The Globe’s Deputy Director for Editorials, Alan Wirzbicki, has a signed op-ed this morning with some powerful comment on zoning, Saving Nonantum, and Newton’s upcoming election.
Here’s the key paragraph:
There’s a very good case that Newton, of all places, should allow two-family and multifamily homes (which, it’s important to emphasize, is not the same as requiring them). Single-family-only zoning rules, which prevent the construction of cheaper multifamily housing, have contributed to America’s residential segregation since their introduction in the 1920s. In a city that sometimes seems like it has more Black Lives Matter signs than actual Black people, you’d think the case for change would resonate.
He also:
- Thinks that Mayor Fuller was misguided to put distance between herself and the elimination of single-family zoning. (It’s worse, she actually used racially charged language to put distance between herself and the elimination of single-family zoning.)
- Notes that “[c]alling attention [to] the racial implications of zoning” has understandably made people sensitive, but there’s no evidence of a public official actually calling anyone a racist.
- Comes to the conclusion that Save Nonantum hasn’t backed up its claims that city officials have called them racists or insulted them.
He concludes:
But if those feelings translate into a setback for zoning reform on Tuesday, the city is likely to change anyway — just the way it’s already changing, into an unaffordable sea of McMansions.
In other words, the candidates who claim to be most bothered by the teardown-to-McMansion/McMinium cycle are the ones most likely to perpetuate it.
Hi Sean:
If you are going to link to this, I’d also suggest posting the Boston Globe’s endorsement of Mayor Fuller which came out today.
He lives in West Roxbury and I for one have no interest in being governed by The Boston Globe. An opinion writer has no greater voice than an actual resident living in Newton. He just has a platform behind a paywall. A paywall indicates an echo chamber because few people would pay for something they would disagree with.
It would be interesting to hear about the Weston Whopper, which I know isn’t really part of the Newton scene, but I sure see enough signs against it when I drive out route 30
@Bill a paywall indicates paying for journalism. When that doesn’t happen, journalism fails. See: Newton TAB.
@Chuck I understand that, but the world has changed and a paywall indicates advocacy media because the very definition of a paywall indicates exclusion not openness and not public disclose. I am sorry that everyone went to Facebook, now Meta and it killed the print advert revenue streams. Facebook is also a walled garden so is the FT, WSJ, NYTimes and all subscription site services. I try not to make the mistake of using paywall sites as some form of higher thought. They are brands pushing their product to their client base. They are not serving the community. That quaint notion of community service was removed in 1987 when the 1949 Broadcasting Fairness Act was relaxed. That was the start of advocacy media. The internet came along ten years latter and took advertising away.
Bill you are right. Just another reason why I will never pay another nickel for that rag,
@Sean-
Our public officials haven’t actually
called anyone a racist. Thankfully
you have been doing that for them.
If people from Needham, West
Roxbury or anywhere else want a say
in what goes on in Newton they should move here. I think West Roxbury has always needed a good amusement park. With a huge Ferris wheel.
Unless West Roxbury has changed greatly since I was a kid, Mr. Alan’s
hood has a severe lack of diversity.
I remember it as lily white. Maybe he should start there first.
@Chuck and Sean-
You’re both comfortable with
a non resident Boston Globe writer telling us how to run our city?
Seriously?
“”If people from … anywhere else want a say in what goes on in Newton they should move here. “”
I did move here, and now that I want a say in what goes on in Newton the long timers keep telling me to move somewhere else.
It’s your city Brendan. Get involved,
speak up, and help in any small
way you can on any level to improve your street, neighborhood, or
village. Pick an issue and get started.
Schools? Parks? Development?
If you don’t take the initiative, you’ll
end up in a city that looks like editorial writers from the Globe or V14 editors like Sean Roche want it to.
Don’t be shy. They arent.
I appreciate that Alan Wirzbicki took the time to explore some of the key issues related to zoning and our election, including reaching out to Save Nonantum’s Fran Yearadi.
Rather than dismiss Wirzbicki because of who he works for, or where he doesn’t live, how about if we discuss what he wrote? Whether you disagree or agree, his conclusions are worth discussing.
Greg Reibman: Theoretically, “maybe”. But 1 business day before an election and fully embracing the journalistic freedom of not laying-out a fact base that supports the assertions, I completely disagree.
Let’s not discuss this topic on a blog that may not represent the most informed and balanced expertise on that floater. If you want a serious embrace of the issues, causes, reasonably promising responses, and responsibilities, let’s do that .. in person … over the course of several interactions … in a comprehensive way … away from a hair on fire political moment.
That is the thing about picking our best future … it ought not be sensational nor the stuff that sells newspapers.
@Paul when it comes to listening to outside perspectives on Newton, you’re welcome to read my thoughts here on how I view the city and why I choose the candidates I do. It does fit into the broader narrative you’re addressing.
@ Greg Reibman
I would be much more accepting of your request to discuss the merits of what he wrote if (1) a group of people in the city who are well known to promote a specific viewpoint that the article promotes had not gone all Paul Revere this morning and (2) it was not hidden behind a paywall which discourages public discourse. Democracy does not live behind a paywall. Democracy thrives in the bright antiseptic brilliance of sunshine and freedom of access.
Here are a few links besides Sean’s post on V14:
Your Tweet: https://twitter.com/Greg_Reibman/status/1454452963275989006
Chuck’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/ctanowitz/status/1454459680013627392
Engine 6 Tweet: https://twitter.com/Engine_6/status/1454444664606674958
Jason’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/funkyjaybo/status/1454467550075670530
Sean’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/seanroche/status/1454460706066161671
The next time a person writes an article worthy of discussion, let’s discuss the merits of the content – rather than grandstand as to the powerful truth it must possess because it came from a newspaper, so therefore it must be a true and deeply insightful. For the record I have no issues that people are passionate advocates for affordable housing and want to change their community. That is why we have a local government and local representation.
Bill Koss
“had not gone all Paul Revere”
Thanks, Bill. I’m going to use that one. Very punchy.
What you’ve documented is how social media works. I have written a ton about affordable housing and housing in general. When I see a well-written article that accurately addresses the issues that I care about, I’m going to promote it.
Also, thanks for including the links to the tweets. Jason’s thread is especially well done.
@Mary Presumptuous et. al. Your statement is a ten strike that deserves repeating. “If you want a serious embrace of the issues, causes, reasonably promising responses, and responsibilities, let’s do that in person — over the course of several interactions…in a comprehensive way, —away from a hair on fire political moment.
I actually tried to do just that a few months back when I posted a piece questioning how effective transit oriented, high density development really is for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. I posed it essentially as a question based on my experiences in Rhode Island developing the transportation element of their State Implementation Plan for Air Quality”. I stated that the results from that project made me doubt their overall effectiveness, but I also admitted that I was far from certain that I was entirely right. I wanted only to get a civil discussion going of the pros and cons so I could help chart a new way we look at complex issues and tradeoffs. The post received over 60 comments and almost all of it was civil, even collaborative. I didn’t come away convinced that they would do much if anything to reduce GHG emissions in the grand scheme of things, but I did see some clear articulation as to how they might, with strong preservation constraints, be a revitalizing force for housing, civic engagement and small business growth and development in and around our village centers. It was actually a comment by Ted Hess Mahan that drove this possibility home. I’d like to continue this discussion, but not until after the election.
Paul Green, your ‘hood may have a changed a little since since you were a kid. Thinking that is has become more diverse in recent years I took a look at a few things. West Roxbury (according to several resources-all very similar) looks like this: 67% White, 13% African American, 10% Hispanic, 7% Asian as compared to Newton: 74-76% White (depending on the source) 3% African American, 5% Hispanic, 15% Asian. West Roxbury median household income $95,000 and Newton $151,068. I thought this was interesting.
@Sean
Yes, you are correct. That is how social media is done, through a good marketing plan from the start. I noticed that Alan does not write that often. In fact, the Boston Globe only lists six articles by him over the past 33 months. Looks like he is writing more local articles with two in the month of October. I find it somewhat hard to believe that he was just sitting around this past week looking for something to write about when he stumbled across the Godfather II meets Game of Thrones thread on V14, but you never know maybe that is how he organically sources material, which is certainly a boost for V14. It is heartening to know that people outside our community care deeply what is going on in Newton, but I find it distasteful when local politicians receive PAC money from outside Newton and the state. Alan’s attributed articles below…
Fear and loathing — and of course, zoning — in Newton
Oct 29, 2021
Has Everett had enough of Mayor Carlo DeMaria?
Oct 21, 2021
Why Americans should hope Britain ditches its monarchy
Mar 9, 2021
After 95 years, writers finally get the green light to lift from ‘The Great Gatsby’
Feb 4, 2021
The climate case against Ed Markey
Aug 26, 2020
As the US exits the Pacific trade deal, Japan steps in to fill the void
Jan 28, 2019
Off to cook dinner on a dark, wet day. I hope everyone has a great weekend!
Bill Koss
Bill,
As you’re cooking dinner, please reflect on the content of Alan’s op-ed and then let us know where you agree and disagree. So much more interesting than the meta-discussion.
By the way, my wife laughed hysterically at the notion that I’m part of a big marketing plan. She doesn’t think I’m capable of planning anything.
In any case, Alan nails it on the tension in Newton with folks wanting to promote racial equity, but resisting zoning reform.
@sean
That does make some sense, after all she is a professional and accomplished marketing person.
@Sean-
The mayor has already guaranteed
that our current zoning will remain
systemically racist, because she is providing carve outs to “special
neighborhoods”.
I detailed the neighborhoods, villages
and precincts that will receive these carve outs on another thread
and I’m staying
with those predictions.
At the end of the day, the residents
who will be fighting hardest against the new zoning, even though they probably will be spared, will be
mayor fullers donors, and endorsers.
You can take that to the bank.
I wish we could start this process today.
As an NPS parent, the schools
Are not ready for more density. My high school kid has 28 kids in every class. This class size is ridiculous. Busses are overloaded. We need the infrastructure. We don’t have it. Show me more capacity. Sports team sports and drama spots will become even more competitive. Unless your kid is a star in his or her sport/drama there won’t be enough room. Show me the spaces.
NewtonMom, I feel your pain. But I don’t know how to square the concerns about class size on one set of discussions with other people worried that the pandemic led to a 5% reduction on NPS enrollment. I hope we can get some clarity on this issue, but even before the pandemic projections of the student populations was falling. If parents aren’t seeing those benefits in their kid’s classroom, why not?
As for school buses, that’s a totally different issue. We have to start thinking of school buses as more of the transportation system that they are. No adult would put up with the long walks to stops, long runs, and crowded conditions. Why should students? We need more.kids riding buses, and more.options for them (like bike or walk sometime, take the bus other times). Student population at most a secondary concern for buses.
Enough is enough.
Newton is dense enough.
Traffic is ridiculous.
We have huge development projects that are already going to increase our density.
I want to live in Newton, not Brookline.
Let’s work on preserving everything that is great about Newton and stop trying to force feed different agendas by flooding the population.
@Kim- Yes, the horror of living in Brookline! I shudder to think what it must be like to live in… a town that is quite similar to our own city.
The first word, even before the headline, is OPINION.
And as saying goes, “opinions are like (butt) holes…everybody’s got one.” Here’s mine….
Isn’t it funny that he writes this just a few days before the election? If the pen is mightier than the sword, then Wirtzbicki just charged down the hill like Braveheart with an angry hoard of blue, face painted Progressives, “ready to pick a fight”! #happyhalloween
From Bob Burke: “I posted a piece questioning how effective transit oriented, high density development really is for reducing greenhouse gas emissions…. I wanted only to get a civil discussion going of the pros and cons so I could help chart a new way we look at complex issues and tradeoffs. It was actually a comment by Ted Hess Mahan that drove this possibility home. I’d like to continue this discussion, but not until after the election.” I am truly touched, Bob. And I would love to have/continue that conversation.
Holding the torch for fair housing and more affordable housing in Newton, by among other things lifting restrictions on zoning that prevent the construction of multi-family homes in and around village centers has, thankfully, become a less and less lonely venture for me. I applaud Sean Roche for raising it in his consistently insightful (as well as inciteful) way. But I also applaud people like Bob Burke who, at the very least, is open to having a conversation–as opposed to merely a debate–about the intersection of climate change and housing policy. This conversation is long overdue.
I am not on Facebook (Meta) anymore, but if you are (or even if you aren’t), you should check out this opinion piece by Newton’s own Judy Jacobson and Jason Korb, that articulates why we must elect local officials with viable housing strategies for promoting fair housing and the creation of more affordable housing in Newton. In addition, Lizbeth Heyer, the chair of the City of Newton Housing Partnership and I, as chair of the Newton Fair Housing Committee, will be recording an episode with former alderman Marcia Johnson for the League of Women Voters in Newton discussing the work of the Housing Partnership and the Fair Housing Committee, and the state of housing strategies and achievements in Newton. It will be posted on LWVN’s website at https://lwvnewton.org. I sincerely hope you will tune in and learn something about the work of these two important city housing committees.
@Ben G
I lived in Brookline for 5 years. It’s very different from Newton.
I can see why people make a distinction.
As for climate change- there are plenty of things that can be addressed beyond transportation. It seems like this blog’s editorial focus is on housing and transportation, ignoring anything else, as if that were the only thing between us and 2 degree warming. There are bigger fish, and one of them is the manufacture of concrete, much of which is used btw in the pillars of Austin Street.
The other is the link that capitalism has with population growth. China has recently started to encourage people to have more than one child. This is because they realize that there will be a large population shift as the older generation leaves us, and a shortage of labor ( and consumers) which will effect their GDP.
It’s kinda ironic; my mandarin teacher, who spent much of his adult life riding a bicycle In Beijing, thinks it funny how we all ( in Newton, not so much in Malden, where he lives) want bike lanes etc. when he was happy to finally have a car ( he moved here in the late 80s).
So, we can applaud those who chose to remain childless; consider it a virtue to have small families. Because humanity has gone from about w billion people in the 70s to nearly 10 billion people now. And we don’t want to think or talk about that.
2 billion ( not w).
Link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_concrete
Here’s a more readable article
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/feb/25/concrete-the-most-destructive-material-on-earth
Rick Frank says: “So, we can applaud those who chose to remain childless; consider it a virtue to have small families. Because humanity has gone from about w billion people in the 70s to nearly 10 billion people now.”
So, are you saying you don’t like families with children? Because, damn.
@Mary truly a brilliant post.
I’ve been quiet here this election cycle. The slate of candidates seem to all be bright, sensible, community minded individuals and I can count on @BOB BURKE to always express exactly what I’m thinking.
As I approach 60, I find I’m being more careful of how I spend my time, and sparing with Sean’s insatiable need to be right about housing isn’t as interesting anymore.
I think the discussion on zoning, housing and density gets derailed by the fact that there are two very distinct Newtons. Looking out my window here in West Newton eight of the ten homes I can see are multi-family. In terms of density, we’re good. IMO development so far on Washington Street has been reasonable and hopefully future development will continue to be modest.
But it’s a different scenario south of the pike, and frankly that’s for you all who live there to decide. I think it would serve us well in Newton, a city this size and diverse, to listen and respond to what the people want in their neighborhoods.
In terms of racism, whether it be past, present or future, I don’t see evidence of anyone in Newton giving up a significant amount of their privilege – or what privilege has allowed them to accumulate. People talk a great game around valuing diversity, but it’s an idyllic vision of diversity – Diversity that shares your values and doesn’t interfere with your lifestyle.
I care about my health, my family, my friends, my work my home and my neighborhood – and that’s a lot to care about. It’s not that I don’t care about larger issues, I just think change happens incrementally, and very locally. I was pleased to see some of our candidates talking about valuing and strengthening our villages because I think that is what is most important.
Rick Frank, here’s a great summary of greenhouse gas emissions per sector:
https://ourworldindata.org/emissions-by-sector
In the US, the EPA is your best bet:
https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions
Concrete production is a major industrial emitter of greenhouse gases (somewhere between 3-8% worldwide). The huge bulk of actual emissions is in China, because they are building whole new cities in the middle of literally nothing.
Concrete emissions in the US accounts for about 1% of total emissions. Transportation is 29%, residential/commercial 31% if you distribute emissions due to electricity.
Emissions from concrete is also proportional to the amount of building you’re doing. As an older and more established municipality we simply aren’t pouring a lot of concrete compared to booming places in the south and west.
Calling concrete the greenhouse gas boogieman when transportation, housing, and their associated traffic congestion have far more significant impacts is basically saying you don’t want development.
Finally, concrete’s environmental impact is high in part because it is so useful and ubiquitous as a building material. Unlike brick and lumber, for instance, it can often be made from local sources, which cuts down on on transportation costs. Improvements in concrete manufacture are beginning to reduce emissions per unit of concrete, so there’s hope on that front too.
you know it’s funny. Over the years I hear from my friends and neighbors about the joys and tribulations, the hopes and worries, of being a Newton resident , and it is very infrequently , in my experience, that anyone’s primary concern is local zoning laws – even parenthetically. What I do hear, and to paraphrase – “Are we safe? ” – “Are the schools good for my kids?” – ” Are the city services, infrastructure, bureaucracy, in line with the taxes I pay? ”
However, here on this blog and in the minds of some persistent and laser focused bloggers it would appear that zoning laws are the paramount issue facing Newton residents and that we should be hyper engaged or all is lost. The street says something else.
@Peter yeah, be cautious of Village 14. This blog is definitely useful, but not a true representation of the typical Newton resident.
Sean, this is your blog and you can write whatever you want. I enjoy your point of view and the spirt with which it is delivered. You are a talented writer.
Everybody else: there is simply no need to jump back on the hamster wheel every time Sean posts. Newton is not eliminating single family zoning. Newton is not going to meaningfully add “affordable” house outside of a few units in each new large development. Newton is going to to remain a very nice, very expensive suburb, period.
Can we move on to fixing our roads and our athletic fields and reprioritizing excellence in our schools?
Peter, zoning laws may not be a hot sidewalk topic, but they might be just below the surface. Tear downs and McMansions don’t ever come up? Or why Waltham has two beautiful new parks with fountains, splash pads, and plantings and Newton doesn’t?
And maybe your neighbors aren’t talking about it, but don’t you think the high price of living in Newton, of giving their kids those great schools, the things parents work two or more jobs to do, that those things aren’t weighing on them?
Maybe their family has grown and they need more space. But they can’t afford to buy a bigger house somewhere in Newton, and definitely not in the same school zone. So they are taking on a disruptive addition to their house,. Maybe they need a special permit. Happened to three of my neighbors over the last four years.
And don’t almost all of us face the fact that, without out financial help, our kids won’t be able to afford to live in the same community we do?
In one way or other, all of these issues are at least in part the consequence of zoning laws.
Zoning laws are the wonky hidden underbelly of an enormous amount of everyday life. Not everyone has the interest or patience to understand, explain, or debate them, but someone somewhere probably should be. Ergo V14.
@Peter Bloy, I think it depends on how one sees Newton. I care about most of the things you say your friends and neighbors care about; and I care about reforming Newton’s zoning.
We live only a few miles from Boston, and Greater Boston is growing, whether we like it or not. The number of jobs in the area has grown by 16% in the last ten years alone. Meanwhile, housing growth in Newton has been barely 2% (far lower than in Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Needham, or Watertown). Newton is effectively becoming a walled city. Having bought into Newton almost twenty years ago when it was easier, I can’t feel it’s right to let the gate shut behind me to keep newcomers out when the housing shortage is so very acute.
Also, I’ve been learning a lot about the history of generational wealth and red-lining that determined *which* people made it in before the gates began to close. I’d like Newton to reverse that pattern, if only a little.
I don’t think we all need to be “hyper-engaged or all is lost.” (I’m not hyper-engaged.) But if not being engaged means not changing our zoning, well, let’s at least think about what that means. It doesn’t mean “nothing will change”; it means things WILL change in one way and not in another. You can’t be neutral on a moving train.
@PeterBloy-
Bless your heart. Something we both agree on. Zoning is rarely among the topics I hear neighbors discussing in
Newton. All of your other topics are
paramount to them, especially as we navigate the pandemic. Fortunately, as Jane mentioned on another thread,
the Sean Roche view of housing is the minority view in Newton. As Sean would say “ I would die on that Hill”.
This discussion could be settled for once and for all if we simply put a couple of non-binding ballot questions on the ballot about multi-family zoning. The results from the ballot question(s) broken down into ward and precincts
will show everyone exactly how “progressive” Newtonians are and exactly where they are located.
I think we will find that many parts of Newton are not as “progressive” as they think they are when it comes to housing.
The results from these ballot questions would give any mayor seeking to keep that job the
road map or key to “special neighborhood” carve outs.”
Results of the Prop 2 1/2 & CPA votes
years ago were very instructive. I would offer that results from ballot questions about Multi-family zoning would be the same.
Really good comics, musicians, speakers etc have a highly developed
ability or instinct to read the room.
I agree with you that the street says
something else. V14 is way off on this one and the tin ear isn’t helping,
@Marya thank you for that comment. I entirely agree.
@PeterBloy I actually have heard zoning come up in conversation around town. Just this summer I was at a BBQ and overheard a discussion about the building that was happening in Ward 3 and concerns around it. When I was canvassing with Alicia Bowman during the last election cycle it came up from residents (without prompting) quite often. Other topics did as well, but zoning and the resulting environment created because of it was certainly a key concern.
Paul Green: You and I clearly use “Bless your Heart” differently. I’m curious, did you grow up north or south of the Mason Dixon? Anyway, your usage made me smile, so thanks for that
Having seen Newton operate, I think Paul is right, at least in part. Certainly it is density for you, but not for me (for many folks in wealthier, single family only areas). I give Sean credit for being consistent about how that is not how it should be.
V14 clearly has a zoning/housing focus, but that eases off after elections. I’ve posted a ton here about Newtonville, Paul Levy about parks, Jerry about bike events and the greenway and Nomad Theatre and Upper Falls, and basically all things good in the world, Julia back in the day about the tree canopy. I’d welcome more of those discussions. And for folks who get so angry about “another zoning post from Sean” just don’t read them!
I hope some of the new posters stick around and move the conversation in new ways. That is always great when that happens.
@Fig-
I grew up here in Newton. I used the expression to lighten my tone with
@PeterBloy. At the end of the day,
we all live here and want the best for the city & its residents. Everyone just has different ideas of how to get there.
Paul Green, I wasn’t questioning your bona fides. Just made me smile. Bless your heart down where I grew up was used to basically tell someone to F.O. in church. Lots of grandma’s used it too when they thought you were acting the fool. (I got very used to hearing it).
Anyway, I do agree with your last statement. We don’t always agree, but I too want the best for Newton and its residents. I’ll be glad when the election is over.
@Fig-
Yikes! Thanks for telling me that.
I had no idea that expression had a
potentially disastrous meaning.
Paul Green:
Don’t worry, I hear lots of folks using it your way. Your intent was clear. And to be clear, it is a great phrase either way. The Bitter Southerner website even makes t-shirts.
There are a few phrases like that in different parts of the country. A lot of it also comes down to tone. The parent of one of my friends growing up used to infuse “oh sweetheart” with such mocking disdain when I said something stupid (again, common occurrence) that it was pretty clear she meant (“you poor moronic fool of a child that I’m forced to listen to”).
It might be fun to have a post about this after the election. Turns of phrase. I have a bunch to offer.
here’s a vaguely related one I used to hear from my Irish mother-in-law.
I’d be telling her about whatever ridiculous thing I was working on and she’d nod her head and say “yes, you’re fond of novelties”.
Roughly translated it means ‘that’s the stupidest thing I ever heard’.
Jerry’s Irish MIL and my Irish grandmother clearly learned the intricacies of the English language at the same altar.
Of course the other widely used one that nearly every one knows is “with all due respect” which almost certainly means you’re about to be insulted.
Jerry,
I’m just grateful that you landed in Newton where your “novelties” are appreciated and – dare I say – much loved!!
Jerry with all due respect you are the funniest guy on this blog……oops
@Jackson Joe – LOL!!!
“Calling concrete the greenhouse gas boogieman when transportation, housing, and their associated traffic congestion have far more significant impacts is basically saying you don’t want development.”
I never said such a thing, simply that i think people are getting a lot of ego gratification by “being green”, when the problem is way more complex than just buying an electric car ( where does all that lithium come from?) etc. or creating more dense housing, riding a bike, etc. I think the fact that concrete ALONE ( as opposed to, I don’t know bricks, or some other product, for instance) has its own 8 percent slice in the pie chart is pretty dramatic. I just parked under Austin Street today and that whole bottom structure is concrete. I drove on the pike up over the Zakim Bridge and the elevated highway to route one and it’s all concrete. And yes the US is far behind China ( I was there for 3 weeks in 2007, and it was an unbelievable amount of growth even back then) but the earth doesn’t give us a climate change trophy for being behind China.
But V14 has a very narrow minded view of climate change, parochial I might say.
And probably for good reason, as Newton had mostly first-world-problems as they say.
The real bogey man is the fact that we’ll have somewhere near 10 billion people on the planet by 2050,:mostly in places that want the energy intensive western lifestyle.
That’s a tough problem, and I sure don’t pretend to know how to solve it.
Rick, we see concrete everywhere because it is literally the second most used substance on earth after water. That’s why there’s such opportunity in making it greener. As I said though, concrete’s worldwide greenhouse gas emission is far and away due to China, with India and Vietnam also leading the U.S in concrete production. The U.S. produces 5% of the concrete China does. See here:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/267364/world-cement-production-by-country/
My best estimate looking at census data is that Massachusetts has about 3.3% of the private commercial construction of the US, so that is probably a reasonable estimate of the proportion of US concrete being used in the state. Newton is simply not seeing that much construction, so the proportional impact of the city’s construction is even lower.
Yes, every little bit helps. What you may see as a narrow focus on transportation and housing, though, does seem to be addressing the biggest sectors of concern that residents have some influence over (we have less sway over industrial energy usage, for example). You shouldn’t sell the V14 audience too short.