I write a weekly (mostly) real estate-centric column for the Globe op-ed page. It runs every Tuesday, until you hear differently.
Baseball’s a Bad Call at Malden Site: Downtown is for people, and until the city puts people downtown, all the baseball stadiums in the world won’t help it. That’s why Malden’s plan to devote 8 acres on the Orange Line to independent minor league baseball misses the mark. January 17, 2012
Use Casino Leverage to Fix Filene’s: Hizzoner has no credibility when he threatens to derail an East Boston casino as retribution for the Filene’s pit. Which is not to say he isn’t on to something. January 10, 2012
Who Maintains Foreclosures? Despite owning the homes, Fannie and Freddie are going to court to say, “Not me!” January 3, 2012
Barracks Ready-Made for Housing: By all reasonable measures, the old Army barracks at Devens should be the perfect place to build housing. This being Massachusetts, reasonable measures don’t apply. December 27, 2011
If Occupy Wants to Play, it Has to Get in the Game: It’s impossible to speculate about the movement’s effectiveness, post-tent cities, because the movement itself still doesn’t know whether it’s pushing progressive change, or revolution. December 20, 2011
Tribal Casino? Not So Fast: A lawsuit over a Washington state casino shows that the state may have years of litigation in its future. December 13, 2011
Banks Won’t Get Off that Easy in Mass.: The state is suing big banks because they want as much immunity from botched foreclosures as they can wrangle. December 6, 2011
A Frugal Answer to Zoning Pitfalls, Needlessly Slashed: Sprawl isn’t so much a choice as it is a product of bureaucratic inertia. Slashing Sustainable Communities funding keeps it that way. November 29, 2011
New Units Don’t Bring Rent Relief: Decades of blocking new housing construction comes home to roost. November 22, 2011
The Still-Leaderless Revolution: Occupy Wall Street’s inability to articulate an end game means the protest’s means have subsumed its message. November 15, 2011
For Have-Nots, Housing Crash is the Cruelest Blow: Rock-bottom housing prices are exacerbating inequality and fueling political unrest. November 8, 2011
The Final Death of Columbus Center: Developer’s guilty plea puts an end to an ambitious development that spiraled into a Greek tragedy. November 1, 2011
Banks’ Sloppiness Made Foreclosures Stolen Property: Banks are selling Massachusetts foreclosures that they don’t legally own, and it’s their own fault. October 25, 2011
Happy Hours and Casinos: When the Senate opened the door to re-legalizing happy hours, it unwittingly exposed the pitfalls that casinos bring with them. October 18, 2011
The Navy’s Mess in Weymouth: It’s trying to avoid cleaning up after itself. October 11, 2011
Feds to Big Banks – Pay Up: Introducing the single-worst deal of the housing bust. October 4, 2011
Using the Courts to Stall Development: In Massachusetts, the protracted battle that comes before getting development permits is the easy part. September 27, 2011
The Case of the Fugitive Banker: The Boston courtroom fight over an Irish banker’s estate showcases the absence of real accountability for the financial meltdown, on both sides of the Atlantic. September 20, 2011
The State’s Liquor Laws are Broken: Now we’re getting called out by the feds. September 16, 2011
Mitt Romney, the Rewrite Man: He’s running to be the GOP’s adult candidate, but can’t resist concocting a world in which government is the problem for everything, including the financial meltdown. September 9, 2011
Casino Debate Gives Crook the Moral High Ground: When a convicted felon manages to pull off that move, you know you’re in trouble. September 2, 2011
A Ticking Clock for Cities: Federal transportation policy mistakes last a long, long time. August 26, 2011
A Weak Economy Trampled by Battling Giants: Nearly three years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the financial meltdown enters a new, destabilizing phase. August 19, 2011
A Bitter Brew in Massachusetts: The Massachusetts brewing industry isn’t just stacked heavily in the favor of monied interests; it’s also overseen by regulators who don’t know the basic workings of the industry they govern. August 14, 2011
For the MBTA, “Nuance” Means “Broke”: There’s only one reason the long-delayed Green Line extension to Somerville is being put on hold again — the T’s disastrous budget is keeping it from tapping federal funds. August 5, 2011
The Bottle Law is About the Money: Slapping deposits on water bottles isn’t the most effective environmental policy, but it is the most effective environmental policy that keeps lawmakers in the money. July 29, 2011
On Filene’s, Put Up or Shut Up: Hot rhetoric doesn’t get anything built. July 22, 2011
Headaches Brew for Developer: Not in Southie’s back yard. July 15, 2011
The Tech Cluster Glut: Success in South Boston means the death of City Hall’s last big techy hope, Crosstown. July 9, 2011
A Hope of Renewal for Somerville: The de-elevation of the McGrath Highway is the region’s most exciting anti-urban renewal project. July 1, 2011
As Harvard Dawdles, Allston Waits: The city’s biggest white elephant finds new life – as trade bait in Harvard’s land bank. June 27, 2011
tk June 20, 2011
Big Site Needs a Big Plan: The plan to redevelop Boston Herald HQ works with the blocks and foundations now in place. That’s mistake number one. June 17, 2011
Paying for the Parks on the Greenway: Because the city and the state won’t pay to fully fund the downtown parks, property owners are being asked to pay twice. June 10, 2011
Business as Usual? Ex-House Speaker Sal DiMasi is fighting federal corruption charges by saying his kickbacks-for-software scheme was business as usual. In fact, the trial spectacle is helping to bury the State House’s cigar-chomping, back-slapping culture. June 3, 2011
A New Face for Kendall Square: MIT’s plan to remake its Cambridge campus is a generational opportunity that needs to be done right. May 27, 2011
The Return of Freddie and Fannie? Congress pushes a play to replace Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with a bunch of new Fannies and Freddies. May 20, 2011
Slipping and Stalling with Housing: After pumping trillions of dollars into the housing market, we’re back at the bottom, with far fewer tools left for the next rescue. May 13, 2011
The Hole in the Heart of the City: The developer who’s sitting on the Filene’s pit has cashed out $90 million in stock since demolishing the Downtown Crossing building — enough cash to actually meet the ludicrous sales price his company has put on the site. Steve Roth would never touch Filene’s at those prices, though. He knows a raw deal when he sees one. May 6, 2011
more clips to come!
[Newspaper Row LIFE image via Google]