Amazon slashed the prices of a handful of items at its just-acquired Whole Foods chain, a move that garnered loads of publicity but shed little light on the online retailing […]
Growth and Development
Posted inThe Download
On to the next ballot questions
Now that last year’s final ballot-approved law is in place (Gov. Charlie Baker signed the legislatively amended marijuana bill into law on Friday), Beacon Hill is gearing up for the […]
Posted inThe Download
Another big mention for Moulton
Politico’s massive profile of Seth Moulton struggles with the opposing Beltway views of the congressman from Massachusetts: Is he a rank opportunist willing to say and do almost anything to […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download
As the Globe churns
The newspaper industry is volatile enough because of outside pressures that stability at the top is a requirement to ensure as smooth a ride as possible in navigating the shifting […]
Posted inThe Download
Another side to pot billboard
A billboard dispute in South Boston is proof that people can look at the same image and see something very different. The billboard carried this message: “States that legalized […]
Posted inThe Download
Galvin throws shade on Millennium tower deal
Long ago, Beacon Hill insiders used to call then-Rep. William Galvin the Prince of Darkness because of his penchant for intrigue and political machinations. But now Galvin is coming to […]
Posted inArts and Culture, Politics, Transportation
New funding agreement for Greenway Conservancy
A NEW FUNDING AGREEMENT for the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy was unveiled on Monday that requires a smaller amount of taxpayer money from the state along with new contributions […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
Don’t just sell, sell to your employees
SMALL BUSINESSES IN MASSACHUSETTS will soon face a generational impasse. As baby boomers begin to retire, the businesses they have built will need new owners, but who these owners will […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion, Transportation
We must learn from Seaport District failures
THEY WERE GATHERED in the spectacular replica of the US Senate chamber at the Edward Kennedy Institute, a panel of local thought leaders discussing how Boston’s past might inform Boston’s […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Penn Station debate offers lessons for Boston
New York City is having its own North-South Rail Link debate, just on a much bigger scale. State and federal agencies in New York are pushing for a $20 billion […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The Codcast: Dorchester booming, mostly for the better
It’s boom time in Dorchester. That’s what Bill Forry of the Dorchester Reporter told Bruce Mohl and me when we sat down to talk with him about what’s going on […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Second thoughts on Globe property
Something must be amiss at the Boston Globe’s property on Morrissey Boulevard in Dorchester. First, Winstanley Enterprises of Concord struck a deal to buy the 16.5-acre property and then pulled […]
Posted inEconomy, Transportation
Prepare to be automated out of a job
WHAT SHOULD WE DO if we knew that, in the near future, a large sector of our country’s workers, currently employed with good-paying jobs, would be put out of work […]
Posted inPolitics
MassDevelopment CEO candidate withdraws
MASSDEVELOPMENT WAS PREPARING to name a new CEO on Thursday, but now officials say the candidate has withdrawn her name from consideration. State officials say Barbara Kroncke, a partner at […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
Union-only deal sent Wynn casino costs soaring
FEW WOULD DOUBT that developer Steve Wynn is a very savvy guy. It turns out, though, he’s getting a lesson in competition and how his own decisions have helped lead […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story, Transportation
Boston abandons Long Island Bridge
A correction has been added to this story. BOSTON MAYOR MARTY WALSH appears to be backing away from plans to rebuild the bridge to Long Island, partly because of opposition […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Millennium marches on
Millennium Partners on Wednesday moved one step closer to building its fourth ultra-luxury project in Boston’s downtown core when the City Council voted 10-3 to seek an exemption from a […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Shadow vs $: It’s the wrong debate
THE WINTHROP SQUARE DEVELOPMENT proposed by Millennium Partners is not about the shadows on the Public Garden. It’s about the fact that every major development proposal in Boston seems to […]
Posted inThe Back Story
What’s going on at Millennium Tower?
IT’S ALL A BIT MYSTERIOUS, but a recent real estate transaction at Millennium Tower sheds some light on the financial challenges of catering to the whims of well-to-do condo buyers. […]
Posted inEconomy, Education
UMass Amherst investing in innovation
THE UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST, the flagship campus of the state’s university system, is diving into the innovation economy with a splash they hope will ripple out far beyond the […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Downtown Crossing’s renaissance
For those wondering what the turnaround of Downtown Crossing means for the city of Boston, two stories this week in the Boston Globe and CommonWealth magazine provide some perspective. The […]
Posted inEconomy
The view from $10m up
Research assistance by Michael Malpiede BOSTON’S DOWNTOWN CROSSING has always been a crossroads, a place where subways, streets, and people from all walks of life intersect. Foot traffic tended to […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
The dissonance of zoning and immigration
NEWTON RECENTLY BECAME a sanctuary city. I was proud to co-sponsor the ordinance and gratified by the legion of residents who rallied at City Hall in support of their immigrant […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
A better way to address regional inequality
IN THEIR RECENT PIECE “Bridging the urban-rural divide in Mass.,” Lawrence S. DiCara and Matt Waskiewicz address the issue of regional inequality. They explain how the erosion of manufacturing jobs has caused […]