James Aloisi

Guest Contributor

Stories by James Aloisi

My flag won’t be flying this July 4th

Politics/ Opinion

My flag won’t be flying this July 4th

Our nation faces the most existential crisis since the Civil War

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THERE’S NO FLAG flying above the front porch of our place in Maine this year.  That flag was a personal expression of belief in the fundamental integrity and stolidity of this great 241-year-old experiment in self-governance. It was an expression of hope in the fundamental goodness and right-headedness of our people, who may have different ideological perspectives but(...)

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Greenway is no secondhand coat

Politics/ The Back Story

Greenway is no secondhand coat

‘We ought to be so much better than this’

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RECENT NEWS THAT state and city officials are attempting to devise new funding mechanisms for the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy prompts a reflection on how the Conservancy came into being, and what the expectations were about how this urban gem would be funded and sustained over time. Let’s take a short trip down memory(...)

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We must learn from Seaport District failures

Tracking Transportation/ Economy/ Transportation/ Opinion

We must learn from Seaport District failures

The next tests come at Allston Landing, Suffolk Downs

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THEY WERE GATHERED in the spectacular replica of the US Senate chamber at the Edward Kennedy Institute, a panel of local thought leaders discussing how Boston’s past might inform Boston’s future.  The discussion, organized under the auspices of Imagine Boston 2030, drew a large crowd because among its panel members were legends of the city’s(...)

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Lessons from the collapse of Bridj

Tracking Transportation/ Transportation/ Opinion

Lessons from the collapse of Bridj

Quality counts, but transportation also requires subsidies

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THE STARTUP MOBILITY COMPANY that tested the potential for innovation in the transportation sector announced on Sunday that it was shutting down effective immediately.  Bridj might have changed the face of mobility in Greater Boston with the power of its algorithms and its plush 14-seat vans, but there was a vast gulf between the promise(...)

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When does reform end and revenue begin at the T?

Tracking Transportation/ Transportation/ Opinion

When does reform end and revenue begin at the T?

At Pioneer, it’s always more reform – never revenue

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SO THERE I WAS, enjoying a brisk late April morning and about to dig into the newspapers (and breakfast), when my iPhone beeped and up came CommonWealth’s Sunday Upload. My pavlovian response was to stop everything I was doing and read what was on offer on the Upload. Turns out it was the folks at(...)

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Have you gone on a pilgrimage?

Opinion

Have you gone on a pilgrimage?

Everyone should set personal goals and try to reach them

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Photographs from Jarrett Barrios’s Facebook page. HE’S IN A SELF-IMPOSED NEWS BLACKOUT so he won’t be reading this. At least not for a while. My friend Jarrett Barrios — a former Massachusetts state representative and senator, now CEO of the Los Angeles Region Red Cross — is walking the famous Camino de Santiago in northern(...)

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New Seaport garage makes sense

Tracking Transportation/ Transportation/ Opinion

New Seaport garage makes sense

300 net new spaces in 1,500-space garage

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THE NEWS THAT MASSPORT is moving forward with a planned 1,550-space parking garage in the Seaport District, and that the city wants to add another 550 spaces to its garage in the nearby Marine Industrial Park, unleashed some negativity on social media and elsewhere.  The negative reaction was no surprise to those of us who(...)

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Attack on DiMasi was irresponsible

Politics/ Opinion

Attack on DiMasi was irresponsible

Former speaker did not block progressive values

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THERE ARE SOME THINGS I KNOW with certainty.  One of them is that former House speaker Sal DiMasi was a consistent and principled progressive.  Whether he was fighting for health care reform enabling all citizens to have access to health care, or fighting for marriage equality, or fighting against global warming by passing the Global(...)

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New T board needs to include municipalities

Tracking Transportation/ Transportation/ Opinion

New T board needs to include municipalities

Cities, via nonresidential parking taxes, must have skin in the game

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Second of two parts, first part is here. IN THE FIRST ARTICLE in this series, I wrote about the importance of addressing MBTA governance. A 2015 report from two highly respected transportation think tanks identified a number of reasons why the MBTA’s long-standing governance structure may not be optimal.  A governance structure that arises from(...)

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MBTA governance needs radical makeover

Tracking Transportation/ Transportation/ Opinion

MBTA governance needs radical makeover

Municipalities need to play a much bigger role

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First in a two-part series; second part is here. THE MBTA’S FISCAL AND MANAGEMENT CONTROL BOARD is properly in the process of developing a strategic plan that will help guide the agency into the future. One element of that plan focuses on the governance of the transit agency, a long overdue and important discussion to(...)

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