William Lyons

Greetings from Europe, B&T readers! As I travel across Europe and reflect on my experiences so far, it has become more obvious than ever how poorly we maintain our infrastructure in the United States and especially in Boston.

It is readily apparent how much Europeans appreciate their infrastructure. It is even more apparent that Europeans do not view public transportation through the lens of class or stature, but rather view public transportation through the lens of economic competitiveness and quality of life. We have much to learn from our friends across the Atlantic.

As it should be, the design of transportation systems begins with good urban design. Public plazas, walking streets and linear parks abound. Broad avenues support well designed public spaces, open spaces and major public venues, such as museums and public buildings. Europeans have exceptional perspective on scale and place, and have cultivated urban design that supports a high quality of life.

Having visited Madrid, Barcelona and Stuttgart (so far) on this trip, I have been impressed by the quality of the public transportation systems. The buses have been in excellent condition and well run, and the service has been plentiful. The rail service has been exceptional. The train stations have been clean, well maintained (even proudly maintained!) and very efficient.

The infrastructure for bicycles and pedestrians in each city has been unrivaled. Wide sidewalks and bicycle paths can be found everywhere. And these systems are well used, precisely because they are well designed and integrated into the urban mobility ecology, not an afterthought to be accommodated when political pressure so demands. It is clear that many of these places were conceived with pedestrians and bicyclists in mind from the outset.

I was particularly impressed with the Paseo del Prado in Madrid. As a fan of Commonwealth Avenue in the Back Bay, both in terms of design and scale, I really appreciate similarly well crafted urban spaces. But the Paseo del Prado takes the cake. Its sense of grandeur and scale makes it stand head and shoulders above anything in Boston, including the Rose Kennedy Greenway. And for those who wonder if such a large investment in public spaces is worth the investment, rest assured that Madrid reaps the benefits of such magnificent spaces.

There was another unexpected feature of the Paseo del Prado. We were there on a Sunday, and one entire side of the Paseo del Prado was closed to motor vehicle traffic. Four lanes of traffic were diverted to other routes so that families and individuals could bicycle or walk or stroll right down the middle of the northbound side of the boulevard. My Boston friends will be quick to remind me that the Department of Conservation and Recreation has the same practice on portions of Memorial Drive in Cambridge on Sundays. However, the scale of these two spaces cannot be compared. It would be more context appropriate to consider the idea of Boston closing one entire side of the Rose Kennedy Greenway or Commonwealth Avenue for the entirety of Sunday morning, creating miles of open space available for recreational use.

Civic Pride For Civic Improvement

There are many things we can learn from Europe when it comes to urban design and infrastructure. First and foremost is that civic pride in public spaces can serve as a catalyst for a very high quality of life. That is not to say that Bostonians do not have civic pride. Rather, we must find the same degree of civic pride in our public spaces. So much civic pride that we are willing to sacrifice some development to achieve better public spaces. This requires considerably more investment in land acquisition or restrictive covenants to preserve open space. In my experience, Bostonians are unwilling to make this level of commitment, due to a long-standing predisposition against investment in infrastructure and a bias against taxes, even when these investments have proven returns in terms of economic activity.

Boston is currently sliding into a state of severe disrepair. This slide is slow and, as a result, imperceptible to most citizens. But the slide is certainly reflected in the large and growing deficits in capital investment as measured by state of good repair estimates. Large and growing maintenance deficits exist at the MBTA, the Department of Conservation and Recreation and MassDOT. These deficits erode our civic pride and our ability to provide the quality of life our citizens desire.

And perhaps more importantly, they undermine our competitive edge in an increasingly competitive world. Perhaps if we learned a little from Madrid, Barcelona and Stuttgart, we could see our way to making the investments we need for the future.