Doug Foy, Esq., director of the Conservation Law Foundation, who brought the groundbreaking Boston Harbor Clean-up lawsuit, probably quoting an ubran sociologist, said, "A great city had three characteristics: It had world-renown cultural and educational institutions. It had enduring distinctive residential neighborhoods, and it had a body of water that it embraced."
2016 court document of the 239th Compliance Order for court cases United States v. MDC and the Conservation Law Foundation v. MDC. This document describes a court meeting between the federal Environmental Protection Agency, the Conservation Law Foundation, the Massachusetss Water Resources Authority, and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. The agencies at this meeting congratulate each other for the results of the Boston Harbor Clean-up, which dramatically improved the water quality in Boston Harbor.