The town of Pembroke wants to use $200,000 in Community Preservation Act funds toward the purchase of a cranberry bog, reports the Pembroke Express. The use of CPA funds should be permissible because the town wants to preserve the land as open space. Ironically, the purchase of the bog would help the town get rid […]
Growth and Development
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Historic mill on the chopping block in New Bedford
New Bedford Mayor Scott Lang wants to tear down the 187,000-square-foot Fairhaven Mills building, but local preservationists aren't convinced. According to SouthCoastToday.com's Joe Cohen, a developer interested in the site says the building isn't worth renovating (and there aren't enough state historical tax credits available to change his mind). Lang says he would "rather honor […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, The Download
State tax credits likened to confidential grants
A top Patrick administration official told lawmakers today that a budget provision requiring greater public disclosure by recipients of state tax credits is "the first step in the direction of accountability and transparency." David Sullivan, the general counsel for the Executive Office of Administration and Finance, told a joint House-Senate budget hearing that the provision applies only to transferable or refundable tax […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment, The Download
Save the earth, build to the sky
If you care about the environment, stop fighting downtown high-rises. That's the gist of an article in the current issue of City Journal by Harvard professor Edward Glaeser (who wrote about the effect of zoning laws on housing costs for CommonWealth magazine in 2006). Opening with an anecdote about Henry David Thoreau accidentally burning down 300 acres […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, The Download
Patrick wants greater tax credit disclosure
With Massachusetts issuing more and more tax credits to companies, Gov. Deval Patrick is calling for greater public disclosure of who is receiving these benefits and how much good they are doing for the state's economy. Patrick's budget for next year contains an outside section that would require agencies to disclose the recipients of tax credits that can be sold […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Old Boston may have to feel sorry for that punk city in Arizona
Last summer, the Census Bureau admitted that Boston's population is growing (though not as much as the city claims it is). This week, the Arizona Republic reported on signs that Phoenix — long the über-example of explosive population growth in the Sun Belt — may be shrinking: City records show declining trends in several key […]
Posted inArts and Culture, Economy, The Download
1,000 great places to see before you die – on a budget
Gov. Patrick got into the swing of the recession yesterday, signing a law that costs nothing and will (maybe) make us feel better about not taking the Caribbean vacations we can’t afford. The law establishes a commission to designate "1,000 Great Places in Massachusetts" – spots we and out-of-state tourists might not realize we are missing. […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment, Politics, The Download
Greenway Conservancy scaling back
With public funding uncertain, the private group preparing to take over management of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway is paring back its budget as well as its ambitious plans for the Big Dig park that snakes through downtown Boston. <img Officials with the Greenway Conservancy now say their annual budget will be roughly $5 million, about 42 percent less […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Filene’s, World Trade Center projects get clotheslined by recession
Efforts to make Boston's Downtown Crossing into a 24-hour neighborhood got a setback this weekend when the developer of the former Filene's property announced the elimination of 166 condos (and seven floors) from the building slated to replace an embarrassing hole in the ground. From the Boston Globe's Casey Ross: The new plan, filed yesterday […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, The Download
TIF makes no dif to Chelmsford’s budget woes
Thanks to the recession, cities and towns can no longer count on attracting employers with tax breaks. The Chelmsford Independent reports on the nasty surprise that confronted budget writers in that town last week, when L1 Identity Solutions said, "On second thought, no thanks": Earlier this fall, Town Meeting representatives approved a Tax Increment Financing […]