Massachusetts
How One of Boston's Top Evictors Changed Its Ways
A major for-profit affordable housing provider hasn't evicted a single tenant since early 2020. How did the company do it, and can its method be a model for other developers?
Boston Mayor Proposes Fare-Free Transit
The pro-transit mayor of Boston is proposing fare-free transit on some of the city's most heavily used bus routes.
Minor Defendants: Kids Are Being Named in Evictions
Absurd as it may sound, minor children are sometimes named in eviction filings. If a child’s name makes in onto official court records—especially if those records are public and online—the damage can be irreversible.
COVID: Colorado Activates Partial Crisis Standards of Care
In a sign that the pandemic is far from over, Colorado reactivated its crisis standards of care for staffing of health care systems on Nov. 9 as infections increased modestly nationwide. Gov. Polis made all vaccinated adults eligible for a booster.
Boston's New Bus-Riding Mayor Could Make a Real Impact on Climate Change Goals
Recently elected Boston mayor Michelle Wu, a bus rider herself, has the potential to be 'America's first actual climate mayor.'
Hydropower Pipeline Rejected By Maine Voters
Maine voters overwhelmingly supported a ballot measure that will halt construction on a hydroelectric transmission line that Massachusetts claims would reduce its dependence on fossil fuels.
Boston City Council Approves Maximum Parking Ratios
An innovative set of zoning reforms have two more approvals left to become law.
Boston Introduces 'Maximum Parking Ratios' for Large Buildings
Large buildings with uses of all kinds will be subject to Boston's new "Maximum Parking Ratios."
Boosters and Breakthroughs in Vermont
The most vaccinated state in the U.S. may tell us where the future of the country is headed in the war against the coronavirus. Could it become a 'pandemic of the vaccinated'?
Big Boston Buildings Must Be Carbon Neutral by 2050
The Boston City Council approved a new ordinance would eliminate emissions from the 4 percent of the buildings responsible for 60 percent of the city's building emissions.
Outdated State and Federal Road Design Rules Hinder Freeway Removal
Although some cities are in favor of removing or reducing urban freeways in favor of more walkable spaces, guidelines like the 11-year-old MUTCD still encourage a 'throughput at all costs' mentality.
Proposed Law Would Open Beach Access in Massachusetts
It's harder to access the ocean in Massachusetts than any other coastal state in the country, but that could soon change.
How Free Fares Could Benefit Bus Drivers
Free transit would reduce boarding times and improve working conditions for bus drivers, the 'frontline workers' responsible for fare collection and enforcement.
Boston to Leverage Private Developers for a New Climate Resiliency Fund
It's going to take a lot of funding to build the infrastructure to protect coastal cities from rising seas as climate change takes hold. The city of Boston is starting to experiment with revenue sources that can fund the necessary improvements.
Acting Mayor Pulls Boston's Downtown Harbor Plan
Intrigue continues for waterfront development plans in Boston and nearby cities.
Post-Pandemic Traffic: Easier Morning Commutes, Heading for Afternoon 'Peak Spreading'
The Boston Globe recently published an analysis of Boston-area traffic through the pandemic, finding that congestion is finally recovering to pre-pandemic levels, but in new patterns.
COVID-19, AIDS, and CDC Guidance
Music critic Joel Rozen pens a unique perspective for Slate's "Coronavirus Diaries" on the Provincetown, Massachusetts cluster that prompted the CDC on July 27 to reverse its masking guidance for the fully vaccinated issued a month earlier.
Delta Variant's High Transmissibility Prompts CDC to Issue Masking Correction
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, acting on new data that it had yet to publish, changed its masking guidance on July 27 to reflect the prevalence of the virus in specific counties rather than basing it on a person's vaccination status.
Community Land Trusts: Combining Scale and Community Control
Pitting the straw men of scale and community control against one another does the field more harm than good.
Defining the 'Community' in Community Land Trusts
As community land trusts take root and expand, they face numerous questions on how to stay communally-focused while their geographic scope grows.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
EMC Planning Group, Inc.
Planetizen
Planetizen
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
