AS WE CELEBRATE the 33rd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), all of us have a stake in providing full accessibility. One in five people will experience a temporary or permanent disability. Almost everyone has a family member, friend, or colleague for whom accessibility is critical to full participation in the economy and […]
Jake Auchincloss
Posted inEducation
Children’s mental health must become priority
I’m the father of two pandemic babies, Teddy and Grace. Although one of Teddy’s first words was “mask,” my children are blissfully unaware of COVID. They will, however, grow up in its aftermath. Right now, the debate about kids and COVID is focused on mask mandates in schools. That is the critical question in the […]
Posted inEconomy
Life sciences manufacturing can be an economic lifeline
ALREADY, THE ECONOMIC damage done to Massachusetts by the COVID-19 recession is rivaling the Great Depression. Unemployment rates and tax revenue shortfalls are expected to be three times worse than the Great Recession. More workers filed unemployment claims in the first three weeks of the current lockdown than in all of the 2008 economic downturn. […]
Posted inOpinion
For hire: CEO of housing and transit
EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS has a lot going for it. From the outside looking in, we’re thriving in the information economy. We can boast a talented workforce; world-class research and development; productive relations between government, business, and academia; nationally esteemed health care and education services; and access to deep capital markets. Residents, though, see the underside of […]
Posted inEconomy
Amazon, come to Boston
Dear Jeff Bezos, Build it in Boston. Your second corporate headquarters, which you intend to be a “full equal” to Amazon’s home in Seattle, belongs in the Athens of America. I know there’s competition – Vancouver, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Denver, to name just a few – but Boston is best for three reasons: talent, research and development, and infrastructure. […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion, Politics
Democrats’ platform of opportunity
THERE’S AN OLD QUIP that a camel is a horse designed by committee. In June, Massachusetts Democrats will affirm a new state platform – the camel meant to guide federal and state party officials from Massachusetts for the next four years, including the gubernatorial candidates. Like 2013’s version, it will be a laundry list, not […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
The dissonance of zoning and immigration
NEWTON RECENTLY BECAME a sanctuary city. I was proud to co-sponsor the ordinance and gratified by the legion of residents who rallied at City Hall in support of their immigrant neighbors. The next night, I listened to some of those same residents decry a request to build housing and retail near the Newtonville commuter rail […]