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In 2018, Sarah Meyer, then chief customer officer with New York City Transit, was fielding questions at a public meeting in the 14th Street Y near Union Square. The topic of the meeting was moving a few bus stops a few hundred feet so they were better spaced out. While working one of the tables, a man Meyer described as about 60 or 70 years old sauntered up to her. He said he was representing “everyone from his building,” Meyer said. They were opposed to the MTA moving bus stops. Meyer tried to explain why they were doing it—there are international standards for bus stop distances, and this stop was far too close to the other stops. With fewer stops, the buses would be faster.

Lack of Diversity Hindering Mass. Housing Production, Report Finds

The process for approving new housing development in communities across Massachusetts is “skewed toward an older, white population with the greatest interest in obstructing new development,” according to a new report assembled by two Boston University researchers and released Wednesday by The Boston Foundation.

POV: US Child Welfare System Is Falling Short Because of Persistent Child Poverty

Although US government spending on the child welfare system totaled $33 billion in 2018, the most recent year for which an estimate is available, it’s still failing to meet all children’s needs because of overwhelming demand. We have conducted extensive research, including policy analysis, program evaluations, and interviews with child welfare staff, parents, and youths. It has left us alarmed that a series of federal measures aiming to solve the system’s deep problems has failed to do so.

As more cities declare crises around climate and affordability, does change follow?

Hoboken is one of many cities that have enacted declarations in recent years that address ongoing societal, economic and environmental issues. The city council in Evanston, Illinois, recently approved a climate emergency resolution. Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, and New York City passed declarations declaring racism as a public health crisis. Portland, Oregon, and Miami-Dade County, Florida, have announced emergencies around housing and affordability.

FY 2023 Legislative Report: Re-Entry Workforce Development Demonstration Gains

The Re-Entry Workforce Development Demonstration Grants Program is an initiative administered by
Commonwealth Corporation, on behalf of the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development with the goal of improving workforce outcomes for individuals returning to their communities after incarceration (i.e., returning citizens). Commonwealth Corporation awarded grants spanning two fiscal years, starting in August 2022 and due to end in September 2023. These resources anticipate serving at least 13 grantees as a result of intensive outreach to smaller community-based organizations.

The Trials of Solitary Confinement

Known colloquially as “the hole” and euphemistically as “segregated housing,” “restrictive housing,” or “special housing,” solitary confinement is a form of punishment in which people are locked in parking-space-sized cells twenty-three hours a day, with no meaningful human contact for weeks, months, years, or decades. Prison officials call the practice a necessary tool for safety. Reformers call it inhumane.

Mayors Face a Reckoning With Racial Wealth Gaps

A national survey of 126 mayors of cities with more than 75,000 residents found that two out of three are concerned “a great deal” or “a lot” about the racial wealth gap in their communities. This concern was shared by twice as many mayors in large cities as in smaller ones; surprisingly, more mayors (52 percent) of cities where housing costs are low had stronger concerns than those in cities with high cost of living (32 percent).

Can Tech Help Turn the Tide on California’s Housing Problem?

“I think a lot of software companies are trying to think about ways to restructure these conversations,” says Katherine Levine Einstein, professor of political science at Boston University. “It helps solve a really fundamental problem at public meetings, which is that you’re presenting a project and asking people if they like it or not — which essentially invites nitpicking.”

Mayors concerned about racial wealth gap, but no consensus on solutions: survey

Boston University’s Menino Survey of Mayors found that 58% of mayors of larger cities expressed significant concern, compared with just 26% of mayors of smaller cities. It found 80% of Democratic mayors were concerned about the racial wealth gap in their community versus 32% of Republican mayors. Further, 22% of Republican mayors were not worried about the issue at all, with no Democratic mayors sharing that view.