The homes getting knocked down are the older 50s ranches and capes that still provide a way to buy into towns like Lexington or Needham in the $400,000 to $600,000 range. They are being replaced by homes twice or three times as large that sell for a million or more. And in some cases, colonials and split-levels from more recent decades are also getting bulldozed. One of the more interesting examples I found was in Lexington, where a builder recently tore down an $810,000 split level to make way for a 6,500 square foot, six-bedroom house that will sell for more than $3 million. The teardown revival Continue reading >>>

As the number of families struggling to put food on the table continues to climb, more than 40,000 people in Massachusetts took to the streets of Greater Boston yesterday for Project Bread’s 44th annual Walk for Hunger, raising an estimated $3.6 million. The 20-mile walk, which began at the Common and went through the streets of Boston, Brookline, Newton, Watertown and Cambridge, is the oldest continual pledge walk in the nation and the largest one-day fundraiser to ease local hunger. “You can’t believe that there’s still hunger in a country that’s supposed to be so rich,” said 24-time Continue reading >>>

Published: Sunday, May 06, 2012 Continue reading >>>

The Boston Globe ranked Hingham’s Main Street as one of the top 20 best streets to live in Greater Boston. The Globe selected Main Street for its beauty and history. “When Eleanor Roosevelt extolled the beauty of the nation's main streets in her book ‘This Is America,’ she was inspired by her 1942 visit to Hingham,” the Globe wrote. “The town looks much the same as it did then, with preserved houses in traditional New England styles.” According to Boston.com, houses on lower Main Street are priced between $2 million to $3 million and around $800,000 on Upper Main. Hingham’s Main Continue reading >>>

When Eleanor Roosevelt extolled the beauty of the nation’s main streets in her book This Is America, she was inspired by her 1942 visit to Hingham. The town looks much the same as it did then, with lovingly preserved houses in traditional New England styles dominated by Capes and Colonials. For Mom and Dad, the town is an easy commute to Boston, with a train line, fast access to Interstate 93, and a half-hour ferry to Rowes Wharf. For kids, it offers an excellent school system and top-notch sports teams, and beachgoers of all ages will delight that Lower Main, in Hingham’s active downtown, is Continue reading >>>

ZUCK: Bill's can't-miss shopping tipsD'ARCONTE: Those not so good old days...KIRBY: Three things about newsBRISTOL: Brown and Warren's salaries don't matterSHEA-TAYLOR: Amazing mystery solved? One day in May 1927, skies over the greater Boston area rained down free passes to a Memorial Day weekend country carnival.Who knows, maybe your great-grandmother plucked one from the air. If so, she possessed, for that moment, a ticket to history.Source Continue reading >>>

One of the most bedeviling barriers to robust social interaction among residents of Greater Boston is a certain foul-smelling landmark that’s familiar to pretty much all of us. No, not Haymarket on a summer day. I’m talking about the Charles River. It’s not that the waterway reduces contact between us by being too murky to share a group swim in. Instead, the river cleaves the metropolitan area into two halves, north and south, and once we settle in on one side or the other, only the most adventurous of us is eager to spend a night on the other side, unless drunk. But Continue reading >>>

South Shore Conservatory  is pleased to announce their Evenings Under the Stars  2012 performances.  Now in its 16th season, this popular outdoor concert series draws audiences from all around the Greater Boston area.    Starting off the 2012 season on Saturday, July 7, is the Evenings Under the Stars Festival Orchestra with Hingham native Nicholas Palmer conducting.  Drawing from popular major motion picture blockbusters, this Music from the Movies concert features the sounds of Pirates of the Caribbean, The Wizard of Oz, Raiders of the Lost Ark and themes from James Bond movies.  Continue reading >>>

FRIDAY, May 4 (HealthDay News) -- Patients with mental health emergencies wait an average of 11.5 hours -- nearly half a day -- in hospital emergency departments, and those who are older, uninsured or intoxicated wait even longer, a new study says. Overall, patients with psychiatric emergencies wait about 42 percent longer in the emergency department than other patients, according to the findings published online May 1 in the Annals of Emergency Medicine. "These patients are waiting the longest for care, and shrinking resources are having a disproportionate effect on these very vulnerable Continue reading >>>

Electric power plants in Greater Boston may experience fuel shortages this summer because exports from Yemen, a major supplier of natural gas, have been disrupted by attacks by militants, energy officials said Friday. No shortages or outages are imminent, but officials are developing contingencies in case a heat wave drives up electricity use or a local power plant has an unexpected outage. Natural gas is the dominant source of fuel for New England’s power plants, and about 25 percent of that is liquefied gas that is shipped, mostly from Yemen and the Caribbean, to Continue reading >>>