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North End restaurateurs are furious about having to pay a $7,500 flat fee plus $450 to $500 per month per parking space to setup outdoor dining in the street this year. They are furious that restaurateurs in other neighborhoods will not pay the same fees. They are furious and they are wrong. The city should … Continue reading
This is the text of a letter sent on February 25, 2019 to oppose the MBTA fare increases proposed for July 2019. The MBTA is accepting comments through Thursday, February 28. Increasing MBTA fares to plug a small budget gap is a penny-wise, pound-foolish approach to transportation. Chris Dempsey, Director of Transportation for Massachusetts, has … Continue reading
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
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
Jared Alves 