Statistically Significant

By Robert David Sullivan Demographics 0 Comments Feb 1, 2006

Illustrations By Travis Foster WHERE ARE WE LOSING? Massachusetts made headlines in late December as the only state in the US to lose population two years in a row, according to estimates by the Census Bureau. The 2004 decreases—2005 estimates for individual cities and towns have not been released yet—were greatest in Boston and in(...)

Health Care

Off-peak condition

By Robert David Sullivan 0 Comments Feb 1, 2006

Increases in the infectious disease rate and the percentage of people without health insurance, along with a drop in per-capita public health spending, caused Massachusetts to slip three notches, to ninth place, in the United Health Foundation’s annual ranking of health status in the 50 states, released in December. The Bay State peaked at third(...)

Economy

The Garden of Peace is no walk in the park

By James V. Horrigan Growth and Development 0 Comments Feb 1, 2006

Winter 2006 Dominic Chavez, The Boston Globe It’s unfortunate that the Garden of Peace, a little- known memorial to homicide victims, got its 15 minutes of fame for a nasty squabble between the families of those memorialized and administrators of Suffolk University. As The Boston Globe reported last fall, Suffolk plans to build a 31-floor(...)

Politics

Watertown provides a case study of citizen journalism on the web

By Dan Kennedy Media and Journalism 0 Comments Feb 1, 2006

Citizen journalist Lisa Williams wants to add to,not replace, the media mainstream. On an early-October evening at Watertown High School, Lisa Williams is in full schmooze mode. Williams, a 35-year-old mother of two, is the force behind H2otown, a weblog that combines news, photos, quirky commentary, and, above all, a running conversation about the place(...)

Uncategorized

Letters

By CommonWealth Staff 0 Comments Feb 1, 2006

Loved Mark Murphy’s article (“Rooting for the Home Team,” CW, Fall ’05) about minor-league and indy-league ballclubs in Massachusetts. I’m a fan of the North Shore Spirit, who play at Fraser Field in Lynn. I look forward to opening day every year. I pay $5 for a bleacher seat along the first base line and(...)

Economy

Growth spurts

By Robert David Sullivan Demographics, Growth and Development 0 Comments Feb 1, 2006

The 21st century has brought more choices to people looking for apartments and condos just outside Boston or spacious homes in the Berkshires, but the construction spurt hasn’t been so great in most of the bedroom communities near I-495. Overall, the number of permits for new homes in Massachusetts jumped by 25 percent between 2000(...)

Economy

“Strapped” author Tamara Draut explains why young adults arent getting ahead

By Robert Keough Cost of Living and Consumer Affairs 0 Comments Feb 1, 2006

In her new book, Strapped: Why America’s 20- and 30-Somethings Can’t Get Ahead, Tamara Draut crunches numbers and interviews young adults across the country to show how, for the generations following the Baby Boomers, the transition to full-fledged adulthood—living on your own, launching a career, starting a family—has become difficult to accomplish without going broke.(...)

Politics

Turning 10

By Ian Bowles 0 Comments Feb 1, 2006

In 1996, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at about 4,000 and just beginning its dizzying five-year runup to more than 11,000. The United States was in the midst of the longest period of sustained economic growth on record. Wealth was being created on a scale not seen in our history. In politics, Bill Weld(...)

Economy

As jobs go off the books immigrants edge out some nativeborn workers

By Paul E. Harrington and Andrew Sum Employment 0 Comments Feb 1, 2006

The economic recovery from the recession of 2001, both nationally and in Massachusetts, has been not only mixed, but also puzzling in a number of key respects. Nationally, growth has been fairly robust in Gross Domestic Product and corporate profits, and housing prices have risen rapidly in both the state and the nation through the(...)

Economy

Federal tax reform could be a mixed bag for Massachusetts

By Shawn Zeller Taxes and Budget Issues 0 Comments Feb 1, 2006

Winter 2006 When President Bush’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform issued its report in November after 10 months of study and debate, US Sen. John Kerry wasn’t impressed. A fairer, simpler tax code will never come about, Kerry said, “so long as this process is driven by politics and special interests.” That’s hard to(...)