The Swellesley Report

Since 2005: More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

Beyond Wellesley: the magnolias are in full bloom in Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood

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Boston is in the very grip of spring, and there’s no better way to enjoy the beauty right now than a stroll down Commonwealth Avenue in the Back Bay. There, on the sunny side of a street known for its style and grace, well over 100 magnolia trees are demanding your complete attention. A friend who knows all the best spots in Boston took me in as a gift for our shared birthday (cute, I know). We meter-parked on Hereford St., right in front of the historic Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Chi Phi fraternity house. Lore has it that when in the early 1960s Back Bay neighborhood organizer Laura Dwight made real her dream of lining the sunny side of Comm Ave. with magnolias, she enlisted the help of the Chi Phi men to plant the trees.

Dwight was a visionary, someone who reasoned that a neighborhood that looked untended would slide into further disorder. Today that way of thinking is known as the Broken Windows Theory, the idea that a simple broken window left unfixed (or general signs of disarray such as litter, spray-painting, and other visible examples that suggest residents don’t care) leads to increased decay. The logic suggests that by nipping small annoyances in the bud, larger headaches such as crime and further decay can be avoided. Make the neighborhood appear as if law and order rule the day, and law and order shall rule the day.

Dwight wasn’t interested in theory, though. Her magnolias idea came from a place of action and good common sense. Today, that common sense looks something more like sheer genius. Join me for a stroll down Comm Ave. and admire the Back Bay magnolia trees in full bloom.

Back Bay, Boston, magnolia trees
Magnolia trees in full bloom on Commonwealth Avenue, Back Bay, Boston. This shot is near the corner of Hereford St. and Comm Ave. Behind me, the sidewalk stretches down in the direction of the Boston Common.
Back Bay, Boston, magnolia trees
It’s hard to believe that this Back Bay neighborhood full of well-tended homes and gardens was in the 1960s sliding into decay. Today, a full brownstone with 5,000 square feet of living space and five bedrooms and six baths goes for over $6 million.

Back Bay, Boston, magnolia trees

Back Bay, Boston, magnolia trees
Community activist and Back Bay resident Laura Dwight in the early 1960s rallied not only The Garden Club of the Back Bay, of which she was a member, but the area’s tenants, landlords, social organizations, and more to get behind her plan to line the sunny side of Commonwealth Avenue with magnolia trees. That’s not Dwight pictured. That’s my magnolia-tour buddy and Wellesley resident C.A.

Back Bay, Boston, magnolia trees

Back Bay, Boston, magnolia trees
If you want to see the magnolias, don’t delay. They’re in full bloom right now. All it will take is a little wind and rain to knock off at least some of the blossoms.

Back Bay, Boston, magnolia trees

Back Bay, Boston, magnolia trees

Back Bay, Boston, magnolia trees
Commonwealth Avenue, Back Bay, Boston, looking toward Kenmore Square.
Back Bay, Boston, magnolia trees
On our way to lunch we came across this fenced-in notice of a pair of memorials to be placed along Boylston Street to honor the victims of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. A memorial will be sited at the area of each blast. Four glass light poles measuring 18 feet tall will surround intertwined granite pillars, representing the four victims killed in the bombing — Martin Richard (8), Krystle Campbell (29), Lu Lingzi (23), and MIT Police officer Sean Collier (27), who was killed in Cambridge during the hunt for the bombers. At least 264 people were injured. Construction of the monument is expected to begin summer 2019.
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