News

"I wondered what it might be like to shack up in another city where..."

http://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2018/01/05/staying-with-boston-miles-howard

We need a bolder master plan from Mayor Walsh

The Boston Globe_Boston Then and Now letters _11 -11-17.pdf

 3-D decals are meant to catch drivers off-guard and, hopefully, make them drive more safely.

https://news.wgbh.org/2017/12/12/local-news/3-d-decals-may-get-drivers-slow-down?utm_source=FBPAGE&utm_medium=social&utm_term=20171214&utm_content=1222895937

Data analysis reveals which cities have the most working artists.

Richard Florida shares data on the concentration of artists in the country's 100 largest metros to find out which cities are the leading art hubs of the 21st century. "While New York galleries will be well represented at Art Basel Miami Beach, the metro is no longer the nation’s leading center for art and artists," writes Florida. But, the numbers don't bear out the narrative that large cities like New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles have completely priced artists out.

https://www.planetizen.com/node/96194?utm_source=newswire&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news-12112017&mc_cid=7d2af21323&mc_eid=b9p0fICGm0

Several cities located in the Northeast, especially in the New York region, saw a significant increase in the number of car-free households.

https://www.planetizen.com/node/96176?utm_source=newswire&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news-12112017&mc_cid=7d2af21323&mc_eid=b9p0fICGm0

Joel Kotkin and Alan M. Berger discuss their new book, which analyses what the suburbs are and will become, in both the United States and around the world.

"Two trends that may seem counterintuitive to urbanists have been the rapid pattern of diversification in suburbs, which now hold most of the nation’s immigrants and minorities, as well as the fact that suburbs are more egalitarian and less divided by class than core cities."

https://www.planetizen.com/node/96160?utm_source=newswire&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news-12112017&mc_cid=7d2af21323&mc_eid=b9p0fICGm0

A Metropolitan Area Planning Council Research Brief

https://www.mapc.org/enrollment/

"Gentrification is big news all over L.A., and working-class and lower-income people across the county stand to lose a lot from its advance," writes Erin Aubry Kaplan. "They already have. But black people in particular will feel the sting."

https://www.planetizen.com/node/96006?utm_source=newswire&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news-11302017&mc_cid=572c9a6aa0&mc_eid=b9p0fICGm0

An annual "report card" that judges the availability and affordability of housing in Greater Boston gives good marks to the city's efforts to increase housing, but lower marks to the suburbs.

In total, the report, The Boston Foundation's Greater Boston Housing Report Card, estimates housing permits in Boston and Greater Boston together are up 12 percent from 2016.

Much of that growth comes from the city of Boston itself. The city is on track to approve nearly 60 percent of permits for buildings with five or more units, and more than 41 percent of all new housing permits in 2017

By contrast, communities outside of Boston, in total, are set to approve 7 percent fewer units in 2017, from 2016.

http://www.wbur.org/news/2017/11/28/housing-report-card-boston

"The city of Boston on Tuesday launches Carbon Free Boston, which officials describe as the city's next step to becoming carbon neutral by 2050.

The initiative aims to address how to fuel a growing Boston while also meeting the city's climate goals.

There are currently 106 buildings, worth $9 billion, under construction in Boston. Over the past five years, the city has approved adding the square footage equal to 45 new Prudential Towers.

"We're very fortunate right now," said Austin Blackmon, the city's chief of energy, environment and open space. "Boston is in one of its largest building booms in its history, and that means there are great opportunities for us to have a lasting impact on the future of our city.

Boston already has more LEED-certified energy efficient buildings than any other city in the nation. And Massachusetts has been named the most energy efficient state seven years in a row.

By 2050 the state is committed to reducing emissions from fossil fuels by 80 percent. Boston is even more ambitious: It wants to be carbon neutral by then."

http://www.wbur.org/bostonomix/2017/11/28/boston-carbon-neutral-plan