A summer of disruptive repairs looms on Mass. roads, rails
BU faculty decry removal of pride flags from campus offices
According to the letter addressed to campus president Melissa Gilliam, the flags were pulled from windows in the women’s studies program and some professors’ offices. These acts “suppress free speech on campus” and are “just one of a growing number of disappointing choices by the administration to contradict the values it purports to champion,” wrote associate professor Joseph Harris, who co-leads the BU chapter of the of the American Association of University Professors.
Report: Affordability gap grows for those seeking starter homes in Greater Boston
While housing construction is up and home prices have stabilized, researchers expect home buyers and renters will continue to face affordability headwinds in Massachusetts. Home prices and rents have flattened in 2025 but are still “historically” high, according to a 108-page Greater Boston Housing Report Card 2025 released by The Boston Foundation and Boston Indicators on Wednesday.
A new report has good news and bad news for Massachusetts’ housing goals
Earlier this year, Gov. Maura Healey’s administration set a goal for Massachusetts: 222,000 new homes by 2035. That’s what Healey’s office estimates it will take to get out of the current housing shortage that is making it so expensive to live here. In a preview released yesterday of its annual Greater Boston Housing Report Card, think tank Boston Indicators dug into recent home address and permitting data and found a mix of good news and bad news when it comes to our chances of hitting that goal.
First, the Trump administration cut SNAP benefits. Now it wants to stop measuring food insecurity
An old business adage suggests that “what gets measured gets managed.” By that logic, we will no longer “manage” food insecurity in the United States after the Trump administration announced on September 20 plans to cancel the Household Food Security in the United States report, a long-running annual report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
City living isn’t good for a tree’s microbiome, study shows. Here’s what that means
Trees are home to all sorts of critters: birds, squirrels, frogs and more than a trillion teeny tiny microbes living in roots, bark and leaves. These fungi, bacteria and microorganisms play an important role in tree health; Beneficial microbes can help a tree take up nutrients or defend itself against disease.
But a new study in Nature Cities published Friday found that oak trees in Boston have a greater number of “bad” microbes, like pathogens and plant decomposers, than beneficial ones because of city stressors like heat and pollution. This disruption of the tree microbiome could spell trouble for the health of both trees and humans, according to the study’s authors.
OMG, why is it raining every Saturday in Boston?
There have been 12 Saturdays in a row with rain, according to Danielle Noyes, WBUR contributor and meteorologist with 1 Degree Outside, a weather forecasting company.
And yes, more is coming, forecasters say.
Mass. winters are getting warmer. Climate scientist calls it a ‘Delightmare’
Massachusetts gets 11 more above-freezing days in the winter due to climate change, according to a new report. And while many New Englanders may welcome this change, it does come with downsides. The finding comes from the nonprofit research group Climate Central, which looked at winter warming trends across the Northern Hemisphere over the last decade, and analyzed how much of the warming was attributable to climate change.
A new report shows how public land could be a solution to Greater Boston’s housing problems
The cost to rent or buy a home in Greater Boston are some of the highest in the country. In April, the median price for a single family home was $950,000, according to the Greater Boston Association of Realtors. A recent report by Boston Indicators, the research arm of The Boston Foundation, highlights one possible solution: building housing on empty public land. The report found that developing on just 5% of public land in Greater Boston could create 85,000 new homes.
Could public land help alleviate Boston’s housing crisis? A new report suggests so
The Boston Foundation released its annual Greater Boston Housing Report Card this morning. The data, compiled by the foundation’s think tank Boston Indicators, gives insight into a number of housing market factors — from rent and home sale prices to rates of housing instability. The 2024 report also looks at an untapped resource researchers say may help alleviate the state’s housing crisis: Public land.