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What comes to mind when you think of the Alewife? Do you picture the T station or the Freshpond Mall? Perhaps you’ve walked or cycled along the Minuteman Bikepath that passes through the area. You might work in one of the offices there or live nearby. Or you may have spent time exploring the paths, wetlands, and pond at Alewife Reservation.
Alewife encompasses all of these things - a transportation hub, a commercial center, an office park, and an urban wild. If you live in a metropolitan area such as the Alewife district you are likely aware of the following common problems; urban sprawl, traffic congestion, and environmental degradation. These pervasive issues are hardly unique to the Alewife, rather they are staples across many American metropolitan areas. Addressing these issues can at times feel daunting. Cross municipal and regional collaboration may be difficult to organize and proposed solutions are rarely simple. The ecological destruction of the Alewife by European colonizers dates to the 1800s. The Alewife Reservation land is part of an area described as a 100-year floodplain; every year, there is a 1% chance the area will flood. Until human intervention, the Great Swamp served an essential ecological function for the region, absorbing excess water from storms and other natural events through its sub-watershed. This provided a natural flood management and filtration system as water traveled through the Great Swamp. It also provided extensive flora and fauna habitat. Alewife locals are all too familiar with this reality and have navigated such challenges for decades. Their efforts have taken many forms including multi town organizations. At Green Cambridge, we recognize the power and innovation of such work and hope to draw from and expand upon past and present community organizing in the Alewife. |
65 acres of Alewife wetland bounded on the north by the tracks of the Fitchburg Railroad and on the south by Concord Avenue, taken from 1904 MPC Report on Improvement of the Upper Mystic River and Alewife Brook by John R. Freeman
(There are many histories embodied in places, of the people, flora, and fauna. The information in this narrative was compiled primarily from Sheila G. Cook's The Great Swamp and Jerry Howard's Alchemy at Alewife newspapers. The floodplain map is based on the FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer Map found on MassGIS's online mapping tool, OLIVER. More sources will be added as they are moved into a form that can be shared online.)
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Alewife Community Action Over the Years
Local advocacy against building and roadwork developments in the Alewife can be traced back as far as the 1950s. This resistance to certain proposed developments often stemmed from concerns about traffic increases, urban sprawl, and potential flooding consequences.
In 1988, these concerns culminated in the formation of the Coalition for Alewife, a tritown organization composed of Cambridge, Belmont, and Arlington. The Coalition was formed in response to a particularly alarming roadway development proposal. This $45-60 million development, designed by Fred Salvucci, has been described as “the mother of all roadway fixes: four-phase, limited access, high speed superhighway, in some places 11 lanes wide and almost 30 feet high” (Howard 1995). The proposed design would have severed Alewife from the rest of Cambridge and increased traffic, not to mention reversed “20 years of transportation planning” (Howard 1995)
The Coalition’s fight against this development lasted five years. The group’s meetings, rallies, and protests successfully brought attention to the issue. Yet even as the situation escalated, no viable solutions emerged. The prolonged wait culminated in Belmont Selectman Bill Monohan compiling a document stack “a telephone book thick” and submitting it to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) (Howard 1995). Two weeks later, the FHWA responded; the development plan had been downsized significantly and only the parkway and bridge would be rebuilt.
After years of protest, the Coalition’s final victory proved just how formidable a force cross municipal collaboration can be. The Coalition received award recognition from the Massachusetts' Association of Conservation Commissions (MACC). In his award speech, MACC board member Don Mciver described the power of multi-town collaboration:
In 1988, these concerns culminated in the formation of the Coalition for Alewife, a tritown organization composed of Cambridge, Belmont, and Arlington. The Coalition was formed in response to a particularly alarming roadway development proposal. This $45-60 million development, designed by Fred Salvucci, has been described as “the mother of all roadway fixes: four-phase, limited access, high speed superhighway, in some places 11 lanes wide and almost 30 feet high” (Howard 1995). The proposed design would have severed Alewife from the rest of Cambridge and increased traffic, not to mention reversed “20 years of transportation planning” (Howard 1995)
The Coalition’s fight against this development lasted five years. The group’s meetings, rallies, and protests successfully brought attention to the issue. Yet even as the situation escalated, no viable solutions emerged. The prolonged wait culminated in Belmont Selectman Bill Monohan compiling a document stack “a telephone book thick” and submitting it to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) (Howard 1995). Two weeks later, the FHWA responded; the development plan had been downsized significantly and only the parkway and bridge would be rebuilt.
After years of protest, the Coalition’s final victory proved just how formidable a force cross municipal collaboration can be. The Coalition received award recognition from the Massachusetts' Association of Conservation Commissions (MACC). In his award speech, MACC board member Don Mciver described the power of multi-town collaboration:
Undesirable things tend to happen at town boundaries, areas that are often targeted for misguided state initiatives. Typically these pit local communities against each other. It's rare that towns collaborate successfully to define common goals and present a viable alternative”(Howard 1995).
Community engagement in the Alewife district has never been limited solely to concerns about development. Local organizations such as the Friends of Alewife Reservation have spearheaded wildlife and wetland conservation projects, organized clean ups, and hosted youth summer camps at the reservation.
This begs the question: Why? Why does this place matter so much to the people who live there? And, just as importantly, what are the stakes?
This begs the question: Why? Why does this place matter so much to the people who live there? And, just as importantly, what are the stakes?
Causes of Concern
Photo showing flooding at Alewife's Discovery Park in 2008, taken by Darrell King for Friends of Alewife Reservation website
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FloodingCommunity concerns in the Alewife in recent years have often centered around flooding. Almost all of the Alewife district lies in a 100 year floodplain (Cook 2001). The term 100 year floodplain can be confusing; what it essentially means is that high magnitude flood has a 1% change of happening in this area any given year (usgs.gov).
The ground level at Alewife is, at certain points, only two feet above sea level (Cook 2001). This makes the area highly susceptible to flooding. Prior to its development, Alewife was an expansive wetland. This wetland, referred to as “The Great Swamp,” consisted of marshes, meadows, patches of maples and pines, and a landmass called Black Island where settlers would bring their cows to graze. The wetland acted as a “sponge” to absorb rainfall and prevent floods. By the 1900s, most of the wetland had been built over (Cook 2001). |
Locals have been vocal in their concern about flooding for decades. October of 1996 brought with it one of the heaviest storms to have ever hit the area. Basements in neighboring towns were filled with up to two or more feet of water. Then, in 1998, another heavy rainstorm led to more flooding. In March 2001, residents once again found themselves dealing with water in their cellars (Cook 2001). Concerns about developments projects in the Alewife district are based in very real fears of increased flooding, a concern compounded by the threat of climate change induced sea level rise in coastal states.
Flooding is a clear example of the fact that decisions made regarding the Alewife district can have high stakes. Still, it’s only half the picture when it comes to why people care so deeply about the area.
Flooding is a clear example of the fact that decisions made regarding the Alewife district can have high stakes. Still, it’s only half the picture when it comes to why people care so deeply about the area.
BiodiversityIf you have some time on your hands and are feeling adventurous, the Friends of Alewife Reservation website contains of vast archive of Alewife history and biodiversity. Knowledge and appreciation of biodiversity comes through in every post. You can find photos detailing how to identify otters and foxes using tracks, pictures of countless bird species including great horned owls, herons, and red-tailed hawks, and events including wild edibles walks, summer camps, and a mural project. It's unmistakably clear that people don’t just care about the Alewife out of concern for their own safety or convenience; they truly love and value the wildlife there as well.
Unfortunately, Alewife has not always been held in such high esteem. Historically, Alewife has often been seen as a space, not a place. The Alewife has frequently been viewed through an opportunistic and utilitarian lens. Recall MACC board member Don Mciver’s comment that “Undesirable things tend to happen at town boundaries.” This phenomenon has played out in the Alewife for centuries. |
Photo of two herons taken by Kathy Johnson for Friends of Alewife Reservation website
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The Early Years:
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The area we now call Alewife was once primarily wetland. The land officially became property of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1639 when Squaw Sachem deeded the land to the British. However, settlers began dividing Alewife’s meadows into pasture land as early as 1635 (Krim 1977).
Throughout the 1700s, Alewife expanded marginally. Land around the swamp was drafted for commercial farming and in 1797 the Fresh Pond Hotel opened, attracting Bostonians to the area. However, it wasn’t until the 1800s that economic activity in the Alewife really began to take off. In 1820, the first ice harvest operation was established on Fresh Pond. The ice industry spurred development in the area in an unprecedented way. The first “Ice Railroad” to West Cambridge was built in 1841 and by 1880 the entire swamp was “sutured with rail trunks, spurs, and branch lines, establishing Alewife as the vital transportation corridor it remains today” (Howard 1995). These rail lines benefitted not only the ice industry but also the booming cattle industry. At the time, Porter Square functioned as a center for cattle farming. As a result, slaughterhouses and tanneries began cropping up in the Alewife. During this same time period, another industry was establishing itself in the Alewife. As cities all over New England expanded rapidly, the need for fireproof building materials became pressing. From the early 1840s until around 1900, various claypit sites and brickyards were developed in the Alewife. Some of these sites were later used for landfill while others, such as Jerry’s Pit, have since become ponds. Between unsanitary landfill practices, slaughterhouse discharge, and lack of a proper sewage management system, pollution in the Great Swamp quickly became an unavoidable problem. |
1900 - 1970 |
Alewife’s polluted conditions garnered widespread attention when a malaria epidemic hit four municipalities around the swamp in 1903. The Metropolitan Park Commission hired engineer John Freeman to analyze the Upper Mystic River and Alewife Brook. Freeman acknowledged pollution of Alewife Brook and advised “ditching meadows and stagnant pools, rechanneling waterways to increase flow, and building a dam downstream in Medford to deter the tides.” (Howard 1995). This work was carried out "promptly and at great cost" (Howard 1995).
Freeman’s alterations were the first of several adjustments to Alewife’s hydrology. In 1908, the Metropolitan Park Commission built the Alewife Brook Parkway adjacent to Alewife brook and the Little River. The course of the Little River was adjusted and straightened while Alewife Brook was “confined to a narrow concrete ditch” between Fresh Pond and Route 2. Steel fabrication companies such as Penn Metals, AJ Ryerson, and A.O. Wilson took root in the Alewife during the 1910s and 1920s. A.O. Wilson went on to spearhead industrial development of the “Quadrangle.” This area, located between Alewife Brook Parkway and Concord Ave, was originally a patch of swampland. Development in the area slowed significantly during the 1930s as a result of the Great Depression and WWII (Cook 2001). Post WWII, commercial and residential growth in the Alewife picked up quickly. The steel fabrication industry boomed, leading to a “Steel Row” on Rindge Ave extension. In 1951, the White Village Shopping Center was built on the site of present day Fresh Pond Mall. The introduction of the shopping center established the Alewife as a center for evening entertainment. Soon, theaters, nightclubs, bowling alleys, motels, and restaurants proliferated throughout the area (Cook 2001). This growth attracted a continuous stream of automobile traffic. In 1962, the Fresh Pond Shopping Center became “the anchor of auto-based commercial culture in the region,” further increasing traffic congestion in the area (Howard 1995). |
Alewife in Recent Years |
The 1960s and 1970s brought with them an influx of new environmental legislation. The 1968 Federal-Aid Highway Act required that social and environmental effects of highways to be considered and the 1970 Clean Air Act marked the first federal legislation regarding air pollution control. The state of Massachusetts also developed a new wetlands law. This law prevented Harvard’s plan to fill Blair Pond to create a housing complex in 1970. The idea that green spaces were necessary and valuable to communities gained traction during this time as well. This isn’t to say that all development slowed in the Alewife; during the same year that the Blair Pond complex was called off, the Rindge Towers affordable housing complex came up.
Local concern around developments in the Alewife increased during the later 1970s. After the onset of an economic boom in the mid-1970s, the city developed its first plan for Alewife management. This 1979 plan, dubbed “Fishbook,” led to rezoning in 1980. In 1985, the Red Line extension to Alewife was finished. The next step following its completion was to create access roads. This is where the Coalition for Alewife began; in opposition to one such proposed roadway solution. Since the late 1980s, several other large projects have taken place. One such project, Danehy Park, was built over an old city dump. In 2003, an updated Alewife Master Plan was released, detailing visions for new paths and landscaping, pollution prevention techniques, and methods of encouraging biodiversity. |
Future Visions for the Alewife
The Alewife’s positioning at the intersection of multiple town boundaries has often been seen as a detriment. The district has rarely been viewed as a cohesive place, rather it has been perceived as a last frontier for development and a space to deal with unsavory problems. Furthermore, cross municipal work is often recognized as being difficult to organize.
Despite these challenges, Alewife locals have set a precedent for cross municipal collaboration. The Coalition for Alewife is just one example of how residents from Cambridge, Arlington, and Belmont have come together to defend the area. Many of the concerns brought up by community organizers over the years remain relevant today. Flooding has been and continues to be a threat to the district, and protecting biodiversity remains an ongoing goal.
Green Cambridge is working to continue and expand upon existing efforts to address these issues. We are currently working to help DCR implement the Alewife 2003 Master Plan by spearheading a trails master plan and educational signage master plan. These plans will then be built out in phases.
Despite these challenges, Alewife locals have set a precedent for cross municipal collaboration. The Coalition for Alewife is just one example of how residents from Cambridge, Arlington, and Belmont have come together to defend the area. Many of the concerns brought up by community organizers over the years remain relevant today. Flooding has been and continues to be a threat to the district, and protecting biodiversity remains an ongoing goal.
Green Cambridge is working to continue and expand upon existing efforts to address these issues. We are currently working to help DCR implement the Alewife 2003 Master Plan by spearheading a trails master plan and educational signage master plan. These plans will then be built out in phases.