Can Boomers Save the Suburbs?

A Salon article titled ‘How to Solve the Boomer Retirement Crisis’ is making the rounds today. The article puts forward a number of policy measures to encourage baby boomers, as they retire, age, and downsize homes, to move to the city, rather than staying in the suburbs (or moving further out or further south). At [...]

Baseball’s Great Crescendo and New Beginning

I have become a baseball modernist. This is no small evolution. Though I’ve been a fan longer than I can remember, I really started to embrace the history of the game, and the off the field aspect around the age of 12. In those years (1994-95, for those keeping score at home), I learned about [...]

Jasper Ave Blues: Small Investments, Big Returns

If you’re a regular reader of this site, you’ve probably gathered that – while not inherently opposed to mega-projects – I am often skeptical of their value and actual vs. promised benefits. I tend to think that smaller, more creative investments can often yield greater returns. Having seen successful catalyst/anchor tenant projects in other cities, [...]

Robert Moses 2.0, or the Unintended Inferences of Microsoft’s Walking App

Microsoft is getting criticized for its recently patented app, titled Pedestrian Route Production. The idea is to produce walking routes that steer pedestrians away from inclement weather (apparently conditions swing wildly from block-to-block in some cities?), roadblocks, and high-crime areas. Much of the criticsm is well-founded and deserved, as many have argued that it will [...]

Romney and the Patriots: Does the Super Bowl Explain the GoP Primary?

A (sort of) deviation into politics: It’s been a bad few days for Massachusetts products going for national success. On Sunday, the Patriots lost a heartbreaker in the Super Bowl to the New York Giants for the second time in 5 years. Last night, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney – presumptive nominee for the Republican [...]

New Partners for Smart Growth: Day Three

The third and final day of the conference featured two plenary sessions (the first and last ones during the day) and two breakouts. The themes of the sessions I attended focused on diversity, social, and economic inclusion. The Great Reset: Reshaping Our Economic and Physical Landscape to Meet New Needs This session, featuring senior civic [...]

New Partners for Smart Growth: Day Two

Following on my post from the first day of New Partners for Smart Growth, here is a quick recap of Friday’s sessions: Building a Powerful Regional Equity Coalition to Deliver on Sustainable Communities Building on what I noted in the East Baltimore project, three organizations spoke about how they’re ensuring smart growth and redevelopment is [...]

New Partners for Smart Growth: Day One

I’m at the New Partners for Smart Growth conference in San Diego, which started Thursday and ends today. When I have more time following the conference, I plan to write more in-depth on what I learned, but my writing on the conference will begin with a quick recap of each day. Here is a brief [...]

Why FDR Still Matters

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States, was born 130 years ago on Monday. He was inaugurated in early 1933, while the Great Depression was still near his depth. He died in office 12 years later, with the Second World War still underway, early in his unprecedented (and now impossible) 4th consecutive term. [...]