Boston Mayoral Leadership

[Detroit500]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/mas..._built/?page=1

Read this very interesting article in "The Boston Globe". Perhaps it is the opposite problem over there -- a Mayor who coordinates everything, and operates the city as his private fortress. However, when you look at these development stats mentioned in the article -- triple the development per square feet of NYC and 6 times as much as LA!

Seems like Boston has learned how to grease the wheels, possibly have corruption/conflict of interest and have a successful and booming city. Wish we could do that!

[crawford]

The article is lying. Maybe the Boston Globe likes Menino or something?

Boston has had barely any development in recent years. They really have been treading water economically.

Case in point: Boston builds about 2,000 housing units annually, and NYC builds about 30,000 units annually.

Don't believe me? Look it up on the Census
http://www.census.gov/const/www/newresconstindex.html

In fact, some years the difference is even bigger, with NYC building closer to 35,000 units, and Boston at 1,000 units. Yes, NYC should build far more than Boston, because it's much bigger, but 35 times more residential development?

As for commercial space, NYC is now building Hudson Yards, a development project that will have more commercial space in this one area alone than in the entirety of downtown Boston.

Oh, and NYC has gained 1.1 million residents in the last 20 years, about the size of two Bostons.
Boston? They have lost population during the same time period.

Really, of the four major Northeastern cities [[Boston, NYC, Philly, and DC) Boston stands out to me for changing so little in recent years. Even troubled Philly has built a ton more.

Boston has added no major new buildings to the skyline, and they do not really have strong prospects for future growth in their core. They have the highest commercial vacancy rates among the main four Northeastern cities.

So yeah, Boston is a great town, and is a fun place to visit, but on the development scorecard, they are really at the bottom of the list. The article is full of crap.

[irish_mafia]

I was in Boston 2 weeks ago and there was development all over downtown. New buildings going up, vibrant city...give me that bottom of the list type of devlopment any day!

They are like Chicago when compared to Detroit. The criminals that run their city are smarter than the criminals that run Detroit. This should not be expected to change when the majority of the voting population in Detroit is illiterate. .

[mwilbert]

I do not believe Boston has lost population over the last 20 years. Boston had 562000 people in 1980 and 574000 people in 1990 according to the US census. The 2007 Massachusetts census showed 599000.

Also NYC has about 14 times the population of Boston, so if Boston creates 2000 housing units and NYC creates 35000 in a year, that isn't a very big discrepancy proportionately--it would be like Boston creating 2400 housing units.