The Metropolitan Lockdown of Boston: A Unique American Experience

The four days of shock and outrage in Boston — which started on Monday with the Boston Marathon bombings and climaxed on Friday in Watertown with a flurry of bullets — was history in the making. Circle of Blue’s Keith Schneider was there for part of it.

Photo © Keith Schneider

Before noon on Friday, the Harvard Square area in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was empty and in lockdown during the manhunt for the Boston Bombers. Click image to enlarge.

On Friday morning, I arrived in Boston to a nearly empty Logan Airport. My destination was Cambridge, where I’d been invited to attend the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy’s forum for journalists who report on land and the built environment, which I do regularly as a contributor to The New York Times. Instead, I spent Friday as one of 1 million people in this region engaged in an utterly unique American experience: the first metropolitan “lockdown.”

Because of the Boston-wide lockdown, the Lincoln Institute canceled Friday’s programming. Some speakers had been unable to reach Boston. Others had made it to Boston but were unable to reach the conference center. Several attendees had been called away, dispatched by their publications to cover the manhunt in Watertown, two miles from Cambridge.

The Lincoln Institute, though, was able to carry on with Saturday’s conference program. During lunch, I visited with attendees and described our work at Circle of Blue. Several reporters and editors said that they already knew of and followed Circle of Blue’s national and global reporting on water, food, and energy. They asked about Circle of Blue’s non-profit model and the goals of our clearly defined reporting interests.

“I know Circle of Blue. You guys do a good job,” said Donald Luzzatto, the editor of the Virginian-Pilot editorial page.

Were you in Boston last week? Read a detailed report on my ModeShift blog. Comment below, contact Keith Schneider directly, or reach him on Twitter @ModeShift.

–Keith Schneider
Senior editor

Keith Schneider

Circle of Blue’s senior editor and chief correspondent based in Traverse City, Michigan. He has reported on the contest for energy, food, and water in the era of climate change from six continents. Contact
Keith Schneider