I came across an article about the Charles River Swimming Club's annual 1 mile race in the Charles River. So, I walked down to the Charles (on a rainy day) and took some pictures. It really got me thinking about how the river has changed in my life. Growing up it was known as the river that you could not swim in, but that had stories of past swimming glory.

When I was in 5th grade each class wrote a song that we sang in front of the entire school and it was made into a song book. I was a little jealous when the other 5th grade class created a great song about the Charles River, as we knew it. The song was titled The Toxic River. Although it never mentioned the Charles by heart, we all knew what it referenced. It went like so:

"I swam in a toxic river, so cold I started to shiver. I nearly got to the bottom and then I actually caught him. I caught a mutated fish and ate it off of a dish. I started to grow a third eye, got so scared I started to cry..."

Now it is a project in development. A beautiful river with 17 miles of parks, walking paths, fields and more. The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation has a great site, dedicated to the Charles River and the opportunities that it presents. Along with a little history, the site is definitely worth seeing.

In college, I studied architecture and graduated from Hobart and William Smith Colleges with a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture. I dabbled a little in landscape design and city planning my senior year, so I was thrilled to see some ideas and plans that have been developed for furthering the transformation of the Charles River.

The Charles River Conservancy is a nonprofit citizens' advocacy group founded in 2000 and dedicated to the renewal and stewardship of the Charles River Parklands from the Boston Harbor to the Watertown Dam. The Conservancy works to make these parklands more attractive, active and accessible to all. The Conservancy brings some 2000 volunteers to the parklands every year and information about the ecology and water quality are important components of this program. Here are some of the recommended developments by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation which are supposed to be implemented over the next 15 years. The key projects are great and really show a commitment to improving the quality of recreation around the Charles River.