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 […]
Growth and Development
Posted inEconomy, Gambling
Buzz building about Suffolk Downs sale
RESIDENTS OF EAST BOSTON and Revere say they are hearing a sale of Suffolk Downs is imminent, but officials at the track say they have nothing to report. “We’ve fielded a lot of interest in the property and if and when we have news we’ll be sure to tell people,” said Chip Tuttle, the chief […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download, Transportation
Slow train coming?
The idea of a faster train between Boston and New York sounds like no-brainer. Cutting the travel time between two booming East Coast cities to 2 hours and 45 minutes seems like something everyone would get behind. Everyone, that is, except residents and the political leadership of the two states that sit between Massachusetts and […]
Posted inEconomy, Education, Opinion
Building a capable workforce
INNOVATIVE PARTNERSHIPS between leading businesses and schools at every level across the state are helping to shape a future workforce that will give the Commonwealth a key competitive edge in the global economy. Strengthening the talent of our workforce is the top priority cited by CEOs and senior executives at the Massachusetts Business Roundtable, which […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Self-taxation for conservation started on Common
THIS NOVEMBER, THE CITIZENS OF BOSTON will have the historic opportunity to enact the Community Preservation Act. Already adopted by 161 cities and towns in the Commonwealth, and on the ballot in 15 other communities this fall, the CPA allows communities to apply a small surcharge on their annual property tax, which is matched in […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment, Politics
Dysfunctional DCR tries to be smarter landlord
Photographs by Michael Manning THE HEAD OF THE CHARLES Regatta is a major draw for Massachusetts. Attracting more than 11,000 athletes and tens of thousands of spectators from all over the world, the October regatta is to rowing what the Boston Marathon is to long-distance running. For the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the state […]
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 inUncategorized
The toughest mile
IN 2008, THE Patrick administration set out to wire 123 cities and towns in western Massachusetts for broadband. But eight years, 1,200 miles of fiber-optic cable, and nearly $100 million later, the effort has stalled with 44 communities still without high-speed internet. The towns that remain essentially disconnected—or, in the words of state officials, “unserved”—represent […]
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 inEnvironment, State House News Service
Study: Storage could deliver 600 MW in 10 years
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH THE RIGHT amount of encouragement, energy storage technology – a field that can range from batteries to more novel contraptions – could account for 600 megawatts of energy in Massachusetts by 2025, providing more than $800 million in savings and reducing greenhouse gases by the equivalent of removing 73,000 cars […]