I am from Massachusetts, specifically a small town outside of Boston called Medfield. I live right near the Charles River, a major River that flows through Medfield and through many other towns and through Boston where it empties out into the Ocean. There are many other rivers that run through Massachusetts, like the Concord River, Assabet River, and Blackstone River as well as Reservoirs like the Wachasett Reservoir. The Charles River reminds me a lot like the Hudson River Greenway Water Trail because many use the river for recreational use, but also for natural and cultural resources and as a water source for the town. Many people go out on day trips where they kayak, canoe, and even fish on the river. There are not many overnight accommodations on the Charles River near where I am but there are hotels that are close to the river once you get closer into Boston, like in Cambridge and the heart of the city. Since the river is so long, this waterway can be for long distance travelers or day trips, since there are so many areas where you can rent and/or launch boats. For the Hudson River Greenway Water Trail, every 10 miles there are access points and every 15 miles there are excursions and attractions like historical sites, hiking trails, swamps, and many more interesting areas. Like the Hudson River Greenway Water Trail, there are many access points to the Charles River and interesting areas along it like parks, bridges, and gardens.

To get to my house, one has to drive over a bridge that is over the Charles River. When I was younger, this bridge/road was a dirt road. Since it was a dirt road and not paved, this means that it wasn’t very far from the water, it was quite close to the river although it was still considered a bridge. When there was heavy rain (not heavy enough to be considered an “extreme event,” but still heavy rain) for 24 hours or longer, the river would get very high and most times would flood the road. I remember many times having to take the long way to the center of town because the bridge was flooded. This flooding problem we had reminds me of what I was reading in “How to Think Like the Dutch In A Post Sandy World.” In this article, it is discussed that after Hurricane Sandy, designs were needed to try and prevent something like this from happening again. The Hudson River flooding during Hurricane Sandy put 80% of Hoboken, NJ underwater. Because of this, houses were raised on stilts, green roofs and more trees were planted (to soak up rainwater), barriers and pumps were put in, and parks were turned into water containment basins. The uses of pumps were and are used in my house for flooding prevention as well. Since our basement would flood if water rose so much, we have pumps that try and stop this from happening. The town had the road paved about 7 years ago and during this process, the bridge was raised up significantly. This has helped stop what use to be constant flooding. Now it is very rare that the bridge floods, it has only flooded once since then when there was an excessive amount of rainfall in a short amount of time, and with this it was not nearly as bad of a flooding as we had previously. Both in Hoboken and in my town, residence needed to create a way of living with the problems of flooding (and climate change in the case of Hoboken). By rebuilding areas of Hoboken and the bridge near my house, there needed to be thought of water and what to do to prevent flooding.