It is a vexing conundrum: On the one hand, Massachusetts proudly highlights its place in drawing hundreds of thousands of students to the state every year to enroll in our colleges and universities. There are studies and campaigns to get many to stay after graduation to feed the economy and keep the Bay State vibrant.
But when it comes to where those students live while going to school, there’s a disconnect that inflames and strains town-gown relations. The latest dust-up is occurring in Lowell where the University of Massachusetts is buying a renovated apartment building in a former mill section along the Merrimack River to use as a dormitory for graduate students and faculty. The purchase will mean the eviction of many who were lured to the city with promises of affordable housing in a reviving Gateway City.
“To take people that we begged to come to the city and to kick them to curb, just breaks my heart,” City Councilor Rita Mercier told the Boston Globe.
Colleges and universities present a Catch-22 for the cities and towns where they are located. In addition to the constant tension over tax exemptions, the influx of off-campus students tax the housing market and can force others out of the affordable units. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh has asked the city’s schools to find a way to bring students back on campus, but that is easier said than done, given the space restrictions that Northeastern University, Emerson College, Suffolk University, and Boston University already face.
The push to build new dorms is fueling Boston’s mini-housing boom, but it will have to accelerate in order to meet Walsh’s goal of housing 53,000 students on-campus by 2030 to relieve the crunch in the city. But in order to do that, some schools are going to have to expand their footprints.
UMass Boston is planning on building housing on the site of the former Bayside Expo Center, which it now owns, as well as other Columbia Point properties. Both Northeastern and Emerson have dormitory construction underway. Private developer Cabot, Cabot, and Forbes has proposed housing for graduate students regardless of which school they attend at the former St. Gabriel’s Monastery in Brighton.
In central Massachusetts, some schools seeing a decline in local enrollment are reaching out to out-of-state students, which will require more housing, especially for state schools that once catered to commuters.
One issue with off-campus living is some of the affordable places students find in the existing stock can be safety traps, as shown by an expose the Globe did two years ago. The report revealed a lack of available and affordable options for students. But in order to create those, it entails displacing and unsettling neighborhoods.
If only we had some type of research facilities with very smart people that could come up with a solution to address these problems.
JACK SULLIVAN
BEACON HILL
More than $18 million has been cut from state funding for full-day kindergarten programs. (Gloucester Times)
The Massachusetts House prepares to take up an economic development bill that deals with fantasy sports, winery operations, and an upgrade to the Boston shipping port. (Masslive)
A college savings tax credit has a shot at winning approval on Beacon Hill. (State House News)
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
After a list of the 50 worst cities ran on USA Today’s website ranking Fall River the “fifth-worst city” to live in the country (though, to be fair, sun-splashed Miami was ranked the worst, so how credible is it?), Mayor Jasiel Correia has launched an effort to hire a marketing director to get the word out about the Spindle City’s positives. (Herald News)
Boston Grand Prix declares bankruptcy, which probably means buyers who shelled out a collective $1.67 million for tickets that have not been refunded are out of luck. (Boston Globe)
Tests conducted at Methuen City Hall find possible causes of the headaches that workers complained of. Mayor Stephen Zanni promises to correct the problems. (Eagle-Tribune)
Beginning Thursday, all calls made to and from Brockton City Hall will be recorded. Officials are dismissing any privacy concerns, saying the new system protects the city and residents. (The Enterprise)
Plymouth police are warning people to be aware of live fireworks shells that may wash up on shore as a result of the barge fire in the harbor during the July 4th display. (Patriot Ledger)
A dilapidated property purchased last year by Lawrence City Councilor Estella Reyes and some of her family members is the focus of safety concerns. Some are also questioning what should be done with a house on the property that used to belong to Robert Frost. (Eagle-Tribune)
A Superior Court lambasted Wayland selectmen for ignoring the state’s Open Meeting Law and warned them to either stop the practice or face judicial sanctions. (MetroWest Daily News)
ELECTIONS
Hillary Clinton may avoid any criminal prosecution but yesterday’s withering takedown of her email practices by FBI director James Comey is likely to reverberate through the November election and, if she wins, well into her presidency, reports the Washington Post. Hillary Clinton doesn’t look so great in the FBI assessment of her email controversy, but she committed no horrific crimes and it’s time to move on, says Scot Lehigh. (Boston Globe)
The chairwoman of the Massachusetts Republican Party repudiated Ted Busiek, a Republican candidate for Senate, for using the word “faggots” in a tweet praising Donald Trump. (State House News)
Trump met with US Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa amid speculation he’s vetting his one-time critic as a potential vice presidential candidate. (U.S. News & World Report)
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
In today’s Boston-area real estate scam roundup, more questions emerge about the sketchy Pam family of Roxbury, this time centered on mysterious fire at a house they owned in Dudley Square. Meanwhile, attorneys notch a victory against real estate operator Brian Burke who allegedly swindled a former homeless man out of his longtime family home in Brighton. (Boston Globe)
A third of nonprofit leaders say new federal overtime regulations will necessitate staffing cuts, according to a new survey. (Chronicle of Philanthropy)
EDUCATION
The Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is booming thanks to a very successful fundraising effort. (Boston Globe)
The Pioneer Institute’s Greg Sullivan and Jim Stergios say the strategies UMass is using to improve its academic standing are threatening the system’s financial health. (Telegram & Gazette)
Chris Smith of Boston After School & Beyond says summer learning is critical. (CommonWealth)
HEALTH/HEALTH CARE
Gloucester seeks state approval for a needle exchange program. (Masslive)
Sturbridge selectmen, flip-flopping yet again, are now reconsidering their earlier decision to effectively oppose a medical marijuana facility. (Telegram & Gazette)
TRANSPORTATION
A consultant’s report says cash handling is badly mishandled at the MBTA. (State House News)
Officials from the MBTA and Gloucester are in a dispute over herbicide spraying along tracks near a reservoir. (Gloucester Times)
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
A federal appeals court says two Cape Wind approvals were flawed and need to be reexamined, but the judges leave the project’s lease and other regulatory approvals intact. (CommonWealth)
A rare sighting of a killer whale occurred off Chatham, which is sort of good news because they scare away great white sharks but the downside is, you know, killer whales. (Cape Cod Times)
Climate change and beach erosion are forcing Cape Cod National Seashore officials to relocate and rebuild parking lots and facilities back further from the encroaching tides. (New York Times)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS
US Attorney Carmen Ortiz comes under fire for her prosecutorial approach. (Huffington Post)
An Uber driver from Lawrence is arrested and charged with assault and battery against a female passenger. (Eagle-Tribune)
Three teenagers were shot and wounded outside a Roxbury apartment building on Monday night. (Boston Herald)
MEDIA
The Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism is using Medium to get its product out. (Nieman Journalism Lab)
Martin Langeveld is named acting publisher of New England Newspapers Inc., which publishes the Berkshire Eagle. He replaces Edward Woods. (Berkshire Eagle)
A Georgia newspaper publisher is jailed for making a public records request. (Eagle-Tribune)
PASSINGS
Robert Fraser, a highly-regarded Boston attorney and civic leader who served for many years on the MassINC board, died at age 87.
I’d like to know why more than $18 million in state funding was cut from programs expanding full-day kindergarten in public schools and what school districts across the state lost access to those funds along with the amount of funding lost. What’s interesting about charter schools and their wait lists is those with pre-schools and kindergartens have waitlists with significant numbers of names for pre-school and kindergarten. For example, Codman Academy Public Charter School has 880 names on its waitlist with more than 45% of those would be students waiting strictly for pre-kindergarten and kindergarten seats. Lowell Community Charter Public School has 47% of the names on its waitlist looking for pre-kindergarten and kindergarten seats. So, why would the state cut funding to expand kindergarten when there’s such a huge public demand for it? And why limit the cuts to public schools? If public schools can’t have kindergarten then why should charter schools have kindergarten and use their waitlists for more charter schools? Is there a strategy behind undermining public schools ability to provide kindergarten simply to benefit charter schools?