Photographs by Frank Curran YVONNE SPICER, like a lot of her fellow Framingham residents, freely admits that she voted against the charter question to make the state’s biggest town a mid-sized city. But once the measure passed by the thinnest of margins, the former teacher and vice president of the Museum of Science did what […]
Municipal Government
Posted inOpinion
Momentum for more housing choices in the state
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER joined the fight to promote housing last week—adding more push to the consensus that 2018 is the year to tackle the Commonwealth’s housing crisis head on. As we head into the 2018 session, it’s time for the Legislature to pass bills that will make it easier for our cities and towns to […]
Posted inArts and Culture
City Hall skating fees raise some eyebrows
SHANE MURPHY, a resident of Springfield, was walking around Faneuil Hall with his date recently when he decided to visit the newly minted skating rink on Boston’s City Hall Plaza. Murphy said he enjoyed the festive atmosphere and the music, but he thought the ice skating fees were too high. The second “Boston Winter” festival […]
Posted inThe Back Story
West Station vs. Boston Landing
SOMETHING SEEMS AMISS with the state’s ridership numbers for the proposed West Station in Allston. The draft environmental impact report for the Allston Interchange forecasts 250 daily commuter riders and 2,900 bus riders when the station opens in 2040. But a host of people, most of whom want West Station built much sooner, are saying […]
Posted inThe Download
School start times zero sum game
One day after the Boston School Committee voted unanimously to change school start times next fall so teenaged students could get a little extra sleep, Boston Magazine published a story asking what took so long. “Why, in a state that is at the forefront of progressive policy and respects science quite a bit …, did […]
Posted inThe Download
The Codcast: Cashless T won’t leave people behind
There’s been a lot of talk about the MBTA’s plan to install a new fare collection system, most of it focused on the problems associated with going cashless. The concerns were exemplified by a headline in the Boston Globe last week that said: “The MBTA wants to go cashless. What about people who might be left […]
Posted inOpinion
Changing of the guard in East Boston
IT SEEMS LIKE YESTERDAY to me, but it was a long time ago – 1983 – when I ran Bob Travaglini’s campaign for District 1 City Council. It was the first year of district council races in Boston, and our strategy was to treat the election as if it were a State Senate race – […]
Posted inPolitics
Lowell’s single-issue election
ELECTIONS, as they say, have consequences. This is certainly the case in Lowell, where voters on Tuesday delivered a stunning rebuke to their elected officials and their decision to relocate the city’s sole public high school from downtown to its suburban edge. In the process, voters also showed that consensus can emerge in a city riven by race, class, and […]
Posted inPolitics
Brockton candidate already a winner
WITH MAYORAL RACES in the gun lap around the state, most eyes are on what’s happening in Boston and then maybe on Lawrence and Framingham or Newton. But little attention has been paid to the race in Brockton, where incumbent Mayor Bill Carpenter is challenged by 26-year-old Jimmy Pereira, one of the more unlikely and […]
Posted inThe Download
Walsh plays it cute in council contest
It’s less than a week until Boston’s municipal election, which means we’re officially in the silly season phase. This stage of the race is the one in which we’re reminded of a time-honored Boston act of political hair-splitting: the offering of support for a candidate, but not a formal endorsement. The silly season episode this […]