mark your defect

Respectable example of map-based (low tech but effective) collaborative data capture to address an urban defect. (except that the Globe can't keep it live)

the sins of moses and boston's emerald spine

Even though the work that made him famous was pretty much local to New York City and its environs, we're all heirs to the legacy of Robert Moses. He set the bar for building highways through the older American cities, opened up circulation for the cars to get everywhere at high speeds (before the rush hour throngs put an end to that). And in the process he wrecked more housing stock and ruined more communities in this country than any war or natural disaster ever has.

Boston took some hard knocks with Moses-esque road building from the Second World War to the 1970s. There was the Central Artery of course, that has recently moved under the skin. A lot of resources have gone into healing those old scars. The worst wound still open is I-90 as it punches east from the tolls in Allston to the I-93 interchange at the edge of Chinatown.

So here's the promotional pitch:
The Emerald Spine will finally heal this slash across the face of the city. There's nothing like it anywhere in the world yet, not at this scale with fully harmonized engineering and design all the way through. When it is complete Boston will have a signature skyline, globally recognized and unmistakable. The Spine will run from Fenway Park to Fort Point Channel and integrate all of the neighborhoods in between.

Massively green not just in appearance but also in principle and practice, the Emerald Spine will exploit photovoltaic, wind and geothermal technologies to be fully zero-carbon.

And its miles of malls and walkways weaving through a graceful parabola of towers will signal the end of the automobile's dominance of America's cities.

Sure, it's a little megalomaniacal.  But you've got to admit that done right it would be dope.