[One Day Ten Thousand Steps, One Day One Thousand Characters] Walking to Meet the World's Top Universities and Bio Clusters

Near Boston, Cambridge City
Harvard, MIT, and Kendall Square
The Core Area of Boston Bio Cluster

Editor's NoteBoston, USA, was ranked third in the 2021 'Most Walkable Cities in the USA' by Walk Score, following San Francisco and New York. It is a city where you can enjoy walking while taking in diverse scenery. Located by the sea, the Charles River runs through the heart of the city, offering waterfront views, and large parks are scattered throughout downtown, providing spaces for relaxation. Boston also offers a rich blend of history, from the American independence event known as the Boston Tea Party to the coexistence of historic sites and towering skyscrapers, allowing visitors to experience a variety of facets of the city.

A view of Cambridge City across the Charles River from Boston Back Bay
Photo by Lee Chunhee

Strictly speaking, today's course is not in Boston. The main stage today is Cambridge, located across the Charles River. The city was renamed Cambridge in 1638 after the university town of Cambridge in England. Around the same time, Harvard University was first established, and in 1916, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) relocated here, making Cambridge a university city with world-renowned institutions comparable to those in England.

What is commonly referred to as the 'Boston Bio Cluster' is actually mostly in Cambridge. 'Kendall Square,' considered the core of the cluster and home to major biotech companies like Moderna and Biogen, is located in Cambridge. However, since Cambridge is a satellite city of Boston, it is not unreasonable to refer to the larger area as the Boston metropolitan area. Interestingly, AstraZeneca, another COVID-19 vaccine developer alongside Moderna, also has its headquarters in Cambridge, England.

Boston skyline viewed from the Longfellow Bridge spanning the Charles River
Photo by Lee Chunhee

The starting point of today's course is Charles (MGH) Station on Boston's Red Line subway. The station's secondary name, MGH, stands for Massachusetts General Hospital, an affiliated hospital of Harvard Medical School. It is recognized as a leading hospital driving global medical research and is considered one of the top hospitals in the U.S., alongside Johns Hopkins Hospital and the Mayo Clinic.

The reason for starting the course in Boston rather than Cambridge is the Longfellow Bridge that connects the two. The Longfellow Bridge is a bridge where the Red Line subway crosses the Charles River alongside pedestrians and vehicles, similar to Seoul's Dongho Bridge (Line 3) and Dongjak Bridge (Line 4). It is named after Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a famous poet and scholar known for 'A Psalm of Life.' Crossing the bridge offers expansive views of Boston's Back Bay and Beacon Hill areas along with the Charles River. However, if walking across, be sure to use the southern pedestrian walkway rather than the northern one, as the subway structure blocks views across. While the northern walkway also offers impressive scenery, the southern side provides a richer view of Boston's skyline.

The marker stone of Kendall Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, inscribed with "The Most Innovative 1 Square Mile in the World"
Photo by Lee Chunhee

Upon crossing the bridge, you are greeted by a sign proclaiming 'The Most Innovative 1 Square Mile on Earth.' This refers to Kendall Square, where over 1,000 biotech companies, including Moderna and Biogen, have their headquarters or research centers densely located. In addition, venture capital firms, universities, hospitals, startup spaces, coffee shops, restaurants, and parks are all part of this core area of the Boston Bio Cluster.

The Killian Court at the heart of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the McLachlan Building with the 'Great Dome' [Image source=Pixabay]

Turning southwest, the MIT campus unfolds in earnest. Founded in Boston in 1861, it moved to its current location in 1916. Near the signpost is the MIT Museum, where you can see a century of MIT's innovation history at a glance. Exhibits include achievements in artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and various displays combining science and art.

The highlight of the MIT campus tour is Killian Court and the 'Great Dome' McClaurin Building facing it. Killian Court is the site of MIT's annual commencement and convocation ceremonies and is also where regular campus tours begin. The Great Dome is also known as a key location for MIT's traditional 'hacks.' As MIT has produced many hackers, the culture extends beyond software hacking to include various ingenious pranks and stunts. As a result, police cars, a scaled model of the Apollo lunar module, and fire trucks have been placed atop the dome. Overnight, the dome has been painted to resemble 'R2D2' from the movie Star Wars or Captain America's shield from the Captain America series. If you're lucky, you might witness another hack in progress during your visit. However, there are rules for hacks: to prevent potential accidents, MIT has established official hacking etiquette requiring hacks to be original, clever, safe, and cause no damage to facilities.

Harvard University's central library, the Widener Library
Photo by Lee Chunhee

Leaving the MIT campus and heading toward Harvard, there are no special landmarks along the way, but as you approach Harvard, you can fully enjoy the atmosphere of a university town. The area near Harvard is lined with quaint residential neighborhoods that local residents liken to 'Diagon Alley' from the Harry Potter series, while the streets buzz with the energy of college and graduate students.

After a leisurely walk of about 2.9 km, you will arrive at Harvard. It is considered one of the world's top universities, having produced eight U.S. presidents, and famous figures such as Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who both dropped out.

At the heart of Harvard stands the massive Widener Library, known as the second-largest library in the world. Its namesake, Harry Elkins Widener, was a Harvard alumnus and book collector who perished in the Titanic disaster in 1912. His mother built the library in his memory and donated his collection of books, leading to the creation of Widener Library. It is said to house over three million volumes.

A statue of John Harvard, one of the main founders of Harvard University. Due to a superstition that touching the statue's foot will help oneself or their descendants get into Harvard, only the tip of the statue's foot shines brightly.
[Photo by Lee Chunhee]

The most popular tourist attraction at Harvard is undoubtedly the statue of John Harvard. Sharing the university's name, he is often called the 'founder' of Harvard University, but in reality, he was a major benefactor who donated significantly after the establishment of Harvard's predecessor, New College, in 1636. His donation played a crucial role in sustaining the college, and after his death, New College was renamed Harvard College in 1639 in his honor, recognizing him as one of the key founders. There is a popular legend that touching the foot of John Harvard's statue will help you gain admission to Harvard, so visitors often touch the statue's foot, which has become brightly polished from frequent contact. However, the legend varies, with some saying it works for the person touching it, their children, or even their grandchildren.

Other notable attractions include the art museums such as the Fogg Museum and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, the Carpenter Center designed by architect Le Corbusier, and the Harvard Coop bookstore, all worth visiting.