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Carrots for homes

The Greater Boston Housing Report Card released last week concludes that 40R and 40S “have established an impressive track record in a very short period of time.” Given the numerous reasons that communities cite for opposing development, it is great that the state has provided a reason in the form of the 40R/40S financial incentive to allow dense housing development in town centers, along transit lines, and in other areas that make sense. Whether the approach is really working is critical information for policymakers. Despite the slowdown in the market, greater Boston remains one of the most expensive areas in the country to buy a house, and our current pattern of large lot McMansionization is consuming too much land to […]

Very Off-Topic Post on Baseball Playoffs

1) I never thought I would be pining for Jack Buck and Tim McCarver, but can we ban TBS from ever having anything to do with the major league playoffs again? And take your 9 foot lead line with you. 2) I am fully prepared to spend the rest of my life never seeing or hearing about Cal Ripken again. This means you, Chevrolet and TBS. Oh, and let me throw in Brett Favre as well. This means you, Chris Berman, Wrangler, and Peter King. 3) Is it wrong to be reveling in the joint NY agony of Mets and Yankees fans? 4) Plus the apocalyptic nature of the Yankees meltdown in the nasty, bug-infested Cleveland night, with wonderchild Joba […]

Always the last one picked

I think I’m the only person that the Patrick Administration has not picked to be on an education advisory committee. I was fine when I was overlooked for the pre-K – 12 and Higher Education transition teams, consisting of 11 and 12 members respectively. Then, they went ahead without me for the K – 12 and Higher Education Task Forces, consisting of 47 total members. Next, I was snubbed for the Readiness Project Leadership Council, made up of 21 members. And now the final straw, no room for me among the 150+ members of the Readiness Project subcommittees. I’m kidding here obviously, but my broader point is this — how many committee meetings and members do you need to determine […]

Greek futurists, indeed.

November 13, 2007, at the Boston Harbor Hotel, Dr. Peter Diamandis will excite the imagination when he delivers this year’s Lovett C. Peters Lecture in Public Policy. Space travel, cars that get 100 miles to the gallon of gas, returning to the moon. These are ideas that can bring out the daydreamer in anyone. The thing is, Dr. Diamandis is helping make them reality. Watch and hear what he has to say, then decide for yourself whether it is worth a contribution to Pioneer to be there November 13, 2007. Who knows what previously-thought-to-be-impossible endeavor he may come up with?

Not rocket science – competition works

The Sunday Globe ran a great story on the dawn of a new industry – the space rocket business. No, it is not some George Jetson (“with Jane, his wife”) cartoon. Burt Rutan, Jeff Greason, and Dave Masten are all hanging out in the Mojave desert designing, engineering and building rockets. As the Globe noted, Fifty years after the Soviets launched the satellite Sputnik into space, Mojave has found itself at the center of a private space race that boosters say is as important – and risky – as the nationalistic race between the Soviets and the United States.This time, a group of ambitious entrepreneurs is leading the competition to launch regular Janes and Joes into space. So why the […]