Justin Martin

While in Boston, had the opportunity to visit Fairsted (Olmsted’s home during some of the most productive years of his life) and McLean asylum (Olmsted’s home at the end of his life).

Day 75 of the BP oil disaster. I’m visiting Boston’s park system, where Olmsted’s innovative Back Bay Fens — in particular — is a reminder that there are environmental solutions as well as environmental problems.

Suburbs are ubiquitious today — and much maligned. But in 1868, when Olmsted did his masterful plan for Riverside, Illinois, a suburb was nothing short of a revolutionary new way of living.

I’m in Chicago visiting the site of the 1893 World Columbian Expo. Traces of the original White City, as the fair was called, and of Olmsted’s dazzling landscaping plan for it are still visible today.

People tend to view Niagara Falls as a natural wonder surrounded by manmade blunder. If not for Olmsted’s efforts, it would be a whole lot worse.