Why are these guys running?

After spending much of my Labor Day watching videos of candidate forums, I’ve got a lot of thoughts and one big question: why in the world are the four non-councilor candidates running for mayor?  There is absolutely no reason our next mayor has to come from the...

Updated: Will Newton have a majority-women City Council?

Updated to reflect Allison Sharma’s official write-in candidacy for the now open Ward 4 ward councilor seat. One thing that jumps out from the (so-far unofficial*) list of candidates for Newton elected offices: Newton is poised at the precipice of a city council with women in the majority. And, that’s despite two sure-bet (had they run again) incumbent women leaving the Council to run for mayor (v. one sure-bet incumbent man). Let’s do the numbers!
And now for some good news …

And now for some good news …

After much critique of the non-happening on Adams St., a report of something Newton has done right: a new four-way stop at Winchester Rd. and Rachel Rd./Goddard St. It’s always been a bit of adventure crossing Winchester or merging into traffic on Winchester....

Adams St. — How did we miss the opportunity?

It saddens me that I am the only person in Newton with the insight and vision to either identify the problems on Adams St. or propose solutions. But, at least the singularity of my analytic abilities explains and excuses the failure to act by folks who could have done...
Adams St. — Foregone options

Adams St. — Foregone options

Adams St., as I described in a previous post, is a very 20th Century design. I’ve got nothing against 20th Century traffic engineers. They were, undoubtedly, fine, god-fearing, family-loving men deeply committed to contributing to the common good through their...
An itemized bill

An itemized bill

Dinner at Comedor the other night. (Delicious, thank you for asking. And, wonderful company.) Menus came with this. (Full size and flip side after the jump.)

Crash detritus

Crash detritus

Walked into Newton Centre this weekend and came upon this bumper part at the corner of Beacon and Centre Streets. No mystery why it’s there. Clearly somebodies had a bit of a shunt. In the course of moving/removing the vehicles, the bumper got left behind. The...

Charter Objection

Forget about the elimination of ward-elected councilors. You want a reason to vote No on the Charter? Look no further than Section 2-9(c), the Charter Objection, and the Commission’s failure to address its unintended abuse. Turn the way-back machine to June...

Adams Street: a blown opportunity

Welcome to Newton 2017. Our commitment to pedestrians and cyclists is reflected in a modern, progressive Complete Street policy. Our consensus desire for slower vehicular traffic is reflected in a lower default speed limit (25 MPH). And the (relatively) recent...

Let’s stop making parking a priority

Here’s a simple, but profound change we can make in Newton: put the burden on residential parking proponents to justify using city right-of-way for car storage. There is growing awareness that, of all of the uses of the city right-of-way, residential parking is...

Crowdsourcing Newton’s political dimensions

Help define Newton politics. Literally! National party distinctions are not particularly useful at the municipal level. The issues that are salient at the national level are not necessarily relevant at the local level and vice-versa. People have share similar...