Boston Parks ranks its top 10 moments of 2021

The last year has been anything but a walk in the park, but Boston’s open spaces and public programs have offered a reprieve for many looking to escape some of the stress and chaos of 2021.

In preparation for the New Year, the Boston Parks Department looked back on the year and took to Twitter to highlight some of its best moments of 2021.

“As we say goodbye to 2021, check in with our social media channels every day for the rest of the year as we countdown the Boston Park Department’s Top Ten Favorite Moments of the year,” the department tweeted on Dec. 20.  

Here’s a list of Boston Park’s sunniest moments of the year.

Moment # 1: 20K happy park-goers

The Boston Parks Department estimated it served more than 20,000 people through its 2021 programming. 

“Free Winter and Summer classes kept more than 5,200 Bostonians moving during 488 hours. Our permitting division issued a large number of permits throughout the city,” officials tweeted. 

Moment # 2: Mega maintenance and 8K 311 calls

Groundskeepers responded to a whopping 8,000 calls to 311. Their work helped keep the city’s public properties in tip-top shape throughout the year.

“Thank you to the hard-working men and women of cemeteries, maintenance, horticulture, trees, and trades for keeping our parks and properties looking great. While maintaining and cleaning our parks they also addressed more than 8,000 311 calls.”

Moment # 3: A hiring spree

Boston Parks onboarded some new staff, including a few key senior staff positions. 

 “We were happy to add more than two dozen amazing individuals to our team, including new hires to senior staff positions,” the agency wrote.  

Interested candidates can visit Boston.gov/Careers for information on open positions.

Moment # 4: 24 major projects

They kicked off (and finished) several design and construction projects throughout the city.

“We celebrated more than a dozen projects completed this year along with more than a dozen projects in the construction phase,” officials tweeted.

Moment # 5: Storywalk success

They expanded Storywalk language access and developed multilingual programming in Boston’s parks. 

“Our Storywalk program invited families to visit our parks and encouraged reading as we displayed books in 9 languages in parks and playgrounds across the city.

Moment # 6: Wild hikes

The department’s “Wild Wednesdays” hikes brought interpretive programming back to Boston’s Urban Wilds.

“Throughout the summer Park Rangers and Boston Parks employees led groups of eager hikers through the urban wilds of Boston.”

Moment # 7: Street art & murals

The Mayor’s Mural Crew enhanced the beauty of Boston’s neighborhoods with street art and murals. 

“Throughout the year and across the city the Mayor’s Mural Crew — City of Boston continues to impress. Celebrating its 30th year of employing Boston high schoolers to create large-scale public art projects across Boston’s neighborhoods and City parks.”

Moment # 8: 40K rounds of golf

Golfers hit the green at a remarkable rate.

“The city owns and operates the William J. Devine Golf Course in Dorchester and the George Wright Golf Course in Hyde Park [which] combined had over 40,000 rounds of golf played this year. 

For more info on golfing in Boston, visit cityofbostongolf.com.

Moment # 9: Firefighters saved then adopted a kitten

Is there anything more heart-warming than a firefighter saving a kitten? How about the firehouse adopting her. 

‘“Say hello to Tammy, one of Boston’s firehouse cats! Tammy was a 9-week-old kitten who was discovered in a storm drain and rescued by @BostonFire and @animalboston. Those same firefighters soon after officially adopted her!”

Moment # 10: Protecting Boston’s urban forest

Boston’s first Urban Forest Plan kicked off in 2021, with plans to wrap up in the spring of 2022. The project aims to protect and expand the city’s urban forest, which includes all public and private trees and shrubs.

“The Boston Urban Forest Plan is a year-long effort made up of several phases. The first part of our work was the urban forest street tree inventory — an assessment of the existing conditions of the public street trees throughout Boston.”

Morgan Rousseau

Morgan Rousseau is a freelance writer for Boston.com, where she reports on a variety of local and regional news.

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