An East Cambridge courthouse update It’s sad when a local public official claims powerlessness before real estate developers, the market, and state government. But that’s exactly what Cambridge Mayor Marc McGovern is doing in the latest round of the already half-century long East Cambridge Courthouse saga. Which I wrote about in some detail […]
CAMBRIDGE COUNCILORS CAN STOP UNDEMOCRATIC COURTHOUSE DEAL
Four votes against the proposed leasing of city parking spaces should do the trick
DILAPI-DAVIS SQUARE
Somerville residents squawk about the state of infrastructure, deteriorating public art
2019: WE HAVE 11 YEARS TO DO THE IMPOSSIBLE
In last week’s column looking back at “2018: The Year in Global Warming,” I reviewed the dire threat posed to humanity and our environment by climate change, and concluded with the following: The big question for Bostonians and anyone else reading this: How do we go from this grim state of affairs to […]
FAIR HOUSING WHACKED: TUFTS STUDENTS FIGHT ADMIN PROPOSAL TO ESTABLISH “CLASSIST” DORM SYSTEM
More than 200 Tufts University students, faculty, and allies from surrounding communities held a march and demonstration last week to protest a new campus housing policy, according to the Boston Herald. Over the summer, the Tufts administration announced that its annual lottery system for on-campus housing during each academic year would be heavily modified […]
FOR DEVELOPERS IN BOSTON, IT MAY PAY OFF TO BLOW OFF INCLUSIONARY BUILDING REQUIREMENTS
The building was finished in 2017. But when the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) reviewed the completed project, it discovered the developer had sold the units that had been designated for affordable housing at market rates.
LESS BUILDING, MORATORIUM
Hundreds of Roxbury residents speak out against displacement at landmark hearing
SIX QUESTIONS BOSTON SHOULD GRAPPLE WITH BEFORE GREENLIGHTING THOUSANDS MORE LUXURY UNITS
The burden of proof is on luxury developers and the city to explain how the luxury building bonanza will benefit ordinary residents and neighborhoods
SOME THOUGHTS ON TRANSPORTATION POLICY
Transportation is a subject I address frequently in my columns. But, as is often the case in journalism, it’s usually necessary to write about it piecemeal given various editorial constraints. So I might cover flooding subways one week and a gonzo proposal for sky gondolas over the Seaport the next. But rarely do I […]
UNWILLING CONVERTS: SOMERVILLE’S LARGEST CONDO GRAB IN HISTORY YIELDS RELATIVE TENANT WIN IN TENSE MARKET
“We have to recognize, you know, people enter the building renting because the circumstances mean that renting is what works for them … I think we have to have protections and safeguards to allow those individuals to continue getting the benefits they’re entitled to.”
