IN THEIR RECENT PIECE “Bridging the urban-rural divide in Mass.,” Lawrence S. DiCara and Matt Waskiewicz address the issue of regional inequality. They explain how the erosion of manufacturing jobs has caused the decline of outlying rural areas around Massachusetts. To address the issue, they propose, as part of “a framework of urban-rural mutualism,” three solutions: incentivizing […]
Gateway Cities
Posted inEconomy, Opinion, Politics
Bridging the urban-rural divide in Mass.
EVAN HOROWITZ AND JAMES PINDELL of the Boston Globe remarked in a November 14 article that “the Trump effect” occurred in Massachusetts as well: while Greater Boston voted more Democratic in 2016 than 2012, outside of I-495 trended more Republican—often significantly. A map accompanying the story depicted a growing divide between Greater Boston and the […]
Posted inPolitics
In Lowell, higher salaries for a higher purpose
THE LOWELL CITY COUNCIL is giving itself and the city school board raises on the order of 67 to 100 percent, purportedly as a way to attract a more diverse array of candidates to a body that is dominated by white men largely from the same neighborhood. The council voted 8-1 late last month to […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Turning around New Bedford
Photographs by Frank Curran JON MITCHELL WALKS a fine line as the mayor of New Bedford. On the one hand, he is the self-professed squeaky wheel, constantly pressing state and federal officials for more money, whether it’s for dredging the harbor, building a rail link to Boston, or replacing the ancient bridge that connects New […]
Posted inEconomy
A Springfield revival?
Photographs by Mark Morelli SPRINGFIELD MAYOR DOMENIC SARNO remembers the day after Thanksgiving in 2012. The sky was clear and the temperature unseasonably warm. The mayor was at the city’s downtown museum complex for an event kicking off the start of the holiday season, and earlier he had attended the annual Parade of the Big […]
Posted inEducation
Musical chairs
Photographs by Michael Manning STATE EDUCATION OFFICIALS placed the Southbridge schools into receivership earlier this year, citing continual underperformance in all testing areas, high suspensions and disciplinary problems, and unacceptable graduation rates. A key reason why state officials decided enough was enough was the void at the top of the school system. Since 2011, Southbridge […]
Posted inEconomy, Education, Opinion
The income-growth challenge in Gateway Cities
IT’S POSSIBLE FOR an economy to grow in ways that expand opportunity and promote broadly shared prosperity. We know that’s possible because it’s exactly what happened in the United States in the three decades after World War II. Each year, the economy grew at a strong clip and incomes grew for low, middle, and high-income […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Rivera: Lawrence is strong, people are talking about city
The following is a slightly edited version of the State of the City speech of Lawrence Mayor Daniel Rivera, which was delivered on Tuesday. I STAND BEFORE YOU TONIGHT to tell you that the State of our City is strong. It is strong today even though this year greeted us with seven feet of snow […]
Posted inGambling, The Download
Gaming Commission faces its toughest decision
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission, facing perhaps its toughest decision ever, is being urged by two newspapers to give deference to the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe as the agency decides whether to award a casino license in southeastern Massachusetts. An editorial in the MetroWest Daily News ignores all the complexities of the situation and urges the Gaming Commission […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Rivera: Pushing for change creates enemies
A group in Lawrence is mounting a campaign to recall Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera from office. What follows is the mayor’s response to that effort. His mention of landlords “looking to take advantage of the city” is an apparent reference to a city-landlord dispute chronicled in CommonWealth. I RAN FOR MAYOR to make Lawrence better, […]