Massachusetts

It is now official: the new Massachusetts Department of Transportation will be the singular transportation and transit agency for the entire state. With the swearing in of its five-member board, the agency can begin its work.

Planner and author Jeff Speck pays a visit to Lowell, Massachusetts, and tells an audience to tear down their civic center. "If you don't tear it down now, it will become protected in 10 years," says Speck. "Tear it down now."

Derided by some, praised by others, Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) is gaining ground, with new systems scheduled to open in London, Abu Dhabi, and South Korea.

The Bixi bicycle sharing system in Montreal will be replicated in Boston and London, according to Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay.

While the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance is helping people buy homes, their aim is to build an army of trained homeowners to engage their own neighbors in organizing and advocacy.

Boston has not had a good relationship with cyclists. However, Mayor Thomas M. Menino is a cycling advocate, a city bike czar is on staff, bike lanes and facilities have been added, and a turn-around is evident even to its critics.

A new application for iPhones seeks to make it easier for Boston residents to report minor nuisances like potholes and busted street lights.

Gov. Deval Patrick of Mass. has released a draft zoning plan to regulate the waters off the state's coast, particularly around Cape Cod and Cape Ann.

You don't have to tear a city down to make it green, according to this piece from the Boston Globe, which offers some emerging ideas.

Mayor of Boston announces $300,000 to create green-collar jobs.

A new KFC/Taco Bell combo restaurant in Northhampton, Massachusetts has been awarded LEED certification.

A debate over the MBTA fare hike will begin soon in earnest, focusing on whether the MBTA needs money.

The Metropolitan Area Planning Council will unveil a new plan for growth and preservation in Greater Boston, which calls for a new pattern of development based on "Smart Growth".

Concern: Ames Shovel Shops might be demolished.

The new documentary The Greening of Southie follows construction workers in Boston as they adapt to the new rules and regulations of green development (sometimes unwittingly).

According to the 2000 Census, the City of Lowell, Massachussetts has 105,000 people. Mayor Edward "Bud" Caulfield says they were wrong, and is doing everything he can to make the 2010 numbers accurate.

'Dukakis is a rail man,' says Alex Marshall, after the man speak on his history with Amtrak and promoting and building rail in Boston. The cure to our transit woes, according to Dukakis, is competence.

In Boston for a conference, Mary Newsom reflects on the lessons that Sun Belt cities can take from historic cities like Cambridge to prepare for the future.