Month: September 2025

• Mass. housing policy: Too much stick, not enough carrot?

  September 19, 2025

  Maybe the Massachusetts Communities Act needs a little more time before it starts producing substantially more transit-oriented housing in Greater Boston. It’s been only four years since the act’s passage. Give it time. Be patient. It will eventually work, etc. etc. … And yet … yet it sure looks like it’s not working as planned and hoped – and even some of the act’s firmest YIMBY backers are starting to get discouraged by the act’s lack of results so far, as Commonwealth Beacon’s Jennifer Smith reports. The consensus among advocates at a recent YIMBY conference, as Smith writes, seemed to be that the state hasn’t been “muscular” enough in dealing with communities on housing, that the state has been too nice, that it’s time to “limit cities’ and towns’ ability to flout state mandates.” …

  Hmmm. Can I, as a non-advocate, suggest something? How about trying the opposite? How about less stick, more carrots? How about state financial incentives and protections that address local concerns about added infrastructure costs and loss of historic character that accompany major new housing developments? How about the state paying to conduct town-by-town surveys to find out exactly what residents want (and don’t want) in terms of more housing? How about more emphasis on smaller-scale multifamily housing — such as duplexes and triple deckers, or even single-family homes on smaller lots — rather than pushing/allowing giant big-box apartment buildings that so many people despise? …

  As the BBJ reports, something needs to be done. Greater Boston’s’ housing production is actually declining, not increasing, and we’re now dead last in some rankings when it comes to new housing starts.  We need new approaches. Relying exclusively on brute force isn’t the answer.

• Conservative Cancel Culture comes to the Massachusetts gubernatorial race

  September 18, 2025

  Or should it be more appropriately called the Republican Cancel Culture? After all, there are some principled conservatives left in this country who are rightly alarmed at some of the anti-free-speech rhetoric flowing out of the White House and DOJ these days. … Let’s see if they remain alarmed now that Jimmy Kimmel has been cancelled – a cancellation celebrated by President Trump. … But now the political right’s version of cancel culture, which is not to be confused with the political left’s long-established cancel culture, has come to the Massachusetts gubernatorial race, with two allegedly moderate Republicans calling for the firing of any government employee who appears to celebrate the death of Charlie Kirk, as the Herald reports in a story with a strangely off-subject headline. …

  FYI: Historian Robert Conquest’s famous second law of power — “Any organization not explicitly and constitutionally right-wing will sooner or later become left-wing” – isn’t quite applicable here. But it’s damn close when it comes to much of the right’s pathetic embrace of cancel culture.

  Update – From Caroline Mel and Jonathan Haidt at Chronicle of Higher Education: “The solution to violence isn’t less speech – it’s better dialogue.”

  Update II — From U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton: “Donald Trump and the Republican Party are hellbent on silencing any speech that hurts their feelings. This isn’t just cancel culture, it’s state censorship. And it has no place in our democracy.” … Moulton comments via Universal Hub, whose post is headlined: “Living in a country run by that little kid from the Twilight Zone.” … And UH has the old Twilight Zone video. … Bad man. … Bad man. …

  Update III — The Globe’s Carine Hajjar, a conservative,  is admirably criticizing Pam Bondi as well.
  
  

• Staying put: Auchincloss’s smart move(s)

  September 18, 2025

  It’s the smart move. U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss probably would have gotten mauled if he had challenged U.S. Sen. Ed Markey in the 2026 Dem primary election. This is Massachusetts. Progressives dominate the statewide  primary process here. Joe Kennedy III found that out the hard way in 2020. Nothing suggests that Auchincloss, a moderate liberal, would have fared any differently in 2026 – even with Markey turning a ripe 80 years old next year. It’s just the way it is in Massachusetts. And that’s why Auchincloss has decided to stay put in the U.S. House (assuming he wins reelection next year), as the Globe reports.. …

  But what I find interesting is Auchincloss saying he’d rather focus more on his involvement with Majority Democrats, a new group of what sure sounds like young centrist Democrats who don’t want to call themselves centrist Democrats.* No matter how they define themselves, or refuse to define themselves, we can be pretty sure they’re obviously not like other young Dems who have embraced a 19^th Century movement and think it’s new. … We live in very strange times. …

  Btw: The Globe’s Ideas Section this past week had an impressive package of what’s-next-for-Democrats pieces, such as these by David Sharfenberg and Robert Reich. As a centrist who’s more than a little frustrated with the far-left drift of the party, I obviously found these pieces by Yascha Mounk and Sabrina Joy Stevens most compelling. 

  * Note: What is it with Auchincloss et gang and their almost impenetrable wonky language?

  Update — Scott Van Voorhis has more on Auchincloss’s plans now that he’s ruled out a run against Markey — and they include pushing the idea for new cities. Yes, new ground-up cities. Scott explains.

• Report: Local police have assisted with ICE immigration arrests even in sanctuary cities

  September 16, 2025

  

  
  The WSJ has a package of videos and a main story outlining how ICE’s tough tactics earlier this year in Boston have served as a model for subsequent immigrant roundups in L.A., Washington D.C. and now Chicago. And the Journal provides videos showing local police helping out with last spring’s crackdown in the area. From the WSJ:

  “Despite vows by local political leaders to withhold cooperation, the Journal found multiple instances of local law enforcement assisting ICE arrests during Operation Patriot and other efforts in the region. The incidents, some of which occurred in sanctuary cities, show local police were not only present but, in some case, actively aiding the federal agents.”

  What great journalism. … Screen capture above via WSJ.

• Healey vs rising star Wu? Not going to happen, not with Healey’s ‘perfectly fine’ poll numbers etc.

  September 15, 2025

  Now that Boston’s mayoral race is effectively over, it’s time to turn our attention to 2026 – and it’s sure looking good for Gov. Maura Healey. Her latest poll numbers aren’t at Charlie Baker levels, but they’re still quite strong, as reported at CommonWealth Beacon. Or as Steve Koczela, president of the MassINC Polling group, put it, Healey has ‘perfectly fine’ numbers for an incumbent. … And, no, she doesn’t have to worry about Michelle Wu, as the Herald’s Peter Lucas argues. Warren and Markey should be a little worried about Wu lurking in the background, as Peter notes. But not Healey – unless she wins next year and then decides to run for a third term in 2030 or goes after Warren’s seat in the same year. OK, then Wu starts to factor into the equation. But I don’t see the two ever clashing one-on-one. …

  Re Wu’s future: Just like Kevin White once did, she probably has her eye on higher office. The executive-branch manager in her suggests gubernatorial ambitions. But I just don’t see her as governor. She’d discover quickly that running for mayor and governor are two different things. I see her more as a windbag senator type.

  Update — From the Herald: “Gov. Maura Healey slams Republicans running for governor in fiery convention speech.”

• Spinal Tap II: Paul McCartney’s hilarious ‘Cups and Cakes’ cameo

  September 12, 2025

  
  They’re back. And they’re as bad as ever. Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, a sequel to Rob Reiner et gang’s classic This is Spinal Tap, came out today – and it comes with a cameo by Paul McCartney, who sings Tap’s “Cups and Cakes” during a band rehearsal. … It’s so touching. … As James Parker describes the song in his review at The Atlantic: “It’s a number from Tap’s psychedelic infancy, and—in its pastiche-y, chamber-musicky way—wonderfully McCartney-appropriate: It’s like ‘Martha My Dear’ written by … Spinal Tap.” … Fun stuff. … Elton John and Garth Brooks also make cameo appearances, Parker writes. … Here’s the NYT review of Spinal Tap II and Indie Wire’s review.

  Update — 9.13.25 – The reunited band played ‘Big Bottom’ the other night on Jimmy Kimmel.

• Headline Short Takes: Cheap insulin … Finding new aquifers … Approaching recession … Rural towns vs clean-energy … Drake Maye Bust Watch

  September 12, 2025

  — What an accomplishment this would be: “Cambridge nonprofit Project Insulin aims to slash insulin costs with $20-30 vials” (BBJ)

  — We’re talking potentially massive hidden aquifers: “Scientists tap ‘secret’ fresh water under the ocean off New England, raising hopes for a thirsty world” (WBUR)

  — After last week’s disappointing jobs report, the answer is probably ‘yes’ to Larry Edelman’s timely question: “Is Massachusetts already in a recession?” (Globe)

  — The Chinese are about to clean his clock anyway: “Tesla Wants Out of the Car Business” (The Atlantic)

  — Clean-energy and bucolic settings don’t necessarily mix: “Rural communities fight state’s new energy storage siting process” (BBJ)

  — Drake Maye Bust Watch: “Patriots’ opener was supposed to supply some answers, but loss to Raiders left questions about Drake Maye” (Globe)

  — Cool story for all you military-history buffs: “Inside NATO’s Scramble to Shoot Down Russia’s All-Night Drone Raid Over Poland” (WSJ)

  — Whew. I’m still a Leo. I was worried I might be a Virgo: “Your Zodiac Sign is 2,000 years out of date” (NYT)

• Healey’s Abundance: Fighting regulations with regulations?

  September 12, 2025

  Give Gov. Maura Healey credit for proposing changes that would cut environmental review times for some housing projects from a year or more to 30 days. But she should have gone further. As B&T reports, the governor’s plan mostly applies to large apartment projects that “meet a number of criteria, like proximity to transit, location outside of floodplains and energy efficiency.” … There are a bunch of other regulatory strings attached to Healey’s proposal, as the Globe also reports. … What the state needs to do is keep rule changes simple and make them broader in scope, similar to what they’re doing in New Hampshire, where lawmakers just passed a new law that includes cutting both EPA and DOT review times for all housing projects, not just transit-oriented housing, as yours truly recently reported for the Warren Group’s Registry Review. NH is also setting up an online portal in which developers, large and small, and homeowners can track the status of their permit applications. …

  Again, give Healey credit for pursuing an Abundance agenda. But it needs to be a bolder Abundance agenda with fewer strings attached. …

• Michelle Wu: Mayor for Life?

  September 10, 2025

  OK, she still has to get reelected a few more times before she earns the ‘mayor for life’ title once owned by her City Hall mentor. But winning Tuesday’s preliminary mayoral election by 48 points? I mean, c’mon. She’s obviously doing something right. In fact, she’s doing a lot of things right in terms of providing reliable city services to appreciative constituents, something I mentioned this past summer. … Joan Vennochi is making a similar point about the “nuts and bolts” side of Wu’s progressive politics. I’d add that her blow-out margin also reflects the sentiments of Boston’s large immigrant population, most of whom  strongly support her stand against Trump’s ICE goons. … The Globe’s Shirley Leung is right to give Wu some sound don’t-get-cocky-kid advice. … Give credit to Josh Kraft for signaling, as the Globe reports, that he’s in this race to the bitter double-digit-defeat end. I guess I was wrong to previously think that he should maybe pull out of the race if he got trounced in Tuesday preliminary election. Well, he got trounced all right. But he needs to finish what he started — and hold Wu’s feet to the fire for at least a few more months.

  Another big loser in Tuesday’s preliminary election? The business community. There will be a lot less whining about Wu moving forward, guaranteed. And look for a sudden spike in their newfound appreciation as recorded here.

  Update — 9.11.25 – Maybe Kraft’s status isn’t settled after all, according to the Globe. … Perhaps it’s going to be a hybrid response, staying in the race but effectively suspending operations? The Herald’s Joe Battenfeld: Kraft needs an exit strategy. Period. … Adrian Walker is wondering why he’s still in the race.

  Update II — 9.11.25 –Scott Van Vooris disagrees with Joe and Adrian: “Calling on Kraft to drop out is effectively the same as calling for an uncontested mayoral race in one of our nation’s greatest cities.”

  Update III — 9.12.25 — It’s official. He took the suspend-campaign option. So the campaign is over. He’s out.

• Hasbro’s HQ decision: Let’s hope it turns out better than GE’s move to Boston

  September 9, 2025

  

  It feels like we’ve been here before. A nationally known corporation decides to relocate its headquarters to Boston from another New England state, picking the Seaport area as its new home and nabbing millions in economic incentives from the state etc. But it didn’t work out so well for General Electric. … Now we have Hasbro announcing its own HQ move to Boston, establishing its base in Seaport, nabbing millions in promises from the state and citing similar reasons for the move that GE touted nine years ago (tapping into the local innovative economy and talent pool),  … And, oh, both were struggling companies when they announced they were moving to Boston. In the case of Hasbro, until recently it was in the “midst of a yearslong turnaround effort that has involved cutting $600 million in costs and over two-thirds of its individual products,” as the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this year. … There are key difference between GE then and Hasbro now, I know. And I’m glad Hasbro is going to be here. But I’m not about to get overly excited about this move. As they say, fool me once, shame on … blah, blah, blah.