Miles Howard | National Geographic | July 30, 2021
As a result of record visitation this summer, America’s wide-open spaces are feeling mighty cramped. To manage their teeming crowds, some of the most popular national parks are continuing to require advance reservations, with some packed state parks looking to do the same.
But what if going for an epic hike or bike ride didn’t involve driving hundreds of miles to the mountains? What if you could amble through a maze of flora and fauna right in the heart of a city, savor the aroma of white violets, refuel with local gelato, and ride public transportation back home?
Urban greenways could be the answer, and they’re gaining in popularity in the United States. Fueled by climate change concerns, new car-free corridors dotted with woodlands, parks, and local sights are taking shape in cities including St. Louis and Detroit.
But greenways aren’t a new concept. Their roots go back to a time when American life was structurally segregated. In the first half of the 20th century—and beyond—these oases offered more than recreation in the heart of a bustling city. They were a vision for connection and a more egalitarian version of American life.
The power of public open spaces
Urban greenways were the brainchild of Frederick Law Olmsted, the legendary landscape architect who designed New York’s Central Park in 1858. A decade later, Olmsted designed the nation’s first greenway in Buffalo, New York, known today as the Buffalo Olmsted Parks system.
Soon after came the Emerald Necklace in Boston, Massachusetts; it was a bigger, more ambitious greenway project integrating 16 neighborhoods and seven miles of parks. The completed project takes people past the reedy marshes near Fenway Park, through the nation’s oldest victory gardens, and across classical revival stone bridges to Harvard University’s Arnold Arboretum, where more than 2,000 tree species reside.
In the Emerald Necklace, Olmsted saw more than a refuge from daily life. “Olmsted often spoke about the power of public open space to bring people of all walks of life together, and how they could be seen coming together,” says Karen Mauney-Brodek, president of the Emerald Necklace Conservancy. “On top of being this landscape architect, Olmsted had been a journalist—he founded The Nation with abolitionists after the Civil War. He was an expert on the scourge of Southern slavery. He believed that through public parks, like the Emerald Necklace, the American people could become better participants in the republic.”
Greenways were a radical idea in the wake of the Civil War and stood apart from a parks boom across the U.S. Pioneered in Boston and Buffalo, Olmsted’s greenway concept seemed primed to flourish in more cities. This idea partially manifested in some of his lesser-known projects, including in Atlanta’s Druid Hills suburb, where his Olmsted Linear Park still links people to the city’s urban core.
But during the 20th century, Olmsted’s vision collided with two antagonistic forces: the rapid rise of the automobile and the persistence of structural racism.
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