MANY PUBLICATIONS have written a version of the same story. The Cape Cod Times reports that home sales on the Cape keep breaking records, making it the “best time ever […]
Housing
Posted inOpinion
Getting the details right on transit oriented development law
PASSING AMBITIOUS LEGISLATION matters for obvious reasons, but so too does the rule-making process that follows a law’s passage. Final language often leaves state agencies with tremendous leeway, and real-world […]
Posted inOpinion
Building a city center serving six cities
QUICK QUIZ: What is the biggest growth district in Massachusetts outside of the city of Boston right now? Did you guess Kendall Square? Cambridge Crossing? Somerville’s Union Square? Watertown’s Arsenal […]
Posted inPolitics
Lt. Gov. Polito buys $1.8m beach house
LT. GOV. KARYN POLITO and her husband have jumped on the pandemic-induced second home craze, paying nearly $1.8 million for a large house in Dartmouth. According to assessing records, Polito […]
Posted inHealth Care
Chelsea’s yearlong battle with COVID
TRYING TO DEFEAT COVID has often been likened to a war. If the analogy is apt, nowhere in Massachusetts has the fight been more intense than in Chelsea, and Gladys […]
Posted inUncategorized
State’s housing assistance program posts big gains
THE STATE’S EMERGENCY housing assistance program is upping its game, pushing more money out the door and helping more people struggling to avoid eviction. As of January 13, the program […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics, Race/Racism
Doris Bunte, a mentor to many
DORIS BUNTE, who died this week at age 87, was a wonderful woman, a magnificent mentor, and a prodigious politician. But the word that describes her best is “Mother.” Doris was a […]
Posted inOpinion
Call for net zero homes is too costly
MASSACHUSETTS IS POISED to adopt sweeping climate legislation that will set ambitious goals for the Commonwealth to reduce emissions by 2050. No one doubts the importance of this effort or […]
Posted inEconomy
Baker signs $626 million economic development bill
Gov. Charlie Baker on Thursday signed a $626 million economic development bond bill, which will provide money for a variety of COVID-19 relief funds as well as […]
Posted inUncategorized
Distribution of housing assistance funds lagging
DESPITE EFFORTS to bolster staffing, the Baker administration is having trouble getting housing assistance funds to families facing eviction. According to state officials, $22.6 million of the $100 million available […]
Posted inEconomy
Developer sees glass half-full on commercial real estate
ONE OF BOSTON’S top developers, a self-described half-glass-full guy, says he remains bullish on commercial real estate despite the rise of remote work during the coronavirus pandemic. Tom O’Brien, the […]
Posted inTransportation
Lots of bills land on Baker’s desk
IN THE EARLY HOURS of Wednesday morning, the Massachusetts Legislature wrapped up its two-year session with a flurry of last-minute lawmaking that didn’t end until 4:41 a.m. Major compromise bills […]
Posted inTransportation
House, Senate finish by moving finish line
WITH SOME LEGISLATIVE sleight of hand, the House and Senate extended their sessions from Tuesday night into Wednesday morning and succeeded in passing most of the major pieces of legislation […]
Posted inTransportation
Economic development, transpo bills coming down to wire
A FAR-REACHING climate change bill that could affect almost every facet of daily life whisked through both branches of the Legislature on Monday and landed on the governor’s desk, but […]
Posted inUncategorized
4,524 eviction cases filed so far
IN THE TWO MONTHS since the state’s eviction moratorium ended, 4,524 landlords have filed cases against 5,912 tenants for non-payment of rent. Most housing advocates and landlords are expecting a […]
Posted inOpinion
A holiday wish list for legislative action on housing
WHEN IT COMES to Massachusetts affordable housing policy, it is easy to have a vigorous debate about whether the glass is half full or half empty – and both sides would have […]
Posted inUncategorized
Housing assistance funds trickling out
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION has paid out less than 20 percent of the money set aside for emergency housing assistance, prompting advocates for tenants to claim that the program is not […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
HinghamYIMBY supports more than just wooing market-rate homebuyers
I’D LIKE TO acknowledge the efforts CommonWealth has made to publicize the need for — and explore the many deep-seated local obstacles to — affordable and low-income housing throughout the Boston area. In […]
Posted inUncategorized
A ‘dream come true’ in Wrentham
KIM BASSIGNANI grew up in a four-bedroom raised ranch in Norfolk. Her father, Larry, a Navy veteran injured on a construction project while in the service, used his disability payments […]
Posted inUncategorized
Baker’s starter house effort a bust
WITH THE COST of buying a home in Eastern Massachusetts continuing to soar further out of reach for many families, a Baker administration plan designed to spur construction of affordably […]
Posted inEconomy
In Hingham, a welcome to (well-heeled) black residents
IN THE END, Hingham’s gonna Hingham. And so the tony town on Boston’s South Shore finds itself facing a bit of blowback following an effort to show that it wants […]
Posted inUncategorized
Poll: Residents divided on policy response to evictions
AN ONLINE POLL of 1,000 residents indicates 28 percent support resuming the state’s ban on evictions, 29 percent back increased state funding for landlords and tenants, 28 percent favor a […]
Posted inUncategorized
Mass. judge stays Fair Housing Act changes
A FEDERAL JUDGE on Sunday night issued a temporary injunction barring the federal government from moving ahead with an overhaul of the 52-year-old Fair Housing Act that would have increased […]
Posted inUncategorized
ICE questions, then releases, undocumented Lynn resident
AN UNDOCUMENTED Lynn resident reported voluntarily to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials on Friday and, to the surprise of his attorney, was allowed to leave. “I am so pleased. I’m […]
