AS A STATE REPRESENTATIVE, I routinely drove 125 miles between my home in the Western Massachusetts Hilltown of Worthington and Beacon Hill. This makes it all the more remarkable that during my 25 years in the Legislature, I probably logged the majority of my driving miles within my far-flung rural district, serving my constituency in […]
Stephen Kulik
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
Guiding principles for transportation
This is the first in a series entitled The Future of Mobility, a joint project of CommonWealth and Meeting of the Minds, a San Francisco-based organization that seeks to build alliances around urban sustainability. TODAY’S NEWS IS FILLED with stories about disruptive technology changes and transportation. Driverless cars are being tested in several states, major […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
Reform zoning now
Massachusetts has always been a source of innovative ideas that change the world, from the revolutionary principles that gave birth to democracy to the technological concepts that founded Facebook. But when it comes to our zoning, subdivision, and planning laws, our state is stuck a half century behind the curve. Past efforts to reform zoning […]
Posted inUncategorized
Argument
Growth & Development Extra 2006 For years, Massachusetts has been struggling to control sprawl. The MBTA has been systematically expanding transit service as an alternative to the automobile. Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard have used regional planning agencies to regulate new development. Since 1991, the state has spent over $321 million to conserve 279,000 acres […]