Let’s hear it for Ed and Nancy

When I moved here to Boston in 1996, there was a enormous billboard facing the Big Dig that read: “Rome wasn’t built in day.  If it had been, we would have hired their contractor.”

As someone who has grown up 15 miles outside of Boston, I would absolutely watch a 90 minute version of this. Fantastic job!

Boston local here! Loved the video! Though I do want to make a note on the Big Dig and the central artery which came before it. The creation of that first highway was in direct response to an increase in federal interstate funding in combination with wealthy white Bostonians moving to the suburbs as the schools were integrated. Its creation entailed the destruction of growing immigrant neighborhoods to service wealthy white suburbanites, and was the first part of a project which claimed a significant portion of JP and Roxbury (where I live). It was also intended to carve through more working class neighborhoods in Cambridge and Allston, chopping through the heart of what is now central square. That plan ended up being met with such fierce resistance from the local communities that the current governor, the man who has initially signed off on the plan, walked it all back and committed to no more land seizures for highway construction.
Tremendous respect for Ed and Nancy and what they do, but the Big Dig is much much more than putting the problem underground. The Big Dig is a testament to the people of Boston who fought to make sure no one would have their home destroyed by unaccountable highway authorities. Cambridge would be unable to create the bike and pedestrian infrastructure it has today if it had the traffic load of an interstate off-ramp in its center. Where I live would be right up against a highway not used by the majority of residents around it. The Big Dig may have a messy legacy, but is a rare example of not just do-no-harm infrastructure, but infrastructure which actively seeks to heal the wounds of the past.

Ed’s my dad! He’s always been so pationate about Boston and it’s history. This is really well done, great job Daniel!

Boston is only One hour away from Boston.

The biggest failure of the big dig was that they didn’t include a rail connection between North and South Station. This would’ve unified the commuter rail system and actually reduced traffic on the highway

Philly did this around the 80’s with their commuter rail and it works surprisingly well despite SEPTA’s severe underfunding

This has to be the most fun Youtube channel to run

This made me realize (again) how Fallout 4's rendition of Boston is really, really compacted. The Boston Common is just a small park in the game, when it's actually a massive green space.

I grew up in Needham Heights and was often told by my dad how they used the land in our part of town to fill in back bay. One time I was in the yard and found a horseshoe, probably from some old farm who knows how long ago. As you get older you appreciate the history more and more.

They said that the "big dig" just moved the problem under ground but I think I would much rather have a more pleasant, walkable city with plenty of green parks with the traffic under my feet than a massive highway.

As a land surveyor in Boston I love this video. I think you missed out a bit by not involving the actual laying out of the city. Its fascinating how the street lines were physically established and how surveyors perpetuate that today using work done by those surveyors of the past. Great work!

17:27 as a lifelong mass resident, the Rose Kennedy Greenway is probably my favorite park in the city. We did what so many cities are too scared to do, and made a major change that greatly improved the walkability and enjoyment of the area. The project started before I was born so I never got to see what the highway looked like, but I'm very grateful that its a park and not an eyesore. It would be better for us to not need the highway at all, but at least its out of sight

When I was in College in Boston, I had the best part-time job with a short/medium term rental company (think airbnb but with an actual customer service team vs. Renting from individuals) . My job was a maintenance tech and it was my job to traverse the city, and stop at apartment units for general maintenance checks. They gave us a stipend to get a t-card but I would just pocket it and ride my bike or walk depending on where I was going. I have walked hundreds if not thousands of miles around Boston and to this day, the city is a magical place for me. So many stories, people, places, and things, packed into a couple square miles. I may be from Texas, but Boston is home.

I think adding in Cambridge in the maps as a way to give a bit of reference to the viewers would have been nice. Nowadays, Cambridge is synonymous with Boston. Back in the 1700s, it was a completely different city that was very very far from Boston as you had to cross through the small piece of land connecting Boston to the continent, go around the Back Bay and cross the Charles River. The mouth of the Charles river was East of Cambridge and it can't even be seen in most of these old pictures, which really gives you an idea of how much the Boston metro has truly grown. Thank you for your research. I appreciate videos like this and I really hope Boston keeps its colonial aesthetics in the future as well

As a Bostonian, I learned some things from this I didn't already know! Thank you for giving the world a tour of our city ❤

I’ve never been to Boston, but to me it’s very similar to Montreal! A piece of ancient history in the US. Looks beautiful.

THANK YOU for your focus on the West End. My family lived there and were forced out by the redevelopment. The ghosts of my ancestors thank you for telling their story!

I hate cities, but I lived in Back Bay for a year and, as far as I can be said to have "a City", Boston is my City.  This is the best, most respectful, most insightful deconstruction of the history of the personality of Boston I've ever watched.  Kudos, Daniel.

3:39 This is incorrect. The Paul Revere House isn't even the oldest house in Boston. James Blake House at 735 Columbia Road was built in 1661. Thomas Mayo House and Tavern at 2549 Centre Street was also built around 1680 and may predate the Paul Revere House (both are "circa" 1680). Would have been worth talking to the Boston City Archaeologist, Joseph Bagley on this one.