homes or residences, they were not used to racially segregate Boston to make African-Americans live in seperate areas.  However, since the theme of the tour deals heavily with greenery and aesthetics, the sites have a deep history with landscape preservation. The only site that deals with urban segregation is Titus Sparrow Park.  In an area that housed poor people of color, the state tried to make them relocate. When talk of building a highway was brought up the first people to be moved are those of color. Eventually, the community banded together and eventually beat the project and turned an empty lot into a community park that is free of charge.  Some of these sites, partially Back Bay Fens and Boston Public Garden, were initially part of plans to improve the area in some form. As time passed and Boston evolved and developed, these sites initial purpose was obsolete and they became the places they are now. The Back Bay Fens was originally an area that dealt with pollution but when the problem was solved the area was left with no real use.  Only later when Boston started to develop did a use for the area become important. Places such as Faneuil Hall marketplace hold higher historical significance that most people even know. Seemingly a popular tourist spot, after digging deeper people realize that as Boston developed from the area under Bristish rule to the grand city it is now, Faneuil Hall was an important site that was used again and again in significant events in the history of Boston.  Due to this, the viewer can not just look at the sites for how they look now, but dig deep to learn how these sites are started from a certain place to make them what they are today. The walking tour makes people stop looking at the surface level at sites and stopping there. Places are more than just what they look like. The complex history of every site on the tour has something to do with the history of Boston, some may be sites made at the beginning of development that kept their same use since they were founded or they are area specifically made become Boston became urbanized.  These invisible strings that connect sites around the city can only be seen when people start to really open their eyes and look at their history if they want to fully understand Boston.