Published August 10, 2010

I love this guy. (Matt Law/Flickr)

Here’s a possible cure for Boston’s New York inferiority complex: Average rent here has risen to $1,717 a month, according to a study cited today in the Globe. And vacancy rates have fallen, which means apartment-hunters have fewer options.

If you don’t have a place yet for Sept. 1, good luck. WBUR Web producer Jess Bidgood just managed to secure an apartment in Cambridgeport after three weeks of searching. She would call a broker, set up a viewing, and then get a call back with the news that, sorry, someone had signed a lease.

“I’ve never tried to find an apartment in New York, but I felt like it was New York,” Jess told me. “This did not feel like Boston.”

I recently moved out of Brookline because I could no longer stomach the astronomical cost of living there. When I moved here from San Diego two years ago, I was forced to take a place on short notice for Sept. 1.

Amazingly, I found a (much) cheaper place in Harvard Square. I feel fortunate. The Globe story quotes a man named Reginald Fuller, who faces homelessness after a recent pay cut. He can’t find an affordable home for his family.

Do you have a place for Sept. 1? How much do you pay in rent? Are you able to afford it? What neighborhood do you call home? Gloat or kvetch in the comments.

Published August 9, 2010

The designer Rob Stewart imagined subway lines in places without public transit and then mapped his creations, such as this one for Martha's Vineyard.

It can be a nightmare to get around Martha’s Vineyard by car. You could rent a scooter or ride a bike.  But why not take the subway? Just take the Blue Line to Oak Bluffs.

OK, there’s no T on the Vineyard, and the islanders would probably keep it that way. But it’s nice to dream, isn’t it?

Rob Stewart, half of the Northampton design firm Rob & Damia, dreamed up subway lines in places without robust public transit. Imagine a line from Plymouth to P-town. Or one straight to UMass Amherst. Stewart maps these fantasy subway lines for a project called Transit Authority Figures. They’re beautiful and believable.

“I found myself staring at a T map and just thinking about how that classic subway diagram … works for every mass transit system in the world,” Stewart told me on the phone. “You could just put any names on the stops. You could just relocate it to any place, and all of a sudden that place, no matter how rural or how unadaptable … to a subway, if you just design the map, it’s completely believable.”

[pullquote author=”Rob Stewart”]”You could just put any names on the stops. You could just relocate it to any place, and all of a sudden that place, no matter how rural … it’s completely believable.”[/pullquote]

Since Stewart designed his first map for Northampton/Amherst, he has been inundated with requests from people in other towns. It has turned into a side business for the pair, selling posters and T-shirts. Stewart said he has been approached by a publisher for a book deal.

I’m reminded of a tweet I posted a long time ago, fantasizing about a “purple line” from Mattapan in the south, through Forest Hills in JP, through Coolidge Corner in Brookline and terminating in Harvard Square. Fellow Twitterers responded with even better ideas, and one person alerted me to the MBTA’s long-planned Urban Ring Project, which would connect Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Medford and Somerville by bus.

Here’s my question for you, readers: What public transit options do you wish for? What’s your dream subway line? I’d love a bus from Harvard to BU. Let’s brainstorm in the comments.

Update: I talked about this Monday on Radio Boston.

Published August 9, 2010

(Marcello Graciolli/Flickr)

I moved yesterday, from Brookline to Harvard Square. (Ever parallel parked a 14-foot U-Haul truck in Harvard Square? I have.)

I finished unloading late in the day and found myself lying on a bed without sheets, hungry and tired. All I wanted was a few hours of mindless surfing.

But I was off the grid. My Internet connection won’t be flipped on till Tuesday afternoon. My laptop was dead. My iPhone was dead. I found my iPad, 12% battery remaining, and scanned for wireless networks. But they were all password-protected.

Desperate, I actually tried guessing network passwords, which may be a crime. I drove to a closed Starbucks and sat outside, scooter idling, where I could finally check e-mail and read headlines. It wasn’t even that satisfying.

[pullquote author=”jemimah”]”We’re ruled by our computers, not the other way around.”[/pullquote]

It was my accidental Internet sabbath, a phrase coined by the author William Powers, who joined Hubbub last week for a live Web chat. His family unplugs the Internet every weekend.

This morning I couldn’t fire up Globe Reader or open wbur.org, the first two things I do every morning. No Universal Hub, no New York Times, no Twitter. Not that I’d have had time — my dead iPhone is also my dead alarm clock.

Last week, commenter jemimah poignantly noted:

I’ve been marveling for years at the fact that we’re ruled by our computers, not the other way around. All these devices are great and I love ‘em, but they were supposed to give us more “free” time. Instead, we’re never w/o either work or social obligations. We need to teach these machines who’s boss!

Powers said the “itch to connect” is a “perfectly natural human instinct.” We’re biologically programmed to respond to stimuli.

His book, “Hamlet’s BlackBerry,” is a more of a how-to guide than a warning. He doesn’t foretell the end of society; he asks people to create boundaries.

You know the cliche about Thoreau is that he ran away from society. In fact, he built his cabin a short walk from town, and was back and forth all the time. The real point of his experiment was that he established a ZONE where he could be “less” connected on a regular basis, and allow his inner life to flourish.

So I think any of us can do the same today, inside our homes. A Walden Zone is a room or other kind of space – it could be the front porch – where digital screens are not used. A place for non-screen togetherness and solitude. Sounds kind of nice, doesn’t it?

Maybe. Maybe Powers finds peace in his weekly Internet sabbath because it’s self-imposed. I’m just cranky.

Published August 6, 2010

Hop on a schooner in Salem this weekend. Ahoy, matey! (Michelle Kelley/Flickr)

It’s a good weekend for chowing down, whether you want to toast to the beauty of the perfect root-beer float in honor of the drink’s big day or try all the New England clam chowder you could ever need (at a castle, no less). There are boats to be sailed, drums to be banged on and Shakespeare classics to be seen. So what’re you waiting for? Get out there and enjoy!

Continue reading →

Published August 6, 2010

Earlier this week I asked where you stand on the gambling debate, which may not be dead yet. (Radio Boston’s week-in-review roundtable takes up the topic today at 3.) Most of the discussion happened on Facebook.

I'm getting maximum mileage out of this graphic.

Where does George Preston stand?

As close to the bar as possible.

George will be here all night, folks.

Carla Jalbert is skeptical:

I do not see an opportunity for “JOBS” – when Foxwood opened years ago there were many workers in the slot area – now with technology, automation, you hardly see any attendants.. I believe the expense of having slots there will not create jobs, and the money will be more pure profit for the race track owners!!

On that note, Carla, casino proponents — and the press — have thrown around the “15,000 jobs,” but I’m not clear where that number comes from.

Briavael O’Reilly is realistic:

As with any addiction, people are going to find ways to gamble. At least if we keep it in Mass, the state can get some of that money to put back into other programs.

…and similarly, from Michael J. Curtiss:

Being a pragmatist, I can only say that if man is going to continue to insist on the right to pursue his vices, then others ought to be able to make a living from them. Bring it on.

Oh, it’s already been broughten.

Richer Earth, in the comments:

I have been a long-time opponent of state-sanctioned gambling because the social costs can be high (been to Atlantic City lately?) and the jobs estimates tend to be inflated. Lately, however, I’ve changed my tune.

If the only way that we can raise the money to keep libraries open, teachers employed, and arts programs running is to enable fools to be parted from their money, let’s get it over with. Gambling … is a tax on stupidity and it seems it is the only tax that can garner any support.

Cynthia Knowlton is suspicious:

I’m curious about the real reasons people are anti-casino. I’ve heard, “it’s habit forming”. So is drinking, drugs, prescription medication, and smoking. I’ve heard, “it will take people away from their families due to addiction.” So do… drinking, prescription medication, and drugs. I’ve heard, “it will rip the moral fabric of the community.” So do drinking, drugs, and strip clubs. What’s the 1 constant in all those statements? Alcohol. I certainly don’t think that banning alcohol is the answer anymore than not having casinos.

Debbie Howarth wants better research:

Will these Casinos and Racinos really make money and produce jobs? Twin River in Rhode Island has been in debt and losing money for years. If we are trying to compete with Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun I think we should do the research and establish a quality venue in western Massachusetts that will pull patrons from New York and points west as well. The current plan spreads the resources thin and definitely has a sleaze factor.

We don’t want to over saturate the market and end up with these places empty or closed within 5 years!

Dale Schaetzke has another idea:

First, Scrap the lottery, we the people should not be in this business and there is no way we can label it a government service. Second, although I don’t like gambling, it should be legal. Repeal the prohibitions. If people want to put money… in a machine that keeps it, let them.

Jane Powers smells abuse:

Gambling is a BIG mistake.. They should call it what it is, a tax on poor people.

And Jeff Bowen is radical:

Definitley For it. Gambling shoud be a right of every Ameirican. We live in America after all. Land Of The Free. Remember that! I am pro- Medical Marijuana as well. If an American wants to drink, smoke or gambel they should be aloud to and not fear prosecution from the Govt. Oh, yeah and I am pro- Prostitution, the oldest profession. We can learn alot from the Netherlands. Does that make me a liberal? I am tired of the government telling people what they can and can’t do.

What do you think?

Published August 6, 2010

Good news! Massachusetts is getting a check for $665 million from the federal government (despite a “no” vote from Sen. Scott Brown). It’s called FMAP funding. And here’s why it means the embattled gambling legislation may not be dead yet.

(Dennis Redfield/Flickr)

• The FMAP is allocated to states to offset the costs of Medicaid and education. By receiving that infusion of cash, Massachusetts frees up money in the budget for other stuff. The state budget is about $23 billion, so the FMAP funding amounts to about 3 percent. (Not enough money to throw a party over, but an amount you would be really stoked to find lying on the sidewalk.)
• Lawmakers must convene to divvy up the money. But the formal legislative session ended last weekend, so the House and Senate have to figure out how to spend the money in an informal session or call everyone back for a formal session. The latter requires a two-thirds majority of each body.
• Laws can be passed in informal session, but a single lawmaker could raise an objection that kills the session. That would force lawmakers to meet in formal session.
• And if the House and Senate meet in formal sessions, some lawmakers say, casino gambling could be back on the table. One House member, speaking anonymously, told the Boston Globe the idea has been discussed in deliberations.

In interviews with WBUR today, the House and Senate minority leaders (Republicans) both say they want the gambling legislation to die. Neither of them has a lot of power on Beacon Hill, but they could prevent their colleagues from objecting to the FMAP spending. Which means the chambers could meet in informal sessions. Which means gambling would not come up for debate.

Globe reporter Michael Levenson said it best: “Like Wile E. Coyote, the gambling bill just will not die.”

Published August 5, 2010

PET scan of an Alzheimer's patient's brain (Susan NYC/Flickr)

Every one of us knows someone — or knows someone who knows someone — with Alzheimer’s. The disease can lie in wait for a decade before devastating the brain.

On Radio Boston recently, we brought on a leading Alzheimer’s researcher from Boston, Dr. Brad Hyman, to talk about new ways of diagnosing earlier — followed by a fascinating live chat with Hyman here on Hubbub. The question is, Would you want to take the test? And are we investing too much into diagnosis, not enough into the cure? The medical community is divided.

The New York Times today brings these questions into focus:

Why suggest ways of diagnosing the disease before a person even has symptoms? Why tell people they are doomed?

And are those early diagnosis guidelines just a sop to pharmaceutical companies so they can start marketing expensive, and perhaps not very effective, new drugs?

So the Alzheimer’s Association, with participation from the National Institute on Aging, held a conference call on Wednesday to clarify their position.

They wanted, in particular, to explain why they advocated using so-called biomarkers, like scans for amyloid plaque in the brain, a unique feature of Alzheimer’s, and tests of cerebrospinal fluid. Such brain scans are still experimental.

The groups said biomarkers would be used, at this stage, only for research, with some patients in studies having tests to see how well such brain changes predict disease.

In my brief television career at KPBS San Diego, I reported an Alzheimer’s explainer to get at the science of this disease, which took my great grandfather’s life. I will surely regret bringing this back from the archives, but here it is.

I can’t bear to watch the video with the sound on, but I recall that it’s very informative.