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This is the text of a letter I sent on February 19, 2019 to Michael Sinatra, the BPDA project manager for the Dock Square Garage (20 Clinton Street) project, a proposal to add seven stories with 175+ homes atop the garage plus new ground floor retail. Last April, I criticized the proposal to redevelop the … Continue reading
This is the text of a letter I sent on December 12, 2018 to Michael Sinatra, the BPDA project manager for 1767-1769 Washington Street, a proposal to restore the façade of the former Hotel Alexandra and construct a new hotel on the site. The BPDA should approve this project. The proposal balances preserving the ornate … Continue reading
This is the text of a letter I sent on August 30, 2018 to Boston City Councilors Frank Baker and Ed Flynn. Both Councilors announced earlier that week that they would like to investigate a 20 mph default speed limit in Boston. When a driver struck and killed Colin McGrath a little over a … Continue reading
Yesterday, I attended the Boston March for Science. Understandably, many of the speeches and signs focused on climate change.[1] I wish I had brought a “Fix The T” sign because we need fast, frequent, and reliable MBTA buses, trains, and ferries to decrease the significant greenhouse gas emissions from transportation.[2] We also need our leaders—our Governor and … Continue reading
This is the text of the letter I sent on April 9, 2018 to Michael Rooney, Senior Project Manager, Boston Planning and Development Agency regarding the Dock Square Garage redevelopment project. More information about the project is available here. The Dock Square Garage is a 1970s throwback to a time when vacant lots and garages … Continue reading
This is the text of the letter I sent to Matthew Beaton, Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, in response to the Draft Environmental Impact Review for the I-90 Allston Interchange project in Boston. Massachusetts must strive to achieve the Commonwealth’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 … Continue reading
Today, the Baltimore City Council will discuss Councillor Mary Pat Clarke’s proposal to revive a $1 home program from the 1980’s designed to rehabilitate long-vacant properties. This proposal contrasts with a nearly $700 million state and city effort to demolish and replace 4,000 such buildings. Unfortunately, Baltimore has a great many empty buildings. The … Continue reading
Last Saturday at the Hubweek Hub, a map of Boston illuminated a large display. Evoking a figure ground, it showed a variety of colors and the confident name: Total Home Score (THS). I finished waiting in line for the STAT 360° virtual reality experience and then headed to the next shipping container to check out Solaria … Continue reading
Last Saturday, I was en route with a friend to the Hubweek Hub at Government Center when heading along the Rose Kennedy Greenway transported me to Europe. Not literally, of course, but on the walk from South Station to City Hall, we came upon a beer garden sponsored by Boston-based Trillium brewery. I was … Continue reading
Last Friday, a burst of amplified music caught the attention of my brother, sister-in-law, and I at their home in the South End. My brother and I rushed to the window and saw a gathering of dozens of people in Franklin Square, a park across the street from his home. My brother shouted, “it’s … Continue reading
Jared Alves 