Gov. Deval Patrick threw $60 million at South Coast Rail on Monday, and he told New Bedford and Fall River residents that they’re thisclose to finally getting their commuter train into Boston. “You’re right on the threshold,” Patrick told the New Bedford Standard-Times. “And I want to ride that first train.” The South Coast has […]
Growth and Development
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Walsh calls BRA a mess
Shoddy record-keeping and weak management inside the Boston Redevelopment Authority have cost Boston’s powerful development agency millions of dollars in unpaid fees and lease payments, an outside audit of the agency has found. The audit, commissioned by Mayor Marty Walsh earlier this year and conducted by the firm KPMG, paints a picture of an agency […]
Posted inEconomy
Walsh gives Chiofaro an opening on garage
The view from Grain Exchange Boston Mayor Marty Walsh wasn’t in the room Wednesday afternoon, when the developer Don Chiofaro unveiled his latest bid at demolishing a hulking waterfront parking garage. Walsh’s development staff had little to say about Chiofaro’s plan to replace the Harbor Garage with a pair of towers and a substantial new […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment, Opinion
Turning brown to gold
For years, the corner of Gerrish Avenue and Highland Street in Chelsea was a weed-strewn lot. The neighborhood had a long industrial past, once home to box factories, a machine company, and a brass factory. Like so many fading industrial areas, it became home to illicit activity as the factories folded. Today, thanks in part […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, The Back Story
Meade sought legal advice on Red Sox invite
On June 25, 2012, Peter Meade got to do what most Boston fans only dream of doing: He filled in as the public address announcer at Fenway Park as the Red Sox took on the Toronto Blue Jays – a game in which Big Papi hit two dingers. Documents obtained under the Public Records Law […]
Posted inEconomy
BRA lawyers don’t do eminent domain
The Boston Redevelopment Authority has eight attorneys on staff, but apparently none of them are qualified to do eminent domain work. Records indicate the agency farms out the eminent domain work to James Masterman of the law firm of Greenberg Traurig, who bills the BRA $385 an hour. On two cases, the agency paid the […]
Posted inEconomy
City maker’s mark
Jesse Baerkahn believes in cities. He feeds off their energy. And he knows that unique, vibrant, inviting urban spaces don’t happen by accident. Quality urban neighborhoods take thought and long hours of work. They need champions whose job it is to steadfastly avoid the quick, easy path. Baerkahn works in urban placemaking. It’s his job […]
Posted inEconomy
Fish raises concerns on income inequality
One of the state’s leading businessmen said on Tuesday that economic growth in Massachusetts will not be possible unless the population starts growing and income inequality is addressed. John Fish, president and chief executive of Suffolk Construction and a member of the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership, a group of 16 of the state’s most powerful CEOs, […]
Posted inEconomy, Education, Politics
MAYOR MATTERS: Steady start
Fifth in a series Boston’s next mayor will face a range of crucial issues when he assumes office in January. Three areas that should receive particular attention, however, are the city’s financial stability, economic development, and the public schools. Financial Stability – On January 6, 2014, the next mayor will inherit from Mayor Menino a […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
The Worcester disconnect
Worcester’s downtown is full of wide open spaces where homes and offices and restaurants are supposed to go. Most haven’t appeared yet. Today’s Globe digs into the sizable disconnect between the city’s grand plan of rebuilding its downtown, and the unfinished state those plans are in. There’s less said about why that disconnect exists, but […]