Film documents Watertown development along Charles River...

Ashley Hunt produced this documentary about our local community in association with the Watertown Community Access Center. The program probes the history of the so-called Pleasant Street Corridor and the contentious issues confronting recent rezoning efforts.

The 30 minute film, 'Pleasant Street Corridor District: Fulfilling the Promise of its Name,' features interviews with Watertown civic leaders, concerned citizens, and business owners about this unique stretch of town that is adjacent to the Charles River.

What you get from giving...

I had the pleasure of running into Terri Trespicio in the neighborhood and found out she is a senior editor at Body+Soul magazine. I am always fascinated by the people, organizations, and companies here in Watertown. I knew Martha Stewart’s magazine had an office just down the street, so it was a nice to make the connection. Of course I had no idea that Terri is something of a media celebrity, with appearances on television and in print as an award-winning poet, essayist, and public speaker.

Since I’ve wanted to comment on Bill Clinton’s book, Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World, I thought I would point out Terri’s insightful conversation about giving during Martha Stewart’s interview with the former President about the Clinton Global Initiative.

Terri’s remarks were based on her article, What You Get from Giving, where she outlines a series of “inspirations to start making generosity a part of every day,” and I want to point out a couple of favorites. Be happy for someone else: “One of the most generous things you can do for the world (and often the most difficult) is to share sympathetic joy or true happiness for someone else’s good fortune…Rather than imagine that there’s less left for you, think the opposite: There’s more to be had as a result.”

Give what you need: “You might decide to give someone something but then a clenching fear arises that you’ll need it, that you don’t have enough of it to give away. The key is awareness of that fear, and giving in spite of it. That’s what makes altruism a practice. It’s not about succeeding or failing; it’s about learning the nature of generosity…Rather than view yourself as bereft and in need of things from others, see yourself as the giver of those things, and you’ll be surprised at what happens.”

Terri refers to research which suggests that nurturing others may feel good because it is rewarded by spikes of dopamine--the neurotransmitter linked to cravings, pleasure, and reward. “If you want a better life, better health, and the sense of being connected and hopeful in this world, the answer is to give,” says bioethicist Stephen Post. “In what can only be considered a blissful karmic payoff, it’s more often the giver--not the receiver--who reaps the biggest payback,” Terri writes.

So watch the interview here to find out why President Clinton said he wished he had Terri’s article before writing his book.

Would be nice to see a tree planting program like this in the City of Yerevan…or even Watertown

(Photo by Jason Sohigian, Watertown, MA)

New York City has kicked off a plan to plant a million trees throughout the streets, parks, and private open spaces over the next 10 years. The program is part of a plan to guide growth in an environmentally sustainable way over the next few decades, according to the Oct. 10 article "Bid for a Million Trees Starts With One in Bronx.”

The Mayor’s focus on increasing the city’s canopy cover--a measure of the physical space shaded by trees--will help reduce carbon dioxide and lower energy use by cooling the city. New York’s 5.2 million trees, nearly 600,000 of them on the streets, cover about 24 percent of the city’s land mass, and officials aim to increase that beyond the national average of 27 percent.

The Mayor is proposing that the parks department spend $400 million to plant 600,000 trees over the next decade, about 220,000 along streets and 380,000 in other city property like parks. In addition, proposed zoning regulations would require street trees for most new development, including major expansions or some changes of use of existing properties, writes Diane Cardwell in the New York Times.

Wildlife along the 'Pleasant Street Corridor'...

I brought my two year old son Robert along for Carole Smith Berney’s wildflower walk along the Charles River in Watertown on August 18. In her booklet co-authored with Patsy Murray, “Wildflowers Near the Charles River Along the Greenway Path in Watertown, Newton, and Waltham,” Carole has done a remarkable job documenting the wildflowers with sharp color photographs and interesting descriptions. In fact, I cited her identification of 47 species of wildflowers in a study I did this summer of wildlife along the Pleasant Street section of the Charles River. The town has hired Sasaki Associates to study the area and make new zoning recommendations for development and green spaces.

After a public meeting in June and an update to the town council on August 14, it looks like the plan is geared toward heavy residential development along what is being called the “Pleasant Street Corridor” in Watertown. My research looked at wildlife along the river and some of the commercial and other types of development already sited there, and highlighted areas of concern identified by stakeholders and experts related to development along this iconic regional ecosystem. The analysis by Sasaki and the town focuses on the value of real estate and taxes, but does not begin to quantify the value of the green spaces and wildlife along the river, unless it is in the context of "riverfront property."

Which is why the work of people like Carole Smith Berney and others cited in my research is so important. My study documented some of the natural habitats along the river and contrasted that with the adjacent commercial properties, and during the walk Carole told a great story about a turtle coming into intimate contact with a human-made landscape.

She pointed out that female turtles lay their eggs on the banks of the river around Father’s Day, and one day she saw a fairly large snapping turtle digging a hole in the new landscaping mulch behind Riverbank Lofts. Carole wondered how the turtle was going to get back to the river after laying her eggs, because there is a three foot concrete wall between this area and the path to the river. She photographed the turtle walking to the wall and continuing right off the edge (see photo above by Carole Smith Berney), and then walking across the path and through the poison ivy back to the river.

I also met Will Kemeza from Trustees of Reservations on the walk, and we observed a resident using a very heavy rope and a hook to pull large debris out of the river from the footbridge between Sasaki and the pool. On that day he removed an old computer and an even older cash register from the river (see photo by Jason Sohigian)--probably dating back to a robbery from the 1930s!

For those of you following the Pleasant Street Corridor issue in Watertown (a group which now includes my Harvard instructor and former Watertown Science Program Director George Buckley), Carole is planning to do a presentation in the fall about “Green Watertown,” which will include a section about the Pleasant Street planning. I hope the conservation groups in town remain closely involved in the process, so the value of the river’s natural resources and green spaces are included in the town’s balance sheet.

September 23 update: As of the September 20 public meeting the planning mentioned above seems to have changed its general focus over the past 30 days from residential/condominium to retail/restaurant for Pleasant Street--with a recommendation to allow higher buildings along the Charles River in exchange for access to the river.

Birdwatching on the Charles River in Watertown

I have seen some unbelievable fish (striped bass) and birds (hawks) at the Charles River along Pleasant Street in Watertown. This photo was taken today on the bridge behind Sasaki Associates, where we spend a lot of time walking and birdwatching. There are two types of heron in this photo, and unfortunately there’s also an occasional bike or beer keg in the river too. I recently joined Trees for Watertown and the Brookline Bird Club to learn more and get involved in the local environmental community.