From The Publisher October 1999 Let me say that September is a great time to be in Boston. What a beautiful city. Interesting buildings, lovely parks, tremendous historical significance, et al. As the ASLA celebrated its 100th year many of us had the opportunity to experience this great city of America. The party I was with was able to eat in the oldest restaurant in America (the Oyster House) and sit in JFK's favorite booth. The day before the exhibit hall opened we walked through a city festival . . . a block party where street vendors, bistro's, live music and normal citizenry lined the boulevard in pleasant conversation, smiling faces and sun soaked revelry. One block over, sandwiched between an endless string of two and three story residential and commercial brick buildings and separated by opposing one way streets, was an Olmsted designed corridor of green. The eastern end of this corridor joined to a magnificent park, complete with grand statues, monuments to historic figures and events, and a meandering lake which was home to a wide variety of winged vertebrates. For a downtown, this is as good as it gets . . . utopian green slicing through the brick and steel of congregated commerce and humanity. For the first time, I saw what the enemies of urban sprawl are envisioning while they advocate the metropolization of America. The cast iron decorative fence surrounding the park appeared to be decades (if not a century) old as the park was dedicated sometime back in the 1800's. A common sign at the many entrances spoke of history while reminding the user that, after dark, the park was strictly meant for passing through and was not a place to sit and view the stars nor watch the planes fly over, nor was it a place for nighttime adolescent frolicking. Herein lies the oxymoron . . . A park . . . a walkway . . . meant for thoroughfare, but not for frisbee. A meeting ground, yet more of a missing ground where the encouragement is to walk by . . . or through . . . with avoidance being a common goal for all. The point is that people, even in a beautiful setting like Boston, strive for solitude. Moreover, they need solitude to settle their thoughts and regain perspective and health. In a downtown setting, no matter how historic and how beautiful, the park is packed during the day and closed at night. Being a city boy, I understand this logic. It is so ingrained in my psyche that I remember a time in the State of Washington, (where I attended PLU), when the person I was with wanted to go to the lake at night, get out of the car and walk around . . . . No way!?! Being from the city I knew the dangers of this malady. Muggers, thieves, robbers and worse are the nighttime patrons of parks, this fact I knew well. Put people together, let the sun go down, and people are going to hurt people. What I failed to realize at the time was that the downtown of this city was one street, with the people living away from downtown in single and multi-family dwellings separated by distance . . . trees, fields etc.. Here again is an oxymoron . . . the more you interact with the masses the less you trust other people . . . In this case I don't mean your immediate acquaintances . . . But living in a suburb, where you see and wave but don't rub shoulders, people are more friendly to strangers. In metro downtowns, even though you're standing next to a neighbor, litter is abundant. Conversely, in the suburbs, where no one sees your actions, the streets are clean. Sure, the work of Landscape Architects is important to the Major Downtown arena, bringing back whatever solitude-enhancing environments they can manipulate from among the forest of development. But even more important are the landscape architectural practices that show how suburban development can preserve the landscape and enhance the well-being of the populi. Responsible community development could be defined as that which provides for the need of the people to enjoy the proximity of goods while allowing the people to maintain a feeling of solitude and thus encourage positive interaction. One apartment complex surrounded by landscape is good . . . . Five in row become "the projects". As the amount of available land decreases, the role of the Landscape Architect becomes more and more important to the well being of the public . . . Just a thought from a city boy who turned country.