Boston, MA
In Eastie, an early glimpse at Boston’s existential and expensive struggle to hold back the sea – The Boston Globe
But, the transforming coastline is raising tough questions about Boston’s broader “Climate Ready” plan: Will it go far enough to prevent flooding, will the private developments built under its policies accelerate gentrification in flood-prone neighborhoods, and how will the city pay for necessary public improvements, such as flood walls and elevated roads?
East Boston, the city’s most flood-vulnerable neighborhood, is the proving ground.
To address sea level rise, city planners envision a mix of public and private projects that, like a skinny jigsaw puzzle, would fit together to create one long coastal barrier: elevated streets, flood barriers disguised as sloping parks, and new developments on higher ground.
In other words, the plan is to plug all the holes along the coastline where seawater could penetrate. When all is said and done, it could cost more than $3 billion.
“Are we going to be ready? I don’t know,” said Ellen Douglas, a climate scientist and lead author of Boston’s foundational climate impact report that the city used to guide its adaptation strategy.
Climate scientists expect the long-held international target of keeping the planet below 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming, compared to the preindustrial era, is probably out of reach. Still, with strong action to cut greenhouse gas emissions, global warming could be limited to about 2 degrees.
For Boston, 2 degrees could mean anywhere from about 5 inches to more than 60 inches of sea level rise by 2070.
Already the seas along the Boston shoreline reach about 3 inches higher than in 2000; scientists and policymakers believe that about 9 more inches over the next few decades are unavoidable. So, for planning purposes, the city picked a rise of 40 inches, or about 3.5 feet, by 2070.
If that 40-inch figure comes to pass, thousands of homes in East Boston would be affected by flood waters during a severe storm, according to a city analysis, and with no additional protection, losses could rack up to hundreds of millions of dollars annually through the 2070s.
For neighborhoods most at risk — South Boston, East Boston, Downtown and the North End, Dorchester, and Charleston — a detailed planning process identified the vulnerable areas in each and the corresponding public or private engineering projects that could protect them.
Much of the land that needs fortifying is privately held, and Boston’s climate strategy continues to allow developers to build right on the water. That has irked some environmental advocates who say the land should not be redeveloped, but rather restored as a natural barrier.
But Catherine McCandless, a climate resilience project manager for the city, says the projects will protect the communities and in many cases create new public green spaces.
“Assuming we can move forward with all the projects that we’re intending to, I think we will be able to preserve the safety and functionality of these different neighborhoods,” McCandless said.
East Boston is almost completely surrounded by water. The bustling peninsula is home to Boston Logan International Airport, an ecologically important salt marsh, and more than 45,000 residents, most of them Latino, and many of them immigrants.
Now, after years of planning, it’s time to come up with the money.
The biggest holdup: Boston is waiting on a study by the US Army Corps of Engineers, a prerequisite to unlocking federal funds necessary for dozens of small projects.
Stacia Sheputa, a spokesperson for Boston’s environmental office, said the Wu administration allocated $111 million for coastal resilience projects, the most in city history. But in East Boston alone, the city expects these coastal adaptation projects to cost more than $800 million between now and 2070.
Some projects are done: An expansion and elevation of Piers Park, which is owned by MassPort, cost $20 million. Others in the offing include a $39 million project along a stretch of Border Street that would elevate roadways, parks, the Harbor Walk and docks, and install flood walls.
Next to the Clippership Wharf condominiums, in an area now called Carlton’s Wharf, rising seas could penetrate a gap between buildings and spread into the mostly flat interior of Eastie. There, the city imagines flood walls disguised as part of an elevated harbor walk.
Sheputa, the city spokesperson, said it’s “difficult to quantify” how much money on climate resiliency has been spent on East Boston so far because the waterfront is owned by businesses and various government entities.
Boston is trying to get creative with funding. For the Carlton Wharf project, previously known as the Clippership Hodge Berm, the Boston Planning and Development Agency applied to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for funding. But the application, which planners say they filed in 2022, hasn’t been approved.
“I believed … that we would have already been through the FEMA process by now,” said Rev. Mariama White-Hammond, Boston’s chief of Environment, Energy and Open Space, during a public meeting about coastal resilience in late January. “That is a barrier.”
Climate scientists and public policy researchers have largely praised Boston’s little-by-little approach. It’s more flexible than, say, a massive concrete barrier in the ocean (an idea that was studied and discarded as being both ineffective and too expensive). It should be easier to finance, too.
Without big dollars from the feds, though, Boston in the interim is relying on public-private agreements and policy changes to nudge its “Climate Ready” goals along, such as new design guidelines that encourage developers to elevate their buildings.
But Chris Marchi, an environmental activist in East Boston, said that so far, such efforts look more like gentrification than climate resiliency, and asserted that the neighborhood’s most pressing needs — including affordable housing and better air quality — are falling to the wayside.
While Mayor Michelle Wu’s administration has greatly expanded the city’s focus on climate issues in the neighborhood, Marchi said, “it doesn’t seem like anybody in East Boston is any safer than they were, you know, 10 or 15 years ago.”
“It doesn’t seem like we’re very far along,” Marchi said.
Sheputa, the city spokesperson, said the high cost of housing is one of the mayor’s top concerns and pointed to the East Boston Neighborhood Trust’s acquisition of several multi-family buildings, an effort that the city helped fund.
John Walkey, a local environmentalist and director of waterfront and climate justice initiatives with the community-based organization GreenRoots, called the requirements for developers “minimal.”
He and other environmental advocates have called for “nature-based” solutions — such as reinforced dunes and restored wetlands — instead of allowing more development right on the coastline.
Sheputa said the city has a “strong preference” for those strategies.
But in most places along Boston’s shoreline, experts point out, there is little left of nature to enhance: The land is built up, and moreover, is not controlled by the city.
Paul Kirshen, a civil engineer and climate adaptation professor at the University of Massachusetts Boston, said the shortage of space to create nature-based solutions is a “killer.”
“The land constraint is really binding right now,” said Kirshen, who is also research director of the Stone Living Lab, an initiative that tests nature-based solutions.
But Walkey, of GreenRoots, thinks it’s more a question of political will.
If a developer offers to put in luxury housing, he said, “it becomes very hard for the city to say no. … [It’s] how the city makes its budget.”
Erin Douglas can be reached at erin.douglas@globe.com. Folow her @erinmdouglas23.
BOSTON – Over two weeks ago, after the Orlando Magic’s latest rally fell short in a loss to the Detroit Pistons, fourth-year guard Jalen Suggs called out a worrying trend among his team in hopes of nipping it in the bud.
“We’re putting ourselves in these holes and spotting teams leads, then having to fight, scratch, claw just to get back in the game and give ourselves a chance,” Suggs said on New Year’s Day.
The Magic had developed a resilience that meant they were never out of games, no matter the score. Complimentary, energy-filled basketball helped Orlando do the fighting, scratching and clawing to get back into those games.
Did it always result in a victory? Not quite. But the relentless attitude and constant effort – especially for a team so handicapped by its shrinking list of healthy players – was commendable, and has been embedded in the Magic’s DNA.
In the rare occasions when it doesn’t show face, though, Magic coach Jamahl Mosley says it’s “glaring.” That was the case when the Milwaukee Bucks delivered a 29-point shellacking to Orlando, marking the most lopsided loss for the Magic this year.
“There was an energy and effort issue,” said Mosley postgame.
Wendell Carter Jr. would later say his team was “out-physicaled” and made life too easy for their opponent.
Then, in the locker room, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope told reporters Orlando got its “a– whooped,” and Paolo Banchero told reporters, “[A]s a group top to bottom, we’ve got to be more ready to play. We’re down a lot of bodies, but we can’t make excuses and we’ve just got to come out and play for each other.”
To Banchero’s point, the Magic’s 124 missed games from players due to injury or illness haven’t been a catch-all, safety-net excuse when the team is struggling. Instead, their aforementioned resilience built an identity that helped them generate results throughout the entire first half of the season, regardless of available contributors.
It justifies Mosley’s claims that the lackluster performance vs. the Bucks “wasn’t Orlando Magic basketball. Not even close.” Because although that was the case in Game 42, through the first 41 games, it wasn’t.
“It’s something that you can learn from, and you have to be able to bounce back, which this group has always done,” Mosley said.
With a national audience watching along, Orlando (0-4 in national TV games this season) pays its only visit to TD Garden Friday evening, squaring off with the defending champion Boston Celtics for the second of three matchups this season. The Magic host the 18-time champs once more in April to close the Kia Center’s regular season slate.
Boston has dropped three of their last five outings, including an uncharacteristic loss to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night in Scotiabank Arena. The Celtics were without Jayson Tatum due to a last-minute spat with an illness in the Magic’s Dec. 23 home win, but Orlando was shorthanded as well. Of their top four scorers, only Suggs was available.
“We beat them last time at home, so I’m sure they haven’t forgot that,” Paolo Banchero said in Orlando’s locker room Wednesday. “They have a hell of a home atmosphere [and] home crowd, so they’ll be ready to play in front of their fans.”
Heading into Friday’s tilt, where both teams are eager to wipe the slate clean from their mid-week malaise, Boston reports a clean bill of health. Now, only Banchero is available of the Magic’s top scorers, and other key reserves are unavailable as well.
MORE: Magic-Celtics Injury Report
Those who are available, however, say they shouldn’t have any issue getting back to their standard.
“Playing against teams like this is what hoopers get up for,” Anthony Black said. “Definitely getting up for this game. It’s always fun playing against some good hoopers, so I think we’re up and I think we’ll be ready to bring energy come game time.”
“You don’t like losing games, especially when you get your butt kicked,” Mosley said, “but you also have to know you have to bounce back, can’t hang your head, be ready to go and move on the next game.”
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BOSTON – The Orlando Magic and Boston Celtics do battle for the second time this season Friday evening. Tipoff between the two Eastern Conference foes is at 7 p.m. ET from TD Garden.
Each team will be looking to bounce back after uncharacteristic losses. But, one team will be much healthier when attempting to do so.
On the front end of this chilly Northern road trip, the Magic handled by the Milwaukee Bucks by 29 points Wednesday night in Milwaukee. They’ll be without three of their top four scorers and five total rotational players in looking to wash the taste of that contest away.
Boston went north of the border to Toronto and dropped their Wednesday outing by 13 points. The Celtics report no injuries ahead of Friday’s bout.
Regarding this season’s series, Orlando (23-19) took the first matchup over Boston (28-12). Friday’s nationally televised matchup is the second of three this year between the two teams.
Who: Orlando Magic (23-19, 5th in East) at Boston Celtics (28-12, 2nd in East)
What: NBA Regular Season Game
When: Friday, January 17, 7 p.m. ET
Where: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
TV: ESPN, FanDuel Sports Network Florida, NBCS Boston
Radio: 96.9 The Game, Orlando Magic Audio Network, SiriusXM
Point Spread: Milwaukee -6
Last Meeting: Orlando 108, Boston 104 on 12/23/24
Orlando Magic
Boston Celtics
Jamahl Mosley, Orlando Magic: Mosley tipped off his fourth NBA season as a head coach this season, all of which having come with the Magic. He’s 126-162 in the regular season all-time. Before Mosley was named the head coach of the Magic, he was an assistant with Dallas, Cleveland, and Denver. He’s a Colorado alum, and played four years of professional basketball in Mexico, Australia, Finland and South Korea.
Joe Mazzulla, Boston Celtics: Mazzulla, 36 years old, mans the sidelines for his third season as the Celtics’ coach this year. In each of his first two seasons, Boston finished atop the Eastern Conference. They hoisted the Larry O’Brien trophy a historic 18th time this past June after his team cruised through the playoffs in just 19 games (16-3). Prior to taking over as head coach, the former West Virginia Mountaineer was an assistant on the Celtics bench for three seasons. He’s regarded as one of the brightest, young polarizing minds in the game. today
Follow ‘Orlando Magic on SI‘ on Facebook and like our page. Follow Magic beat reporter Mason Williams on Twitter/X @mvsonwilliams. Also, bookmark our homepage so you never miss a story.
BOSTON — The Arborway is home to nature. The Arboretum along the road is no stranger to ponds and amphibians, so it’s fitting that crossing the street feels like a game of Frogger. The state has taken notice and has a proposal to overhaul the entire thoroughfare.
Neighbors hope for changes
“You are definitely taking your life in your own hands trying to cross this road. There are a lot of crashes right here because you have four lanes going into one,” said Ed Narenkivicius, a dog walker who’s lived here for 25 years. “The current model isn’t working, so hoping for anything with common sense.”
Out of the 13 intersections on the Arborway, only two are signaled, which means at 11 of them, pedestrians have to wait for the cars to stop to cross. With multiple lanes, people can be waiting a while or choose to risk it to run across.
“I don’t use a crosswalk that doesn’t have a signal, and the ones up here are just flashing yellow. I wait until cars stop,” said Narenkivicius.
“It is challenging at times. We have to dodge cars from time to time or wait,” said Heidi Blake, another neighbor out walking her dog. “As a driver, I have seen cars run into one another, and very dodgy entrances and exits.”
Blake is onto something. She’s lived here for 10 years, and studies back up her fears. Over the last five years, there have been more than 100 sideswipe crashes at both Murray and Kelley Circle.
“You can see the sideswipe crashes are clustered and concentrated near the entrances and exits to the circle,” said Project Manager Teren Wong while showcasing data during a public meeting online.
Two traffic circles removed
In response, the state is working to overhaul the entire Arborway by doing away with both circles altogether. Bike and pedestrian lanes will be added, as well as reducing the number of pedestrian crossings. The ones that remain will be signaled. The proposal increases green space as well.
Many of the people we spoke with were in favor change, but skeptical of the current design. During the public meeting this week, one Pondside neighborhood resident worried the new design will make it difficult to access his street.
“You’ve got to think about this seriously, and you’ve got to resolve it because this is not going to stand,” the resident said.
The proposal is still being tweaked. They hope to have it finalized by 2026.
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