100

The Parks

Figure 70
View of the women's gymnasium, 1891.

revised (Figure 73). With forty-six acres, this was by far the largest neighborhood park. It was located directly on Boston Harbor and was reached by Neptune Road, a parkway also designed by the Olmsted firm. Originally a bare and windswept piece of marsh and upland, the site was enlarged by fill and planted with hardy native trees. In function, Wood Island Park was somewhat similar to Charlesbank. The revised plan included outdoor gymnasiums for men and women, a beach, and playgrounds. There were attractive walks as well as grounds for active recreation.¹⁶ As at Charlesbank, the men's gymnastic equipment was removed during the winter, and the ground was flooded for skating (Figure 74).

Wood Island Park served a community that was more homogeneous and self-contained than the West End. In 1880 the population of Wards 1 and 2 (East Boston and the Harbor Islands) was just

Figure 71
View of the men's gymnasium, 1889.

## WHY NOT BUILD ALL THE OFFICE SPACE WE CAN?

What does office space have to do with housing prices, traffic, MUNI service and small business displacement? Everything. **More offices means more people** concentrated in a given space. This in turn means more people seeking housing, more people driving, and more people using our beleaguered transit system. It also means offices can pay higher rents than factories or artists' studios, so they drive blue-collar jobs and arts out.

**We've seen just the beginning.** 7.5 million square feet of office space — equal to 15 Transamerica Pyramids — has been approved or is under construction right now. These projects will be ready within the next two years. They will bring 30,000 new workers to a City with no vacancies and no plans to improve its transit system. **AND THESE FIGURES DO NOT INCLUDE DOT-COMS,** which have not been counted as office developments.

Historically, San Franciscans have realized that their City's tiny land area demands balanced growth. In the 1960s, they stopped freeway development that threatened neighborhoods. In the 1970s they stopped redevelopment from destroying even more neighborhoods. In 1986, voters passed Proposition M, limiting office growth to a rate that would not overwhelm infrastructure or cause displacement. Thanks to Prop M, San Francisco was not left with half-finished and empty office towers when the 80's boom went bust. **Today, with a new office boom, developers want to bust the limits. And today, City Hall accommodates them.** Once again San Franciscans must demand balanced development to save our neighborhoods.

## STOP THE DEVELOPERS' POWER GRAB!

### No on K: Don't Be Confused By the City Hall Lie

Driven by fear of Prop L, developers and the Mayor submitted their own version of “controls” at the last possible minute, to confuse voters.

Proposition K, placed on the ballot by the Mayor is a big favor to big developers.

**Creates a Growth Czar**, appointed by the Mayor for a TEN YEAR term and accountable to no one else, whose main job is to “identify” neighborhoods for new office development. What happens when he points his finger at YOUR neighborhood?

** Ignores phony “artists’ live/work” lofts,** allowing them to continue to displace businesses and residents, and encouraging developers to go on building lofts instead of apartments families can live in.

**Creates new loopholes,** allowing 15 million square feet of office space — 30 Transamerica pyramids — in the next two years! That means 60,000 new workers. Where will they live?

**Allows a land rush in office development** in the South of Market area without increasing MUNI service, providing new housing or protecting critically needed small business, service and arts space presently located there.

The American public jointly owns nearly

a million square miles of
land that Congress has set
aside for a variety of
purposes, all for the
benefit of the nation and
its people. These lands
are professionally man-
aged by the National Park
Service, the U.S. Forest
Service, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, and the
Bureau of Land Manage-
ment. They provide all of us with myriad opportuni-
ties for outdoor recre-
ation, protect the water-
sheds that produce our
clean drinking water,
preserve our cultural and
historical resources, and
provide habitat for
wildlife. Each of the
national land systems is
managed under its own set
of purposes, principles,
and guidelines, including
citizen participation in
management decisions.

America's National Lands

NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM

Management agency: U.S. Forest Service (USFS), Department of Agriculture

Types of units: national forests and grasslands, designated wilderness areas, research and experimental areas

Purposes: outdoor recreation, range, timber, watersheds, wildlife and fish habitat, and wilderness preservation

NATIONAL RESOURCE LANDS (BLM)

Management agency: Bureau of Land Management (BLM),
Department of the Interior

Types of units: Unlike the other three systems, most of these
lands are confined to eleven western states and Alaska and
are managed as resource areas. Some acreage has been
designated as national conservation areas, national scenic
areas, areas of critical environmental concern, and
wilderness areas

Purposes: rangeland, outdoor recreation, mineral and timber production, natural, historical, and cultural-resource conservation, and wilderness preservation

THE NATIONAL

WILDERNESS PRESERVATION
SYSTEM

The National Wilderness Preservation System is comprised of pristine, roadless areas within our National Land System that have been set aside by Congress according to the Wilderness Act of 1964. The National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau of Land Management must all manage the wilderness areas within their boundaries permanently, protecting their wildlife character. Although more than 100 million acres have been designated as wilderness to date, this is less than 4 percent of our nation's land base.

NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM

Management agency: National Park Service (NPS), Department of the Interior

Types of units: national parks and reserves, monuments, recreation areas, national scenic trails, seashores, lakeshores, wild and scenic rivers, battlefields, historic sites, and designated wilderness areas

Purposes: preservation of America's finest natural, historical, cultural, and wilderness resources for the enjoyment of present and future generations

NATIONAL WILDLIFE
REFUGE SYSTEM

Management agency: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Department of the Interior

Types of units: national wildlife refuges, designated wilderness areas

Purposes: conservation, management, and restoration of fish, wildlife, and waterfowl habitat; wilderness preservation, recreation and education