STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE JAY ASH, SECRETARY, for the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development and one of three finalists for the open Cambridge city manager’s post, has withdrawn from the competition for the job. Ash publicly interviewed for the post last week but said in a statement on Wednesday that he’s decided […]
Housing
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Boston property tax hike makes sense
TAXES VS. INVESTMENTS. The tension between these two concepts has been at the center of public policy debates at all levels of government throughout American history. Putting aside the recurring but almost always specious claim that simply eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse will be sufficient to pay for needed public investments, the reality is that […]
Posted inThe Back Story
‘Encampment’ moved off Boston Common
THE BOSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT last week evicted from the Boston Common a fairly large group of people who had been sleeping and hanging out for many weeks on the grass near the T’s Park Street Station, an area many consider the front door of the city. Police and city officials were reluctant to talk about […]
Posted inThe Download
If you build it, students will come
It is a vexing conundrum: On the one hand, Massachusetts proudly highlights its place in drawing hundreds of thousands of students to the state every year to enroll in our colleges and universities. There are studies and campaigns to get many to stay after graduation to feed the economy and keep the Bay State vibrant. […]
Posted inEconomy, The Back Story
Double-whammy for Gateway Cities
CLARK UNIVERSITY IN WORCESTER this week unveiled a series of new data profiles suggesting Gateway Cities are being hit with a real estate double-whammy: housing prices that are relatively low and rents that are relatively high. That combination is trouble because it means developers have little incentive to build new housing units in Gateway Cities […]
Posted inUncategorized
A choreographed hiring process
The Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency selected new executive director Timothy Sullivan in a matter of minutes in January, and internal documents obtained through a public records request show just how choreographed the hiring process was. The day before the board meeting on January 12 where he was going to relinquish his post, then-executive director Thomas […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
Moment of reckoning for housing and state economy
THE MASSACHUSETTS ECONOMY is the envy of the nation. We quickly rebounded from the recession and are home to the nation’s best educated workforce and one of its largest and most diverse innovation economies. Unemployment is down to 4.5 percent and our growth is outperforming the national economy. That success is worthy of celebration, but […]
Posted inEconomy, Health Care, Opinion
Doing more for homeless people in Massachusetts
THE FOUNDING OF the Massachusetts Bay Colony was grounded in the social contract. In a sermon delivered in 1630, Gov. John Winthrop articulated the belief that, “[W]e must… make other’s conditions our own…as members of the same body.” For generations, vital services in Massachusetts have been a responsibility of our government. We’re rightly proud that […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Mass Housing hires new chief in 10 minutes
It took less than 10 minutes for the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency to name a new executive director last month. The authority’s board convened at 2 p.m. on Jan. 12. After approving the minutes from the last meeting and welcoming a new member, the board voted to go into executive session “to discuss strategies with […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Baker seeks to redevelop state parcel
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE PLANNING TO MOVE STATE HIGHWAY OFFICES from their perch above Boston’s Big Dig, city and state officials want to develop a large area at the edge of Chinatown, they announced Tuesday. The move is a high-profile example of an effort by Gov. Charlie Baker to convert state-owned land into housing and […]