INTRO TEXT Monarch on the Merrimack, a mill makeover once viewed as a potential linchpin to the revival of Lawrence, is trying to get back on track. The massive redevelopment project, the focus of a CommonWealth cover story (see “Thinking Big,” CW, Summer ’07), lost its way last year, the victim of a downturn in […]
Melissa DaPonte Katz
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Thinking big
Ansin has made mill redevelopmenthis passion—and the revival ofstruggling Bay State cities itshoped-for byproduct. if the walls of the Wood Worsted Mill in Lawrence could talk, they would tell the stories of thousands of immigrant laborers who landed at its looms, hoping to scratch out a better life along the banks of the Merrimack River. […]
Posted inEconomy
Deeds that keep houses affordable may keep neighborhoods poor
INTRO TEXT in a state short on affordable housing, it might seem odd that housing advocates are calling for policy changes that could eventually bring more market-rate units to poor neighborhoods. But some say that’s exactly what is needed to lift communities-and families-out of poverty. Many affordable-homeownership programs attach long-term deed restrictions to properties, limiting […]
Posted inEducation, Politics
A tale of two valleys
The first signs of life downtown are at Open Square,a renovated mill complex. The pioneer valley of western Massachusetts is not one valley but two. To those who think of it as Amherst or Northampton, it is a land of cafés, bookstores, and lively public spaces. Pedestrians swarm the sidewalks, bicyclists wait patiently at traffic […]
Posted inEconomy
Springfield gets relatively good news
INTRO TEXT compared with 11 other older industrial cities in the state, Springfield has valuable things to offer businesses looking for a home: low commercial rents, high-skilled older workers, and plenty of colleges and universities. It also has some deficiencies, including high crime rates, parking limitations, and young people with lagging educations. But overall, in […]