The pond is a natural feature, a "kettle pond" it was formed by glacial recession during the last Ice Age. It is also a park, making up a piece of the "Emerald Necklace". It is approximately a mile around and that makes its circular path a favorite place for walkers and runners. The Jamaica Pond was a habitat for Neponset Indians for part of the year in the era before English settlers arrived. In the 1790s it became a water supply for Boston. The ranger station under the bandstand has one of the high tech waterpipes from that time on display (a hollowed out log). Later, the Pond became a player in the ice industry, with cutters taking the ice, storing it in ice houses on the banks and shipping it far and wide. Nowadays, the Jamaica Pond is an idyllic enclave in a bustling world (that is, if you can ignore the cars zipping by on the roads that surround it!)

Great playground for children. It is nicely maintained, and parents frequently donate toys to the playground.

Forest Hills was established in 1848 as a garden cemetery for the City of Roxbury. It is a wonderful place composing 250 acres of rolling land punctuated with ponds, trees and gardens. If neighboring Arnold Arboretum is too crowded, and/or you are a loner looking for quiet and greenery, go here. Both spots are a short walk from the Forest Hills T Stop. I often found Forest Hills Cemetery to be a quick escape to another world away from the city. Its much like Mount Auburn Cemetery in the historical landscaped cemetery category, but it's the more obscure, less famous, less endowed cousin. Still there is plenty of neat architecture, sculptures, art displays, famous graves, and spots waiting for you to discover them in this sprawling almost 300 acre cemetery. They also have events and concerts, so if you want to do something semi-social there visit their website or pick up a brochure. Forest Hills is still an active cemetery and plots are available.

The intersection of Centre Street, Day Street, and Perkins Street, is commonly called “the square” despite its traffic circle configuration. The small green space in the rotary is officially known by the Boston Parks Department as Mahoney Square.

The mural in Mozart Park is a bridge, telling the story of this violent history while speaking of a hopeful future. Originally painted in 1987 by artists from Boston and Nicaragua through a program called “Arts for a New Nicaragua,” the mural was updated in 2001 by youth from the Hyde Square Task Force. The mural shows scenes from the Central American countryside. In the mural, George Washington stands next to conga players, illustrating the diversity of the area. Tropical fish and dancers hint at the Central American roots of the community. A “matchstick man” symbolizes landlords who in the late ‘80s burned down their own houses to collect insurance money. The images in the mural meander through the Central American countryside back to the city. The renovation of the Mozart Park mural in 2001 was an effort to stem crime, in addition to a desperately needed update to what was then a 14-year-old piece of art.