Massachusetts

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.

Among the installations at the Ecological Urbanism exhibit at Harvard's Graduate School of Design is a collection of smells from 200 Mexico City neighborhoods.

Researchers are teaming up with Boston community members to study how living close to freeways can be harmful to residents' health.

A draft Environmental Impact Report is now underway to study the proposed routes and power sources for rail extensions south of Boston. Considerations include ridership, wetlands, smart growth benefits, and future development around train stations.

Three Massachusetts towns are looking to kill a 3% property tax that has been funding open space purchases, historic restoration, and affordable housing construction.

As theorists predict we are entering the age of the city, Boston Globe architecture critic Robert Campbell reflects on what this shift will mean and how Boston's landscape will change as a result.

New stations for the Fairmount rail line in Boston has made its surrounding neighborhoods targets for redevelopment by community organizations, which may rebuild up to a dozen properties.

Car-free for more than 15 years, Chicago opened its dying pedestrian mall on State Street to vehicular traffic in 1996, with huge success. Should Boston planners and officials consider a similar strategy for its Downtown Crossing?

Its history of pollution dates back to the Civil War, but 25 years after being declared a Superfund site, Woburn's Industri-plex in Massachusetts is just about cleaned up. A retail complex there has opened recently.

As other cities follow suit, Boston leads the way in creating artist housing through developer incentive programs and design requirements.

To conduct a real life experiment with the theory, 17 of Lowell, MA's crime "hot spots" were cleaned up while another 17 were left alone. Researchers found a 20% dip in crime where conditions were improved.

Residents of Boston's South Side are marking public parking spots with cones, coolers, and chairs, in an effort to save them for later after personally cleaning out the snow. The Mayor ok'ed the practice, but some shovelers are abusing the system.

Some Chelmsofrd, MA residents think gutting their historic town halls--one vacant for 20 years--to bring in much-needed affordable housing units is a great idea. But some still find the idea of marring such architectural icons unacceptable.

The Department of the Interior has decided that a proposed wind farm to be built in the waters off Cape Cod poses 'no serious environmental threat.' Homeowners and boaters on the Cape, including Ted Kennedy, continue to fight it.

Plummeting gas prices, roads in disrepair, and soaring state deficits have caused some state politicians to, gasp, attempt to raise gas taxes - last raised over 15 years ago in some states.

The age of iconic architecture may be ending. The recession is a major factor, but much of the shift may be due to changing perceptions about what architecture is supposed to do for a place, according to critic Robert Campbell.

In an effort to save billions of dollars, the State of Massachusetts may merge the MBTA, the Highway Department, and the Turnpike Authority into what is being called the Massachusetts Surface Transportation Authority.

The New Amsterdam Project in Cambridge, Mass., recently debuted a fleet of pedal-powered cargo tricycles, aimed at clients who want to reduce their carbon footprint.

This article looks at some adaptive reuse projects that successfully preserve the beauty of Boston's late-nineteenth century infrastructure.