Andi P.
Yelp
Although my dog hails from Bumblefuck, Oklahoma, she moved to Boston at four or five weeks old and quickly acclimated to city life. She became so much of a city dog that for a few months she refused to pee anywhere except for on pavement between parked cars, most often along always-busy Newbury Street. Grass was nothing to her. Eventually, however, she came to recognize that although she had totally disclaimed her bucolic origins, she didn't have to renounce grass altogether. She began to appreciate the Back Bay's landscaped spaces so much that she even began to pee on them. She particularly enjoyed Arthur Gilman's 1856 Haussmann-inspired Commonwealth Avenue Mall, presumably because it isn't as tourist-laden as the Public Gardens or Copley Square, but also because at least at night it's more peopled than the neighborhood's other two linear park systems and urban design masterpieces--the Esplanade and Southwest Corridor. Although she doesn't especially dig all the Second Empire, Romanesque, Queen Anne, etc architecture flanking Comm Ave, she at least appreciates it more than the two Philip Johnson buildings she would otherwise have to endure were she hanging out in Copley Square instead. Besides, Comm Ave Mall gives her lots of trees, benches, sculptures, and other dogs to look at, so who cares if it's situated in the biggest cohesive "Victorian" neighborhood in the US. It also gives her some space to run around in, provided she's on an extendable leash so she doesn't throw herself in front of swiftly moving traffic. And if she wants to go on a really long walk, she can start out at the Public Garden and continue straight on through Comm Ave Mall which connects with the Fens at Charlesgate (where one must pardon the tangle of overpasses). From the Fens, she can even continue on around the Emerald Necklace, beginning with the Riverway, followed by Olmsted Park, Jamaica Pond, Arnold Arboretum, and finally Franklin Park--all the while forsaking cars in favor of city grass.
If you happen not to be a dog and/or are dogless, Comm Ave Mall is still worth visiting. A few of the many landmarks to check out on and along it, walking East to West:
--The facing George Washington and Alexander Hamilton statues (the former at the entrance to the Garden, the latter across Arlington St on the Mall)
--The First Baptist Church, located at 110 Comm Ave at Clarendon St. This is HH Richardson's less-known church on Clarendon and is only two or so blocks away from Trinity.
--Hotel Vendome (the Second Empire style building at the corner of Comm and Dartmouth) and the Vendome Firefighter's Memorial on the Mall diagonally across from the building. The memorial sculpture was designed in 1997, for the 25th anniversary of the death of nine firefighters in one of the worst fires in Boston's history. The bench that is part of the sculptural group is situated such that if you sit on it and read the inscriptions, you'll see the building in the background. There are 154 pavers beneath the sculpture, the number representing the number of Boston firefighters killed up until that point, including the Vendome nine.
--Cross Dartmouth and you'll be at Olin Levi Warner's William Lloyd Garrison sculpture with its inscription from the inaugural issue of "The Liberator": "I am in earnest -- I will not equivocate -- I will not excuse -- I will not retreat a single inch -- AND I WILL BE HEARD. The apathy of the people is enough to make every statue leap from its pedestal, and to hasten the resurrection of the dead."
--Meredith Bergmann's 2003 Boston Women's Memorial, featuring Abigail Adams, Lucy Stone, and Phyllis Wheatley
--The Ayer Mansion at 395 Commonwealth Avenue: the only intact residence designed entirely by Louis Comfort Tiffany. It's currently being restored and also functions as a boarding house for young, single women (www.bayridgeresidence.org/). It's open to the public on twelve Saturdays each year (check http://ayermansion.org/ for specific dates); you can alternatively schedule a private appointment to see the house by e-mailing ayermansion@gmail.com.
