Boston 



First place must be given to the most comprehensive, complete and admirable of 

 American park systems, that of Boston. Ten years ago but two-fifths of the pres- 

 ent area had been acquired; for the combination of parks in and near Boston into 

 a system and the addition of vast areas have been effected since 1893. 



Within the circuit of the Boston Metropolitan Park System are thirty -nine 

 municipalities. Each bore its part of the cost in proportion to its resources and 

 benefits, a proportion determined by a special commission. To secure an adequate 

 system for Philadelphia, it will be necessary to obtain parks in Montgomery and 

 Delaware counties. In other words, instead of the cooperation of thirty-nine polit- 

 ical entities, the park movement in Philadelphia will require that of but three. 



Within eleven miles of the Boston State House there are over 15,000 acres of 

 park land and twenty-five miles of parkways. Within eleven miles of Boston State 

 House there are 1,200,000 people, or 200,000 less than the population of Philadel- 

 phia. In Philadelphia we have about 4,060 acres of park land and about one mile 

 of parkway. The Metropolitan Park Commission alone has expended in ten years 

 over eleven millions of dollars, three-fifths of which was for the cost of land. The 

 Massachusetts Legislature of 1903 appropriated to the Commission a further sum 

 of $3,000,000. 



It will be noticed, by reference to the map, that Boston's system has not yet 

 been entirely completed. Most of the proposed additions are in outlying sections 

 which are not immediately threatened by building operations. Of the two most 

 notable proposals yet to be accomplished, one has already been provided for by an 

 appropriation to the Park Commission of Boston. This is the extension of the 

 Charles River Reservation along the southern bank of the river to the Charlesbank 

 Playground, — an operation which in many features should be duplicated by the exten- 

 sion of Fairmount Park along both sides of the Schuylkill southwardly to Bartram's 

 Garden, as will be further considered in a later report. 



The other great improvement bears some analogy to the Fairmount Park Park- 

 way. This Boston improvement is the proposed main connection between the 

 northern and southern portions of the system, directly across Cambridge and Somer- 

 ville to the Harvard bridge. It will require the destruction of buildings throughout. 



It will be observed that Boston's largest park, the Blue Hills Reservation, lies 

 about eleven miles from the State House. This is a mile and a half farther than 

 the proposed parks along the Pennypack Creek and along Mill Creek are from our 

 City Hall. The Blue Hills Reservation covers 4,857 acres, half again as much land 

 as Fairmount Park covers. 



Boston has not only the finest park system in America, but is the leader in the 

 movement for municipal playgrounds, by which is meant open spaces fitted up with 

 outdoor gymnasia, running-tracks and children's sand-courts. They are not con- 

 nected with schools, and are open to any child or adult. In Boston, under the 



