Faith in The Dream By Deval Patrick Hyperion, 100 pages In the mid 1960s, when he was about 10 years old and living in Chicago, Deval Patrick went with one […]
Urban Affairs
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Boston’s rents will only head higher
In greater Boston, the rent is too damn high, and it’s only heading higher. The Globe splashes today with news that rents in and around Boston have hit another record […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Rumble in the park
Richard Davey, the state secretary of transportation, wants to wean the Greenway off public funds. state transportation secretary Richard Davey darts across Atlantic Avenue, lays down his umbrella, and settles under […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Hold your fire
DAVID KENNEDY IS an unlikely figure to be leading the charge on behalf of an innovative policing strategy to combat urban gun violence. For starters, he’s not a cop and has […]
Posted inEconomy
Build it, they will come
James Rooney is telling lawmakers that if they build an addition on to the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, convention groups will come. Now he’s got proof. Four groups have […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment, Opinion, Transportation
Casinos and transit fare hikes a “one-two” punch
We now appear to be on the cusp of a “one-two” punch aimed at the poor and the middle class in Massachusetts. Punch number one will be the all-but-certain arrival […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Boston NAACP moves to recapture relevance
The NAACP’s Boston branch all but dropped out of sight in recent years, but new president Michael Curry is looking to erase doubts about the all-volunteer organization’s relevancy by stepping […]
Posted inEconomy
Urban (love) affairs
Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier By Edward Glaeser New York, The Penguin Press, 352 pagesREVIEWED BY JOHN SCHNEIDERcities have always […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
A business improvement district in Boston-finally
With city services cut and unlikely to rebound to pre-recession levels any time soon, Bostonians are stepping into the breach.Businesses in the Downtown Crossing area are banding together and voluntarily […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, State House News Service
Turnaround artist
Lisa Wong became a rising superstar in Massachusetts politics the moment she trounced a veteran Fitchburg city councilor and catapulted into the mayor’s office at age 28. The wonky daughter […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Massachusetts not so great this year, say public planners
Massachusetts was shut out of the American Planning Association's annual "Great Places" list, released earlier this month. But city and town planners don't have to go far to find inspiration, […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
How Boston parks measure up
The Trust for Public Land has just released its 2009 City Park Facts, tallying acreage and spending devoted to public recreation in the 77 largest US cities. Boston comes off […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
Fantastic MBTA voyages
There are fantasy baseball and football teams, so why not fantasy MBTA routes? The Future MBTA has posted ideas from readers for subway lines that will probably never be built […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Nobody wants too many restaurants
It's a familiar pattern in Boston: A neighborhood becomes gentrified (i.e., safe and attractive), raising hopes that stores selling things like books and household necessities will move in. But instead […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
What do Bostonians think about their neighbors?
The Boston Public Health Commission has just released Health of Boston 2009, a hefty report on all manner of things affecting the well-being of residents, including environmental conditions, access to […]
Posted inUncategorized
After the flood
take one flooded city. Add thousands of devastated inhabitants, a bungled federal response, and an absence of civic leadership. It doesn’t sound like a recipe for success, yet nearly four […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, The Download
On Filene’s hole in the ground, mayor doth protest too much
There's a huge hole in the ground in Downtown Crossing where Filene's once stood and a $700 million redevelopment project isn't getting built, and Mayor Tom Menino isn't happy about […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Burrito shop saves Downtown Crossing!
I guess you work with the downtown development that you have, not the downtown development that you wish you had. From today's Boston Globe: Mayor Thomas M. Menino strolled part of the […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Hungry for a public market in Boston
The Globe floats the idea of a genuine public market for Boston (but in its Saturday edition, so you may have missed it). City officials want to site it alongside […]
Posted inOpinion, Uncategorized
Seeing the forest and the trees
seen from a satellite high above, 29 percent of the city of Boston is hidden under the leafy canopy of trees during the summer months. That’s more shade than exists […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Holyoke goes back to the garden
Corby Kummer writes about Nuestras Raices, a community gardening program in the "Gateway City" of Holyoke, in the new issue of the Atlantic magazine. Read Kummer’s piece, but also check […]
Posted inOpinion, Uncategorized
Park benchmarks
the state department of Conservation and Recreation recently announced that it will defer filing environmental reports on the rebuilding of Storrow Drive, with the likely result that repairs to the […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Shuffling into Buffalo
Edward Glaeser has a good rundown, from a government skeptic’s perspective, on the urban train wreck called Buffalo (well, Boston could have suffered the same fate if not for Harvard […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Metro areas matter, says Brookings
Exactly one year before the presidential election, the Washington-based Brookings Institution this morning launched "Blueprint for American Prosperity," a "multi-year initiative to promote an economic agenda for the nation that […]
