Awful, awful news.
I think it’s hard to overestimate the psychic and political impact of this. More and more you’re going to have a hard time finding Bay State citizens who don’t feel that this entire project is a collosal waste of money and a big headache to boot. It’s one thing when an old tunnel falls apart, […]
As I’m setting up right now for the LG forum liveblogging, but I wanted to take a second to express how charming downtown Lowell is. No surprise for those who, unlike me, actually get out of the city of Boston - and of course, those in Lowell. I realize that those actually from New England […]
John makes fun of an idea that’s slightly crazy, but only slightly. I think people everywhere in this city have gotten so used to the status quo under a regime of heavy liquor license restriction that they aren’t aware how much of a damper it is on the general cultural vibrancy. When you have to […]
Jane Jacobs passes away. I’ll repeat what Marginal Revolution says: Life and Death of Great American Cities is one of the best books I have read. Here’s what I wrote after first reading it; this is a more recent praise of the book. One of the amazing things is that while the general anti-Big Planning sentiment […]
To continue…
The Herald’s Brett Arends weighs in on the population issue and remarks,
The Rappaport Institute at Harvard estimates that, if we had given as many new building permits in the last 15 years as we did in the sixties and early seventies, the average house in Greater Boston today would cost up to a third […]
The question we ought to be debating, perhaps, is whether we want to be America’s Florence or its Milan — a cultural and educational capital, or a business one. Or both? Exactly how much do we want to grow, anyway? And with what kind of growth cells? That’s a debate that should be public and […]
John Keith notes a story about a proposed congestion tax for New York City and wonders about our city:
So, inevitably, someone will say we should have it in Boston. Could it work? Is it worth even thinking about? Or, is it stupid to even bring up?
Actually, it was proposed to the city council last year […]
(Headline stolen from Greater Boston’s John Carroll.)
It sounds like the Boston Redevelopment Authority is going ahead with its Walk of Fame idea. Can we possibly convince the Powers that Be that this is simply a ridiculous idea, a pathetic copycat move that will bring next to no net tourists into this town? I see Councilor […]
John Keith asks why he should care about Jane Jacobs. "If you must," he writes, "go to a library and check out The Death and Life of Great American Cities. I gotta tell you, I couldn’t get through it, but maybe that’s just me."
I couldn’t disagree more. Not only did the book strike me as […]
The Modern American responds to my retort. I can quibble about some points (building transit takes considerable time, so it’s better not to wait til demand is there before doing any planning or budgeting), agree with others (let’s get rid of low-ridership suburban bus lines if they’re not filling a demand). But for the moment […]
Francine looks at rising gas prices and wonders what it will take to get people to commute by bicycle. She suggests better facilities for cycling commuters and improvements to the bicycles themselves. To which I’d add that there really needs to be some bike routes into major office areas. Downtown’s the trickiest, but until you […]
Today from the Globe, complaints that map makers, tour guides and tourist authorities are ignoring the city’s neighborhood outside the center, especially Dorchester:
Something must be done, said Earl Taylor, president of the Dorchester Historical Society.
‘’It’s been something of a dream of mine to put together a Dorchester tour map," said Taylor, who added that some […]
Just days after I defended her, Joan Venocchi penned a bizarre op-ed yesterday calling for some sort of solution to high parking prices in the city:
How about some outrage over the excessive cost of off-street parking and how it contributes to the city’s parking problems?
According to a 1997/1998 parking inventory done by the city, […]
Since I’m not a homeowner and since Boston seems to have rejected their property tax increase already, I haven’t been following the Community Preservation Act issue at all. But sco brings it up in the context of Watertown, noting,
The state gave over $30 million to 61 cities and towns in 2004. That amounts to […]
Nick of Electoral Math writes about the "Grocery Store Conundrum", the tendency for low-income city neighborhoods to see fewer supermarkets and higher food prices than middle- and high-income neighborhoods.
Why don’t market forces put as much downward pressure on the price of food in lower-income neighborhoods as they do in middle income and upper-middle-income neighborhoods?
…My […]