"Boston 4th for income gap between rich and poor" by Deirdre Fernandes | Globe Staff February 21, 2014
Boston’s dynamic, hard-charging economy comes at a price: greater income inequality.
Boston has the fourth-largest gap between rich and poor among the nation’s 50 largest cities, according to a study released on Thursday by the Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit. Only Atlanta, San Francisco, and Miami had wider income divides between the top 5 percent of earners and the bottom 20 percent.
And you wonder why I am pe$$imistic?
Boston’s innovation economy has contributed to the divide, analysts said. Technology, life sciences, and financial services helped the city weather the recent financial crisis and kept unemployment from skyrocketing during the last recession.
Honestly, it's for whom the Globe is written.
Those industries prize a highly educated and skilled workforce and reward those workers with high salaries and opportunities to climb the income ladder, said Robert Nakosteen, an economics professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. But workers without college degrees don’t fare as well.
In addition, some of those workers were trained in jobs, such as traditional manufacturing, that are no longer in demand. As a result, they are relegated to low-paying service jobs, where income has stagnated....
If there is any at all.
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Also see: Child poverty increased in Mass., report shows
Walsh will fix:
"Walsh makes push to get struggling teens summer jobs" by Megan Woolhouse | Globe Staff March 24, 2014
Mayor Martin J. Walsh’s efforts come as economists describe the nation’s teen job crisis as a problem of Great Depression proportions....
History will record this time as the Grand Depression and tie it to the implosion of the AmeriKan Empire.
A big part of the problem for young people, economists say, is a still-weak job market is forcing many older workers to take lower-paying jobs once done by teens.
Been hearing that for far too long with the wealthy keep getting phatter and phatter!
A recent study by the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank, found that teens are squeezed out of the job market in record numbers....
Even in Boston, which has one of the nation’s most active and best-funded youth employment programs, only 1 in 3 teens had jobs, according to the study.
Walsh and youth advocates say local businesses have to do more....
“The private sector really needs to step up,” said Dan Gelbtuch, a community organizer for the Youth Jobs Coalition, an advocacy group.
They have: Human services jobs on fast rise
Economists say that summer and part-time jobs play an important role for teens and the broader labor market because they can provide the experiences, skills, and sense of responsibility that help teens succeed over the course of their working lives.
Ah, American myths.
The Brookings study found that persistent lack of a paying job can lead to prolonged joblessness....
Hi.
David Campbell, 17, of Hyde Park, said he has been looking for a summer or after-school job for more than a year. He said he has applied for scores of jobs at grocery stores, restaurants, and retail stores, but has yet to be contacted for an interview. “Heard back from zero,” the high school football player said....
That is because you are a lazy kid.
Employers who participate in the city’s summer jobs program, such as John Hancock Financial, State Street Bank, and Fidelity Investments, say the effort helps them give back to the community....
Loot they stole being kicked back as charity! What $pin!
Related:
New grads drawn to new businesses
Olin program combines engineering, humanity
Harvard Business School program helps build nonprofit management skills
State Street launches UMass career program
MassChallenge entrepreneurs brace to compete
Speaking of the challenge of boot camps....
"Enter specialized boot camps where — for fees that sometimes exceed $1,000 a day — would-be masters of the universe can perfect Excel modeling techniques and financial analysis. Each year, tens of thousands of students at the nation’s top business schools, and scores of new hires at financial firms, including Goldman Sachs and the Blackstone Group, now take courses run by companies like Training the Street and Wall Street Prep. Matan Feldman, who founded Wall Street Prep in 2003 after working as an analyst and associate at JPMorgan Chase. Because of the camps, “you don’t have as many clueless liberal arts majors anymore,” Feldman said."
No, they get jobs as reporters for the propaganda pre$$.
Even the bastion of leftist liberalism has been $ucked into the $y$tem.
Also see:
Teens rally in financial district for more jobs
Teen activists rally for summer jobs
Teens rally for jobs at State House
Why would they need to keep doing that?
“We always try to help, as a corporate citizen,” said Tom Crohan, an assistant vice president at John Hancock....
Walsh’s office did not disclose how many commitments it has collected from employers willing to provide summer jobs. But the mayor said he raises the subject in every meeting and speech with business leaders.
Menino typically ended his annual speech at the Boston Municipal Research Bureau to business leaders with a plea to hire the city’s youth in the summer....
I miss him already.
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The alleged reason the kids have no jobs:
"Mass. schools require dramatic change, report says" by James Vaznis | Globe Staff March 24, 2014
More than two thirds of the state’s employers report difficulty hiring employees with the appropriate skills, underscoring the need for major changes in how Massachusetts educates its children, according to a report and survey set for release Monday by the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education.
If kids are smart they have come to realize this is an excuse not to hire them.
And even if it is all solid and true, it speaks to the utter failure of the indoctrination and inculcation $y$tem called AmeriKan ejewkhazion.
Bolstering the state’s public school systems is viewed as a critical step in producing more workers with the right skills to succeed in a more technologically driven economy, according to “The New Opportunity to Lead: A Vision for Education in Massachusetts in the Next 20 Years.”
See: H1-B Hijacking
They just took off again!
Monday’s release of the report will mark the beginning of a campaign to persuade state leaders to embrace the advocacy group’s proposals, from more charter schools to fundamental changes in teachers contracts....
And that gets me out of the agenda-pu$hing education bu$ine$$.
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Can't go home, either:
"Boom in Boston luxury apartments tests market; Some say boom may lead to glut" by Casey Ross | Globe Staff March 25, 2014
A two-year boom in residential real estate construction — focused almost exclusively on luxury homes for wealthy renters — is about to test the limits of Boston’s demand for ultra- high-priced apartment living.
More than 8,000 units are expected to be built in the city during the next three years. The unprecedented burst of construction will double the supply of units built in large, luxury complexes since 1960, according to the real estate firm JLL.
The new buildings feature everything from yoga lounges to swank roof decks, and their apartments come at a hefty price. At Avalon Exeter, a tower rising in the Back Bay, one-bedroom units with 800 square feet start at $4,000 a month. At the recently completed 315 on A Street in South Boston, slightly smaller apartments are available for $3,700. Live there with your pet and the rent can go up another $100 per month.
“The big question everyone has is, is the [luxury] market deep enough?” said David Begelfer, chief executive of NAIOP Massachusetts, a commercial real estate association. “We know there is tremendous demand at various income levels, but all the production is aimed at the higher end of the market.”
That means the rest of us being left in the shit house!
The sudden construction boom is driven by several factors. Boston’s population increased....
An existing imbalance between supply and demand grew wider and caused average rents to jump about 20 percent, according to JLL. That made new towers even more attractive to investors. In downtown alone, a dozen large apartment buildings are under construction.
Apartments were also a popular development choice because lenders considered them less risky following the nation’s housing collapse. Now, as the market recovers, condominium buildings are also being built, adding to the development pipeline.
“This type of residential construction hasn’t been seen in Boston since the 1800s, when the Back Bay, Beacon Hill, and the South End were built,” said John B. Hynes III, chief executive of the development firm Boston Global Investors. “We don’t have that same kind of population explosion today, but we do have growth.”
Given Boston’s limited supply of modern rentals — nearly half the city’s apartments pre-date World War II — Begelfer and most other real estate specialists believe the apartments under construction will be filled before long.
Still, even aggressive investors, such as the development firm Gerding Edlen, are recalibrating their approach as the first wave of units begins to reach the market....
Despite high demand for moderately priced homes in Boston, it is hard to build them due to high land prices and ever-rising construction costs. Builders also must charge rents that will achieve profits promised to investors.
A few developers have been able to produce lower-cost housing by developing projects in neighborhoods outside downtown....
The competition for luxury renters will probably become even tougher over the next few years....
"Developers urge Mayor Walsh to clarify BRA process; Say clarity lacking on decision process" by Casey Ross and Shirley Leung | Globe Staff April 01, 2014
It surprises me when eliti$m is found in women.
Boston’s new mayor, Martin J. Walsh, has repeatedly promised that the city’s building boom would continue under his administration, even as he vowed a top-to-bottom overhaul of its chief planning agency.
But three months into his term, the pipeline of major new proposals has slowed to a trickle. Some of the lawyers, developers, and neighborhood activists who drive development in Boston say they are unsure who in Walsh’s administration is responsible for making key decisions on real estate projects.
There is still no permanent director at the Boston Redevelopment Authority. John Barros is the city’s new economic czar, but neither he nor the mayor has become immersed in the details of development. Meanwhile, the mayor has named an acting director of the BRA, launched an audit of its operations, and terminated most of the employees in one of its divisions, prompting some to worry the agency is adrift....
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Also see: How tall will a new BRA go?
Related:
"Dudley Square’s comeback tied to historic structure; Overhaul of Ferdinand Building spurs business, development plans" by Casey Ross | Globe Staff March 31, 2014
Dudley Square has fallen a long way since the days of Frank Ferdinand, the 19th-century entrepreneur who opened a popular furniture store that once made Roxbury a retail destination. It has battled back in recent years, but still suffers from scattered graffiti and boarded-up storefronts, and razor wire around some property tells of crime that still lingers.
A $120 million effort to rehabilitate Ferdinand’s namesake commercial building in the heart of Dudley has brought the first real signs of a renewal. Starbucks wants to open in the building. So do the owners of Tasty Burger, Parish Cafe, and Salvatore’s restaurant.
Businesses and developers are proposing new offices, hotels, restaurants, and retail boutiques. A supermarket is also being planned, along with hundreds of residences.
“Everything is changing in Dudley, and in a good way,” said Humayun Morshed, a young businessman who owns several convenience stores. He is proposing to open an ice cream shop in Dudley Square named after Ferdinand himself.
The Ferdinand Building, a prominent Baroque and Renaissance Revival structure built in the 1880s, is propelling a revival that has been inching along for years. When the restoration is completed next year, the building will become the new home of the Boston Public Schools administration, and six new retail spaces will open on its ground floor....
--more--"
NEXT DAY UPDATE: ‘Chain’ isn’t always a dirty word
Sad to say it, but smacks of eliti$m.
I would not want to bet on Walsh:
Revere casino project faces new hurdle
Revere casino backers, foes clash at public meeting
Mohegan Tribe backs more aid for Connecticut host town
N.H. chamber poll: Support for casino, Northern Pass
Walsh questions power of gambling panel in dispute
Is Marty Walsh playing to win or bluffing?
NEXT DAY UPDATE: Decision on Boston area casino license could be delayed
Gonna be a gamble to get to work:
"Government Center closing for 2 years for upgrades" by Martine Powers | Globe Staff March 22, 2014
It’s a two-year construction project that will take place on and under City Hall Plaza, shuttering an integral junction in the city’s transit system and creating delays for tens of thousands of commuters who travel daily through the heart of the city.
And, without a hint of irony, T officials promise: It will be worth it.
Government Center T station will close Saturday until spring 2016 for an $82 million overhaul.
The project will be capped by innovative landscaping and a gleaming, four-story glass headhouse designed to reshape the look and feel of dreary, windswept City Hall Plaza. But most of the construction — and the reason the project is scheduled to take more than two years to complete — will occur underground and behind the scenes.
“The below-grade elements are the bulk of the work,” said Dan Beaulieu, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority project manager. “The headhouse is almost the bride and groom on the wedding cake.”
The prime purpose of the project is simple: elevators. Government Center, the ninth-busiest station in the system, is the T’s biggest transit hub with no way for people who use wheelchairs to enter or exit. So two sets of elevators will be installed inside the station.
Parts of the station date to 1898, and it has not seen a major renovation since the 1960s. MBTA general manager Beverly A. Scott said the station is ripe for rejuvenation....
I agree, government center is ripe! Overripe, one might say fermented even.
Why, though, would the installation of two sets of new elevators necessitate a two-year project?
I don't know, but I'm sure the Globe will answer the question.
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Related: An ode to the Government Center MBTA stop
No trouble getting home:
"MBTA’s late-night train service gets off to strong start" by Martine Powers | Globe Staff April 01, 2014
More than 18,000 people rode the MBTA system during the first weekend of late-night service, the T announced Tuesday — more than four times the average number of weekend riders who frequented the agency’s now-defunct Night Owl bus service in its first year.
But even as Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority officials and transit advocates celebrated a successful debut weekend, the question remains: Will that be enough to keep the service alive beyond the end of the one-year pilot?
************
The one-year pilot to extend weekend hours on the subway lines and the 15 most popular bus routes was announced last December, and is estimated to cost $16 million to $17 million — a small portion of that coming from private sponsors, including the Red Sox, Dunkin’ Donuts, Suffolk Construction, and the Boston Globe.
Was $20, and you can $ee why the Globe is promoting it.
It’s a costly venture for the cash-strapped T, and transportation officials have warned that riders who want the service to remain alive must prove that there’s a steady demand; the Night Owl, for example, debuted to widespread enthusiasm in 2001 but saw ridership dwindle over the course of four years.
So officials are well aware that an impressive debut weekend does not guarantee the service’s success over the course of the next 51 weekends....
It's like any novelty.
MBTA general manager Beverly A. Scott said factors other than ridership will also be considered when assessing the results of the late-night experiment.
Yeah, it is going to be whatever business elites want, and we will all be paying for it.
Many of those factors, Scott said, will be anecdotal: The T will be monitoring whether the extended hours increase sales at local businesses, encourage restaurants close to T stations to stay open later, and make Boston’s convention centers more competitive in bringing high-profile events to the city....
Related: Conventioneers Caught in Boston Globe Briar Patch
They may have even targeted more.
Scott said she was optimistic the eagerness would remain high, but Stephanie Pollack, associate director of the Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University, was more skeptical, and raised the possibility that ridership might wane once the novelty wears off.
“You can’t draw too many conclusions from one weekend,” Pollack said.
Well, that depends is you are a shit-shoveling state thrower or....
“It was all over Twitter, all over social media . . . ‘Use it or lose it,’ that message clearly got out,” Pollack continued. “You can clearly hold that up for a week, or maybe even a month — but the question is, can you hold that up for a year?”
But T officials are hoping....
Sigh!
Scott camped out at Park Street Station on Friday night watching the crowds flowing in and out of the station. The traffic, she said, “had a nice clip to it.”
“It was just like people were going to ride a new line on the train,” Scott said. “They very specifically had come out just because they had been waiting for it to happen.”
*****************
Among the throngs who took advantage of later trains this weekend was Yilu Zhang, 24, of Cambridge. She and a group of friends planned their Friday night with one goal: Venture out to a part of town where they would not normally stay late at night, simply to celebrate their new options.
“I left a friend’s birthday party early just so I could take advantage of the T late at night,” said Zhang, who works as a paralegal. She and her friends took a Red Line train from Central to Park Street, then switched to the Green Line to a bar in Allston....
(Blog editor snorts)
Zhang acknowledged that Cambridge residents — and other city dwellers — can be insular in their nightlife choices, choosing spots within walking distance or a cheap taxi ride. A late-night trip to Allston, Zhang said, was a rare experience — and something she anticipates doing more often, now that she can take the T.
Is that a firm commitment!?
“I would definitely explore a wider geographic radius,” Zhang said.
Meet you at the bar!
--more--"
Also see:
Man charged with making, distributing fake T passes
MBTA strikes down appeal over commuter rail contract
Railway union is wary of transition
Besieged rail firm planning another MBTA bid
Just in time for breakfast!
Judge hears case of rail operator’s bid to keep T pact
Might have to check the ID of the passengers.
Maybe he would be better off taking the bike home, even if it costs $5 and peddling!
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"A bicyclist was killed on Thursday at a busy intersection in Charlestown when he was struck by a truck that left the scene in what is believed to be the first such fatality of the year in the city. A bloodied sheet covered the man’s body for much of the afternoon while police combed the area for evidence....
Cameras anywhere nearby? Maybe get a license plate number?
Chris Kilpatrick, 36, of Malden, said he was walking down Cambridge Street when he came upon the scene, which was sealed off with police tape. “That was my first thought, that it was a bike,” he said, adding that vehicles hitting cyclists is “a big problem.” Kilpatrick said he was struck by a vehicle while riding his bicycle in a crosswalk in December and fractured his elbow. He has not ridden since. “Seeing things like this, I’m glad I don’t ride my bike anymore,” Kilpatrick said....
Kilpatrick said he was thinking of the victim’s family. “They could be waiting for him to come home right now,” he said, “and have no idea their world is about to turn upside down.”"
A saddening thought.
Those whose worlds went up in flames (frown):
In giving, Walsh followed father’s footsteps on job
Boston Fire Lt. Edward Walsh mourned at wake
Kennedy found a brotherhood among firefighters
Firefighter Michael Kennedy remembered at wake
Thousands of firefighters say goodbye to Lt. Edward Walsh
In South Boston school, an outpouring for fallen firefighters
Firefighters, residents line streets of Watertown
Eerie, what with the Marathon coming up.
"Massachusetts lawmakers, moved by the deaths of the two Boston firefighters, are rushing this week to increase the state’s death benefit for the families of public safety personnel killed in the line of duty. The bill is the first of what could be a series of legislative responses to the fatal Back Bay fire."
Not that I oppose such a thing, but this is the same state legislature that is reopening labor contracts and taking benefits away in the name of budget problems?
At Forest Hills, a sacred task to tend Fireman’s Lot
I'm not going to be digging it up, and I thinking rapping about the latest crisis would be a mistake right now.
NEXT DAY UPDATES:
Thousands honor fallen firefighter at West Roxbury church
Firefighters from across US gather to pay respects
A thorough investigation is crucial to firefighters’ safety
Yes, after the eulogies and funerals Walsh will have to respond to the reports.
Mass. targets smoking in public housing
Newburyport raises tobacco-buying age to 19
Kids are not on tobacco anymore:
"Poison centers get rise in e-cigarette calls" by Brady Dennis | Washington Post April 04, 2014
WASHINGTON — Calls to poison centers across the country involving e-cigarettes have surged in recent years as the products gain in popularity, according to figures released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention....
Public health officials say the rise is particularly troubling because more than half of the calls involve children younger than 6, who can suffer serious health consequences from liquid nicotine in e-cigarettes....
For years, the debate about e-cigarettes has centered on whether they provide a safer alternative to traditional cigarettes and an effective way for some smokers to wean themselves off tar-laden tobacco while still getting a nicotine fix.
That fight overlooks what health professionals say is an obvious danger made clear by Thursday’s CDC numbers: Liquid nicotine, which is heated to create e-cigarette vapors, is a highly toxic substance that is readily available on store shelves in flavors as varied as bubble gum and cherry.
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Oddly, prescription pharmaceuticals that lead to heroin addiction is a much more $evere problem, but I think you can $ee why that is adre$$ed in a reactive rather than proactive fa$hion by this government.
They don't know where it comes from, they don't know where the money goes.... all while we are under the benevolent electric eye of the NSA.
