From ‘Slummerville’ to Somerville

For more than a decade, Mayor Joe Curtatone has worked with Harvard Kennedy School students to reshape the city. The terms “sketchy,” “shady,” and the “armpit of New England” are just a few of the words that have been used to describe the city of Somerville in the past—at least, that’s according to people who have both lived and worked in the Greater Boston community. But that’s no longer the case. Pulling from the “shadows” of Cambridge and Boston, with new neighborhoods like Assembly Row cropping up, and the redevelopment of Union Square on the horizon, Continue reading >>>

Boston home prices are climbing more slowly than nation’s as a whole

Eric Convey Web Editor- Boston Business Journal Email  |  Twitter Homes in Greater Boston gained value more slowly over the past year than did homes across the country as a whole, according to the widely respected Case-Shiller home price index.A home sold in the Boston market in August 2014 fetched on average price 5.0 percent higher than the same home sold in August 2013, according to Case-Shiller. The national Continue reading >>>

Jamestown Adds To Local Tech Portfolio

Tuesday, November 25, 2014, 11:46am Atlanta-based developer Jamestown added to its portfolio of tech-focused properties in Greater Boston with the acquisition of the Davenport, a 220,000-square-foot office complex at 25 First St. in Cambridge's Lechmere section.Terms of the transaction were not immediately available. DivcoWest previously acquired the property in 2012 for $79 million.Built in 1860 as a furniture Continue reading >>>

Emily’s List: Nancy Koehn

As I think back on my time as host of Greater Boston, there are certain people who stand out, people we came to rely on for unique perspective on the issues we tackle here. And so, before I step down from this post, we’re inviting back a select few who helped elevate the show over the years. We’re calling it the Greater Boston version of my weekly radio segment, "Emily’s List." Nancy Koehn is known for her keen insights on entrepreneurships and branding. She’s a professor at the Harvard Business School who also happens to be an accomplished equestrian and master of her own universe, which Continue reading >>>

Mayor Walsh helps kick off Toys for Tots drive in Boston

The Greater Boston Toys for Tots drive officially began Monday with a donation from Mayor Martin J. Walsh — a “Frozen”-themed snowcone maker.The toy will be one of thousands that the nonprofit organization collects this year, said Marine Corporal Vin Dolan, a spokesman for the charity. Continue reading below Toys for Tots, which is run by the US Marine Corps, collects toys to provide gifts for the holiday seasons to needy children across the country, Dolan said.A new feature of the drive this year will be a Christmas tree in the third-floor lobby of Continue reading >>>

Danvers man honored with Theodore Mann Award

 Chelsea City Manager Jay Ash, a Danvers resident, received the Theodore Mann Regional Leadership Award from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council at the planning agency’s Fall Meeting in Boston.MAPC is the regional planning agency serving 101 cities and towns in Greater Boston. The award is given annually in memory of Newton’s longest-serving mayor, Theodore “Teddy” Mann, and recognizes a municipal leader from Greater Boston whose commitment to regional collaboration best exemplifies Mann’s legacy.“Jay’s accomplishments in the city of Chelsea are the stuff of legend, reaching well Continue reading >>>

Catholic schools name Scholars

LOWELL -- At a recent Mass followed by a breakfast reception at Our Lady Help of Christians Parish in Newton, Cardinal Sean O'Malley of the Archdiocese of Boston inducted the fifth class of Peter Lynch Scholars. The class of more than 170 from across Greater Boston includes students from Catholic schools in Lowell. For the 2014-2015 school year, the Catholic Schools Foundation distributed more than $250,000 to scholars from 58 schools. Cardinal O'Malley was accompanied by Michael Reardon, executive director of the Catholic Schools Foundation, and Kathy Mears, superintendent for Catholic schools Continue reading >>>

Opponents of Hub Olympics have more than a little currency

Yvonne Abraham’s Nov. 16 column cites an October interview with Suffolk Construction CEO John Fish, in which he said, of opponents of a Boston Olympiad: “Who are they and what currency do they have? What have they done to help Boston, and help make . . . Massachusetts a better place?”I’ve been a resident of the Boston area for 33 years. I grew up here, went to school here, live here, and raise my family here. I use public transit and hospitals, patronize stores and restaurants, and enjoy our cultural institutions. I work every day in an industry that Continue reading >>>

Bookings: Greater Boston author readings Nov. 23-29

SUNDAY Mitchell Zuckoff (“13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi”) reads at 11 a.m. at Leventhal-Sidman JCC, 333 Nahanton St., Newton . . . Marilynn and Steve Carter (“No Fret Cooking”) read at 1:30 p.m. at Bestsellers Cafe, 24 High St., Medford . . . Sukey Forbes (“The Angel in My Pocket: A Story of Love, Loss, and Life After Death”) reads at 2 p.m. at the Duxbury Free Library, 77 Alden St., Duxbury . . . Richard N. Goodwin (“Remembering America: A Voice from the Sixties”) in conversation with Doris Kearns Goodwin Continue reading >>>