Citizen complaint of the day: Sign to zoo will make tourists go ape

Funny/ironic that they're concerned with the choice of route selected, like that's the biggest problem a tourist might encounter while trying to navigate the city using the little informational signs peppered at random about our parkway system. I'd bet five bucks that there are matching signs at fewer than half of the decision points between the intersection cited and the zoo, rendering the question of route selection largely moot.

Tourists in this city would be better off closing their eyes and stamping on the accelerator blind than attempting to follow the "informational" signs provided by the MDC, or whatever they're called now.

they're everywhere! There is nothing else in Boston with remotely as many signs pointing the way with the possible exception of the various evacuation routes. Are that many people really looking for the zoo?

For decades, everyone has known that a zoo at Franklin Park was a bad idea without a truly massive injection of money. Rather than be honest and just kill the thing, they dribble them money, and then do things like put up signs at random far-off intersections to pretend that there's actually a plan.

If you go down American Legion Highway between Walk Hill and Morton sts., you'll see the remains of what was supposed to be a park and ride lot for the zoo. The asphalt was laid, and the thing was never used. Now, on the cracked remains of the lot, you will find city compost piles every year, where cleanup crews drop leaves. Your tax dollars in action. At least if you were around back then.

I recall that Deval Patrick cut the Franklin Park Zoo budget so badly that it was going to result in some animals being killed off. They should save the wildlife before putting up signs downtown.

These signs make no sense at all placed where they are - there are so many turns and streets involved between Beacon Hill and Dorchester that people are bound to get lost anyway. They only make sense the closer you get to the zoo. A tourist would get just as lost if there were signs to the Aquarium at the same place - it's much closer, but Boston's streets are so crazy that you're really better off walking from there. Meanwhile, if I'm not mistaken there, are no signs for Storrow Drive or the Esplanade which lie to the just right of Beacon Street a little bit beyond where this sign is posted - how many out-of-towners have missed them because there is no appropriate signage at this post?

thats how much it costs to take a family of four to the franklin park zoo. you get there and you walk by one empty exibit after another. the last time i was there they had a lion that appeared to be suffering ocd and a zebra had just died.

the gorillas are incredible and its quite exciting for the kids to see them so close up but for fifty bucks there are plenty of better options. the trailside museum in milton is a fraction of the cost with stories for the kids and live animal exibits. i think the zoo is free the day after thanksgiving which is a good time to check in on little joe and friends.

A quick googling seems to indicate that the Zoo is behind other family destinations:

Franklin Park Zoo: 2009 - 342,313 visitors
Museum of Science: 1.6 million visitors a year
Museum of Fine Arts: "a million" per year
Children's Museum: 558,616 visitors annually (FY 2011)
Stone Zoo: 2009 about 226,000