Harborwalk
A near continuous, 43-mile linear park along Boston’s shoreline, the Harborwalk connects Boston’s waterfront neighborhoods to Boston Harbor and each other. Nearing completion, it stretches from Neponset River in lower Dorchester to Constitution Beach in East Boston via Charlestown, the North End, Downtown, Seaport, South Boston, and Dorchester.
Photo by Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism
Moakley Park
Moakley Park is an expansive urban green space located along the South Boston waterfront. Owned and operated by the City of Boston’s Parks and Recreation Department, Moakley Park offers 60 acres of walking paths, playgrounds, athletic fields, and open recreational space. The park is currently undergoing a comprehensive re-design process to ensure a vibrant and resilient future for the park and surrounding community. This process aims to create a plan for enhanced recreational and cultural uses, safety, connectivity to surrounding areas, and strengthened climate resilience infrastructure.
Image: Stoss Landscape Urbanism
Little Mystic Channel Park
In partnership with the Charlestown community, the City of Boston, and Massport, Mystic River Watershed Association (MyRWA) is advancing the development of a high quality park along the Little Mystic Channel. The Little Mystic Channel Park will enable more opportunities for waterfront recreation, access to nature, space for social gatherings, and climate resiliency for the neighboring community in Charlestown.
Rendering: Klopper Martin Design Group. Concept does not represent a finished design.
Piers Park
Located along the East Boston waterfront, Piers Park offers 11 acres of open space, including an amphitheater, outdoor fitness system, and large playground with a spray feature, and spectacular views of the Boston skyline. Piers Park not only increases public access to the harbor, but it also plays an important role as one piece of the climate resiliency puzzle in East Boston.
The American City Coalition
The American City Coalition (TACC) is a Roxbury-based 501(c)(3) tackling community-identified barriers through economic and workforce development, research, and policy strategies that expand pathways to meaningful opportunities in communities of color.
Through its Waterways program, TACC is implementing strategies that reduce community-identified barriers to accessing the waterfront and increase the number of Roxbury and Dorchester residents benefitting from living in a coastal city. Our goal is to elevate community voices to shape programs, policies, and accessibility, ensuring that as the waterfront evolves, it does so equitably.
Barr Foundation
The Barr Foundation’s mission is to invest in human, natural, and creative potential, serving as thoughtful stewards and catalysts. Based in Boston, Barr focuses regionally, and selectively engages nationally, working in partnership to elevate the arts, advance solutions for climate change, and connect all students to success in high school and beyond.
A special initiative at Barr aims to ensure that all people can access and benefit from one of Boston’s greatest public resources: the waterfront. Together with nonprofit and community-based partners, we’re working toward a waterfront that is welcoming, fun, productive, and resilient.
Boston Harbor Now
Boston Harbor Now works to ensure that Boston Harbor, the Boston Harbor Islands National and State Park, and Harborwalk are accessible, resilient, and welcoming to all. We bring together public, private, and community partners to protect this shared resource while advancing how people experience and benefit from it. As we mark our 10th anniversary, we’re building on decades of progress and public investments to shape a future where Boston Harbor continues to connect communities, support a thriving economy, and stand strong in the face of climate change.
Boston Harbor Women of Color Coalition
The Boston Harbor Women of Color Coalition (BHWOCC) works to elevate women of color as leaders in green and blue spaces while cultivating connectedness to each other and the outdoors.
We envision a world where we have recognized and elevated the insight, wisdom, and brilliance of women of color; where their leadership is advancing the needs and interests of our communities in green and blue spaces.
Charles River Conservancy
Founded in 2000, the Charles River Conservancy (CRC) works to make the Lower Charles River and its parks more vibrant, healthy, and welcoming now and in the future. In partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and other stakeholders, we connect communities to the river and its parks, create impactful solutions, and celebrate the intersection of people and nature. We steward 10 miles of riverfront in Boston, Cambridge, and Watertown, serving 300,000 nearby residents and 1 million+ visitors with diverse programming, community engagement, and coalition-driven advocacy.
Coalition for a Resilient and Inclusive Waterfront
The Coalition for a Resilient and Inclusive Waterfront (CRIW) is a network of more than 60 nonprofit organizations across Greater Boston dedicated to advancing access, equity, resilience, economic vitality, and public health along Boston’s harbor, rivers, and islands. Throughout the year, the Coalition and its partners offer a diverse lineup of free, community-centered events that connect residents and visitors to the health, cultural, and economic benefits of Boston’s public blue and green spaces. CRIW’s advocacy brings critical waterfront issues to the forefront of public conversation and community life.
Conservation Law Foundation
Conservation Law Foundation uses the power of law to drive environmental change. For 60 years, we’ve challenged powerful interests, taken on polluters, and won cases others thought were unwinnable. Rooted in New England, our legal victories protect communities, advance clean energy, and set precedents that ripple far beyond this region. Our work here in Boston includes efforts to ensure an accessible, equitable, and climate-resilient Boston waterfront for all.
Friends of the Mary Ellen Welch Greenway
The Mary Ellen Welch Greenway is an open green space that connects every neighborhood in East Boston! Residents of all ages use the Greenway for recreational activities, community connections, and an urban escape to enjoy historic, artistic, and ecological beauty. The Friends of the Mary Ellen Welch Greenway (FoMEWG) is an organization of residents who are the official stewards and advocates of the property; sponsoring year-round events and programming for the community.
GreenRoots
GreenRoots’ mission is to achieve environmental justice and a greater quality of life through collective action, unity, education, and youth leadership across neighborhoods and communities.
Harborfront Neighborhood Alliance
Harborfront Neighborhood Alliance brings together neighborhood associations to ensure resident voices shape the growth, development, and resiliency of an accessible Boston waterfront.
We are dedicated to preservation, equity, and public amenities along Boston’s waterfront.
Mystic River Watershed Association
The Mystic River Watershed Association (MyRWA) believes all people across the watershed, no matter who you are or where you live, deserve safe and easy access to nature and a healthy environment.
We’re engaging watershed residents and workers in creating an inclusive, connected, and resilient waterfront, focusing on open spaces and active transportation routes that connect people to places and each other, absorb stormwater, block coastal flooding, and provide refuge from extreme heat.
New England Aquarium
The New England Aquarium is a nonprofit research and conservation organization that has protected and cared for our ocean and marine animals for more than 50 years. We inspire everyone to form a deeper connection to the ocean and take action to protect it.
Piers Park Sailing Center
Piers Park Sailing is a community center providing inclusive empowerment through marine science and community harbor access with year round youth employment, adaptive recreation, and harbor advocacy—making the harbor more welcoming, accessible, and enjoyable for all.
Save the Harbor/Save the Bay
Save the Harbor/Save the Bay is the region’s leading voice for clean water and continued public investment in Boston Harbor, the region’s public beaches, and the Boston Harbor Islands. Since 1986, our mission continues to restore and protect Boston Harbor, Massachusetts Bay, and the marine environment, and share them with the public for everyone to enjoy.
The Trustees
The Trustees preserves, for public use and enjoyment, properties of exceptional scenic, historic, and ecological value in Massachusetts. We care for 116 properties, including 120 miles of the state’s coastline.
We aim to create bold waterfront parks in Boston that respond to community needs, attract visitors from around the world, benefit the region’s ecology, and increase the city’s resiliency to climate change.
