Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Hiding the Problem
Once again the Boston Marathon is upon us, and so is another tradition: pushing the homeless out of the marathon area. It happens every year. Homeless folks are sent packing while tourists, politicians, and runners travel back and forth around the area. Barriers are put up around the public library where the homeless sit, where…
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Boston Announces $5 Million Investment in Youth Homelessness, Affordable Housing
Mayor Martin J. Walsh announced he would commit $ 5 million, generated by the Commonwealth’s new short term rental law, to increase affordable housing opportunities and remedy chronic homelessness in Boston, as part of his 2020 (FY20) operating budget proposal. As part of the short term rental law, Walsh plans to increase Boston’s Room Occupancy…
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Joint Committee of Ways and Means Hearing Ignites Impassioned Petitions
On April 2, Gardner Auditorium buzzed as the Joint Committee of Ways and Means met to hold a public hearing to discuss the 2020 fiscal year budget. The committee is made up of 52 House and Senate members whose job is to analyze all matters pertaining to the Commonwealth’s finances. “We view the budget as…
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Mayor Walsh Seeks to Expand IDP Program, Housing Activists Seek More
As the fight to quell Boston’s housing displacement continues, city officials plan to expand their Inclusionary Development Policy, which currently mandates the majority of housing developers to aid in the construction of affordable, income-restricted units. The Inclusionary Development Policy (IDP) states that private housing developers must either make 13 percent of units in their new…
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Over 20 years rent control debate resurfaces in Mass.
Legislators within the Massachusetts House of Representatives are preparing to file a bill that would put rent control in Boston back on the table after being banned since 1994. To address Boston’s housing crisis, the bill would cap the rent prices that landlords can charge their residents as a measure of protection from eviction and…
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Cambridge and Somerville set up new defense fund for immigrants
The Cambridge Community Foundation (CCF), working together with the cities of Somerville and Cambridge, has established the United Legal Defense Fund to help defray the cost of legal representation for immigrants. This new fund expands the previous Cambridge Legal Defense Fund for immigrants which was launched one year ago by Cambridge mayor Marc McGovern-in partnership…
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Fiction: A Fly In The Ointment
He sat in the center and waited. A fly buzzed into the center and dropped to the floor. It lay still. Something in the air shifted. There was the smell of burning. Paul, sitting quietly in the center of circle and pentagram, turned in the direction of the movement in the corner of his eyes.…
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Shelters Shouldn’t Do the State’s job
When I read that Pine Street Inn was planning to create 140 units of housing by putting up a five to six story building in Jamaica Plain I nearly fell over, and not from joy. For years I’ve been a staunch believer that shelter agencies, including Pine Street Inn, should not double as landlords. Why?…
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Cambridge eyes major zoning relief for affordable developments
Cambridge City Hall. Cambridge City Council dedicated the March 20 Housing Committee meeting to hearing public comments on the 100% Affordable Housing Zoning Overlay. The proposal would allow developers of affordable housing exclusively for low and medium income renters to build significantly more densely and with a streamlined permit process citywide. The meeting drew a…
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Bathrooms for customers only: Peeing with dignity in the city
Everyone needs to use washrooms, but public washrooms are hard to find. Just ask anyone with colitis, or who has ever cared for a child who really needs to go. Toronto, for example, has only one free and public washroom for every 9,213 residents. So, where do we go, when we really need to go? Whether…
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