Opinion
Columnists, guest columns, op-eds and editorials published in Banker & Tradesman and its special sections.
Guest Columns and Op-Eds
From high officials to lone operators, read a diverse cross section of perspectives on the issues facing the Massachusetts real estate and banking industries today.
Pitches for op-eds and special section guest columns should be directed to managing editor James Sanna at jsanna@thewarrengroup.com.
Job Flexibility Keeps Workers from Feeling Hopeless
Research shows when employees don’t have control over their work schedules, it’s not just morale that suffers – mental health takes a hit too.
AG Gets Serious About Enforcing MBTA Communities Law
The attorney general’s lawsuit suggests that she will not wait to find out whether the loss of access to specific state funding programs will eventually persuade Milton to adopt compliant zoning.
Mass. Money Transmission Bill Protects Consumers, Levels Regulatory Playing Field
Massachusetts residents send billions of dollars every year using money transmission platforms like Venmo, PayPal and CashApp – but with zero state consumer protections.
Cambridge Should End Exclusionary Zoning in 2024
Beneath a facade of inclusivity and progressivism lies an ugly truth: Cambridge is not open to everyone. But the City Council should not settle for a surface-level fix.
Massachusetts Can’t Retreat on Housing Reforms
The push to build more housing in Massachusetts has reached a critical point. Gov. Maura Healey can’t give in to a vocal minority that wants fewer families to call the state home.
Housing Debate Clouded by Vague Language
Perhaps if we got more granular about what we mean when we say “affordable,” we would have more success creating affordable homes and talking with each other rather than – at best – past each other.
Letter to the Editor: Eviction Sealing Bill Hurts Good Renters
It would cause landlords statewide to raise application minimums for income, credit and other screening metrics. It would ignore the clear alternative to the problem of discrimination based on past evictions.
Be Bolder, Think Bigger to Solve Our Region’s Housing Crisis
Even if every possible new unit is built under the MBTA Communities reforms, we’d just end up right back where we are today, without housing policy in place to support the sustainable long-term growth of this region.
What’s Next for the Spring Market?
Whether you’re a brand-new agent or a 40-year veteran, I sat down with market intelligence expert Rick Sharga to get the answers you need to cope with what’s ahead.
Letter to the Editor: Federal I-90 Grant Deserves Celebration
The recent news that Massachusetts will receive a $335 million infrastructure grant for the Allston Multimodal Project is a massive victory for the Greater Boston economy.
Three Massachusetts Women Changing the Face of Leadership
When we look back across history at women in leadership, we see two very different stories: one for white women and one for women of color. But that’s changing.
Healey’s Transportation Funding Task Force Is Set Up to Succeed
We’ve seen many blue-ribbon commissions on transportation before. But this time, everyone knows that failure to find solutions means the MBTA – and the Greater Boston economy – will be in jeopardy.
Scott Van Voorhis
Commercial Interests
Columnist Scott Van Voorhis analyzes the commercial real estate market, state politics, housing and more with the perspective of a journalist with 40 years’ experience covering businesses in Massachusetts.
Boston’s Luxury Condo Market Still Cold
Red hot for years, has the Boston luxury condo market finally lost its sizzle? It looks like it – and developers’ ability to offer cash back at closing could be keeping prices from coming down.
Downtown Boston Needs More than New Zoning to Bounce Back
Can downtown Boston escape the so-called urban doom loop? Probably. But it’s going to take a lot more than new “skyline” zoning for taller towers to bring it back.
Don’t Let NIMBYs Kill Green Power
NIMBY local pols and naysayers wrecked the housing market in Massachusetts. Now, they’re threatening to do the same thing with the state’s new clean energy industry unless Beacon Hill can stop them.
Boston Mayor Shocks Real Estate with Office Tax Rate Hike
The scale of Mayor Michelle Wu’s planned massive hike to tax rates on office, lab and retail buildings comes at a terrible time. And she seems to be ignoring an important alternative strategy.
Lew Sichelman
The Housing Scene
Syndicated residential real estate columnist Lew Sichelman has been covering real estate for more than 50 years. He is a regular contributor to numerous shelter magazines and housing and housing-finance industry publications.
Foreign Firms Make Inroads on U.S. Homebuilding
As federal and state authorities continue to clamp down on foreign investments in American businesses and real estate that could pose a risk to national security, some foreign entities are expanding into American homebuilding.
Watch Out for ‘Gotcha’ Clauses in Homebuyer Representation Contracts
Would you pay a 9 percent commission to buy a house? The scenario is a long shot, but it’s still conceivable, if you’re not careful, according to a review of buyer-broker contracts reviewed by the Consumer Federation of America.
These Show Homes Take Different Paths
Two model homes being showcased at this week’s International Builders’ Show try to offer solutions to some of today’s biggest challenges: sustainability and the difficulty of “trading up” as your family changes.
No Immigrants, No New Housing
For any number of reasons, U.S.-born workers have been reluctant to join the construction workforce, leading to consistent labor shortages and rising wages – meaning the prices of new housing is going up, too.