Planning the City

Will Boston make the right plans for its future? Readers of our June 29 cover story on the city's chief planner, Kairos Shen, were unsure. We also heard about Blue Hills hanky-panky, and the creator of one bad piece of art explains herself.

Kris Frieswick's article on Boston's chief planner, Kairos Shen ("The Shaper of Things to Come," June 29), highlights exactly what is wrong with contemporary urban planning in Boston. The demand for new housing has increased, but due to the city's archaic permitting process, the supply has barely increased in decades. This is the main reason why Boston has some of the most expensive real estate in the country and why young people are fleeing the state to less expensive regions. Instead of vesting so much power in one man, an overhaul and simplification of the development process would allow vibrant growth at prices people could afford.
JOSH MCCABE
Brookline

I haven't read "The Shaper of Things to Come," and I have no intention of reading it. The words "Chief Visionary" and "The look and feel of our neighborhoods" on the cover are more than enough. When I read "Visionary," I see this vision in the obliterated West End and in the concrete desolation around the City Hall. Thanks, but no thanks.
HENRY OKUN
Brookline

SEEN ON THE WEB
From the Allston Brighton Community Blog:
We have been seeing a lot more of Kairos in Allston in the past few months and he seems to be bringing a level of insight and deliberative review to development that was missing during the rush to approve the Harvard Science Complex. Shen seems like a conscientious and intelligent planner, but as the article makes clear, at the end of the day, nothing gets built in Boston unless one man, Mayor Thomas Menino, decides it gets built. For any but the smallest project, there are no zoning rules - they are made up as the project goes along. It all depends on what the mayor thinks and what can be extorted from developers as "linkage." This is not democracy, and it is not good government or good planning. The fact that the mayor apparently hasn't lined his own pockets doesn't make him any different from politicians Richard Daley and Huey Long. He has the raw untrammeled power, and he uses it ruthlessly.
BILL BOWLER
South Hamilton

THE HILLS ARE ALIVE
I have a fond memory of another feature offered at Blue Hills Reservation ("Head for the Hills," June 29) from my high school years in Braintree (1946 to 1950). We kids used to park there for kissing and probably more. My group did not have much money. Once, seven of us, three girls and four boys, were up there and a cop shined a light on us to make sure there was no hanky-panky. Imagine his surprise when he saw that we had packed a snack and were having a late-night picnic in the car. Also, one in our group was a funeral director's son, and we got some stares when we drove up there in a borrowed hearse.
PATRICIA EDDY GESLER
Wilmington, Delaware

Thanks for your comprehensive review of all Blue Hills Reservation has to offer. Even frequent visitors could learn something new. Your readers should also know that the Blue Hills' status as a state park does not mean it is safe from development. A current example is an abutting business seeking to construct a parking lot on 3 acres of wooded parkland that sits right at the head of Smith Trail and supports more than 40 species of native plants. For this parkland that has been a part of the reservation since 1936, the owners of the Lantana function hall propose to trade a couple of acres of land that they cannot develop and some equipment. Members of the Friends of the Blue Hills - more than a thousand strong and growing - have been working for the preservation and protection of the park since 1977. We oppose this land swap and the other recent attempts to take our parkland.
JUDY LEHRER JACOBS
Executive Director, Friends of the Blue Hills North Easton

I AM THE WORST
I am speechless. I just opened the Globe Magazine and saw a painting, Spewing Rubik's Cubes, that I did for a co-worker six or seven years ago staring back at me ("Letters," June 29). Not only that, but it won(?) worst of the worst in your reader poll! I completed the piece for a friend who was a master Rubik's solver. Yes, it is bad, but apparently he decided to give it to a thrift store, where it was found by the curator of the Museum of Bad Art in Dedham. I am so sad to have missed the original article ("Pretty as a Picture," June 8). I missed my competition! Well, in any case, I'm honored. I contacted the museum and spoke to a staffer, who will sign me up as a member. Only fitting considering I'm in the gallery. Thanks for the laugh.
KIMBERLY HERMESCH
Watertown

SAFE DRIVING
I read with great interest Neil Swidey's article on children and seat belts ("Perspective," June 29). However, he did forget to mention seat belts for older and/or shorter people, who have exactly the same problem as children. I have shrunk to 5 feet in my old age of 87 and have bought a special attachment for my seat belt that protects me from having the belt cut into my neck. I also have had the air bags disconnected so they won't crush me if they deploy.
IRENE S. HOFSTEIN
AuburndaleSEEN ON THE WEB
From the blog Massachusetts Mom:
People [say] we don't need more laws and the government should just stop making it more difficult for parents to cart their kids around. I, on the other hand, look askance at anyone under the age of 25 who isn't strapped in to some sort of safety device. . . . Just a few months ago, I remember seeing one woman driving her children to pre-school pickup and there was a kindergarten-aged child in the back, sans car seat. Judging by the reaction of the other moms (okay, me) you would have thought the child was playing with a loaded gun. I was shocked, shocked.

STEP 13
Ethan Gilsdorf left out a big one in his 12-step program to heal heartbreak ("Coupling," June 29): Take an extended trip by yourself, preferably a driving trip in English-speaking areas. See something new, meet strangers. The first three days, you will be questioning your sanity, but after that, serendipity and peace.
MARVIN DEVOE
Winchester

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