Assignment 1.3 FORUM JH (you can read and respond to other people's work)

     Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site is steps away from Saugus’ town center, yet it feels very isolated. In this section, I will explore what causes this effect with the aid of Lynch’s concept of cities as paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks.
     The neighborhood surrounding the Iron Works is Saugus’ center of town, if not in physical location then in contents. The two busiest roads in town, Main Street and Central Street, connect at a rotary. Main Street goes right to Route 1; Central Street contains the town hall, library, and the Iron Works. Lynch might call the rotary a node, as everything in the neighborhood can be navigated to from there. The landmarks in the neighborhood include the public buildings like those previously stated and the fire department, schools, stores, and churches on surrounding streets.
    The neighborhood covers a large area, but the center is oriented very far to the eastern side of that area. The western edge is Route 1, and the edge that marks the change of neighborhoods to the east is the Saugus River, directly next to and above which the Saugus Iron Works is built. Also, the local schools and nearly all of the businesses (besides a 7/11 and Dunkin’ Donuts) lie west of the park. I argue that this is a large part of the reason why so few people know about or visit the Iron Works. Those coming into the town center from most other parts of Saugus cross the river or highway and go straight to the middle, not venturing the fraction of a mile north to see the park. Additionally, even further north of the Iron Works lies a complex of industrial buildings at the bottom of a hill, past the dangerously curved section of Central Street. This dearth of attractions and walkability contributes to the lack of traffic up by the park.