In the Boston Globe Magazine, Peter DeMarco examines whether plans for new bike paths and bridges will be enough to convince more than half of us to ditch our cars and become two-wheeled enthusiasts.

These significant off-street bikeways — existing, planned,and wished for — would create a much-needed backbone for Greater Boston’s cycling network. Scroll below the map for details on what the numbers and colors depict.

BIKE PATHS, BIKE LANES, BIKE RACKS, AND CYCLE TRACKS. Bike this and bike that. Cities and towns across Greater Boston are peddling cycling construction projects this summer like never before: If it isn’t a Newton city committee proposing 30 new miles of bike lanes, it’s Malden and Everett converting downtown railroad beds into a multiuse path, or Charlestown and Jamaica Plain residents lobbying for bike improvements once antiquated highway overpasses are torn down. Meanwhile, at 698 feet, the longest bicycle and pedestrian bridge ever built in Boston is expected to open this month. The North Continue reading >>>

Undeterred by the Supreme Court decision last month to uphold the Democrats’ health care overhaul, some 100 Tea Party members and like-minded protesters rallied yesterday in Boston to call for the repeal of Obamacare — contending it will siphon more than $500 billion from Medicare and lead to bigger government. “Call your representatives, especially the ones on this flier, and urge them to repeal this horrible bill,” Christine Morabito, president of the Greater Boston Tea Party, told those gathered at Christopher Columbus Park, referring to a leaflet her group handed out identifying the Continue reading >>>

(NECN) - The Greater Boston Tea Party held a rally in Boston's North End Saturday voicing their opposition to the Affordable Care Act being upheld by the Supreme Court.They say the act and it's individual mandate represents and egregious affront to liberty, and is opposed by Americans of all political persuasions. Chief Justice John Roberts was the swing vote in the decision, and argued that the individual mandate could be construed as a tax."This law takes away our liberties, it is way too expensive," said one attendee. "Our health care is in serious need of repair, and there Continue reading >>>

On Sunday, July 15th 2012, theatre lovers of all ages will be joining hundreds of Boston area children and teens at the 5th annual CBACT Children’s Theatre Festival, hosted this year by the Jewish Community Centers of Greater Boston in Newton, MA, home of JCC Kaleidoscope Camp and JCC Showstoppers. This full day of theatre includes interactive workshops and live performances from children’s theatres throughout the Greater Boston area -- one of which is Mansfield/Foxboro’s Un-Common Theatre Company. “Once again we are excited to have our kids participate in this wonderful day-long Continue reading >>>

Greater Boston wants a world-class future, but without a functioning transit system those hopes will go off the rails. The MBTA’s mounting troubles are evident to all of us who ride the system regularly, and individual tales of woe abound. Last week on consecutive afternoons, my normal 20-minute Red Line ride home to Central Square turned into 40-minute and 60-minute odysseys because of disabled or malfunctioning trains ahead of me. Meanwhile, one colleague reported that one of his subway rides last week was marred by a deafening rattle and a piercing sound coming from the brakes. Earlier Continue reading >>>

Preliminary numbers show that the week is exceeding expectations. Moscaritolo said they had been predicting a 4.5 percent increase in the number of visitors over a typical July Fourth week, but early estimates suggest the number will jump 9 percent.Economically, that would translate to a $60 million to $75 million increase in tourist spending over a typical Fourth of July week, he said.To lure additional visitors, he estimated, the city and state spent $2 million to $3 million on marketing, promotion, police, and emergency medical services. The costs for the fireworks and Esplanade concert are Continue reading >>>

Justified or not, there has been a surge in optimism over the direction of home prices over the past few months. Nearly 60 percent of homeowners surveyed in a recent, nationwide poll conducted for HomeGain believe prices will rise over the next two years. Just a year ago in the spring of 2011, the consensus among homeowners was that prices were headed down, not up. Here's what HomeGain had to say back in June 2011: Most real estate professionals and homeowners continue to expect home values to decrease or stay the same through the end of the year. Fifty percent of agents and brokers and forty Continue reading >>>

The Fourth of July is always a big event for visitors in Boston, with the Boston Pops concert on the Esplanade, the fireworks extravaganza, Harborfest, and the USS Constitution’s annual turnaround. But this was no typical Fourth of July. For one, there were a host of other big-ticket events in town this week, the largest of which was the Navy Week festivities that brought many tall ships to town. But the holiday fell on a Wednesday, raising concerns that it would not draw well because many would not use the holiday to ­extend a long weekend. “It was a perfect storm,” said Pat Moscaritolo, Continue reading >>>

The Fourth of July is always a big event for visitors in Boston, with the Boston Pops concert on the Esplanade, the fireworks extravaganza, Harborfest, and the USS Constitution’s annual turnaround. But this was no typical Fourth of July. For one, there were a host of other big-ticket events in town this week, the largest of which was the Navy Week festivities that brought many tall ships to town. But the holiday fell on a Wednesday, raising concerns that it would not draw well because many would not use the holiday to ­extend a long weekend. “It was a perfect storm,” said Pat Moscaritolo, Continue reading >>>