Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell made clear in his Jackson Hole speech last month that we’re in for an extended period of elevated interest rates. But what that means for the Massachusetts housing market has more than one answer.
A series of events over the last week illustrates just how difficult it can be to build more student housing in any city as part of a larger solution to our housing problems. But that can’t be an excuse for moving slowly.
A slew of recent good news coming out of the MBTA should give the state’s business leaders confidence the agency is on the mend. But huge challenges still loom that need immediate attention.
A provision in the so-called “YIMBY Bill” before the state legislature that would legalize accessory dwelling units on all residential properties statewide is an excellent idea. But Beacon Hill should think even bigger.
State legislators’ vote last week to send nearly $300 million from the Fair Share Amendment tax to public transit agencies is a step in the right direction, but two vital, additional steps must be taken in the coming years.
It’s becoming clear that things are going to get worse in downtown Boston before they get better despite the city’s office-to-residential conversion pilot program. The scale of the problem is just too great.
It’s truly irresponsible of state officials that discussion of the Cape’s transportation needs appears to be occurring in a vacuum without considering transit.
As they continue to mull the state’s overdue budget, here’s one idea the legislature’s fiscal negotiators should jump on: Take the Big Dig debt off the T’s books.
Nearly all new development projects are exciting, but a slate of proposals to turn a single-story library site in Boston into 90 or more affordable homes is worth cheering on with extra intensity.
It’s sometimes hard for us, residents of the Hub of the Universe, to imagine but our fair city doesn’t necessarily have the best reputation in other parts of the country. But we can all pitch in to help change that narrative when the NAACP’s annual national convention comes to the Boston July 26.
To solve our biggest problems, housing costs chief among them, businesses need interest rate certainty, not threats of beating the American worker into submission with rate hikes. Jerome Powell and the FOMC are now doing more harm than good.
New taxes on real estate sales were a hot topic on Beacon Hill last week, but unfortunately, both sides have it wrong, to one degree or another.
New research into one of the globe’s most ambitious upzoning experiments contains potentially bad news for Massachusetts – just not quite what you’d think.
A new report from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation contains unpleasant truths.
After 10 years of battles over the United States’ debt ceiling, it’s exasperating that federal politicians still think the bedrock of the global economy is fair game for hostage-taking.
Rents have never been higher in Greater Boston, and vacancies have rarely been lower, yet it’s still hard for developers to make projects work. And that should worry everyone.
Marx and Engels would surely roll in their graves to know that their intellectual descendants in Massachusetts were embracing a politics that directly and substantially benefits the bourgeoisie and the rentier class while pummeling workers.
If there ever was a time to put the pedal to the metal on zoning reforms and planning efforts, it’s now.
If Massachusetts politicians want to take truly meaningful steps towards making the state more attractive and more livable, they should start beating feet towards efforts to expand pipelines into the building trades.
Massachusetts has a chance to make its eviction system a little more humane. Unfortunately, some landlords don’t want that to happen. The legislature should still move forward with the idea.
