The Herald News – Report: Gateway City schools challenged

The commonweath’s so-called Gateway Cities serve roughly 25 percent of all Massachusetts public school students. According to a report released last week by MassINC, those cities also serve its neediest student populations. The report studied 14 of the 26 Gateway Cities, small- to mid-size cities that in most cases were once the centers of burgeoning

CDC director wins innovation award

Marc Dohan, executive director of the Twin Cities Community Development Corp. in Fitchburg, was recently named the winner of a MassINC Gateway Cities Innovation Award. The award was presented during a recent luncheon marking the one year anniversary of MassINC’s Gateway Cities Innovation Institute. Fitchburg is one of 26 Gateway Cities in Massachusetts. Read more…

Lessons from Lawrence on education reform

Monday, June 11, 2012 The New Bedford Standard Times recently published an editorial expressing a desire for New Bedford to look to Lawrence for a lesson in education reform. The editorial recognizes the similarities in character, economy and demographic layout between the two Gateway Cities, and emphasizes that the educational reforms in Lawrence are relevant

The American Dream: More than a bumper sticker

Thursday, December 15, 2011 Republished here from CommonWealth magazine’s Fall 2011 Editor’s Note. In 1996, the first issue of CommonWealth magazine featured a cover story on the changing economics of middle-class life in Massachusetts. The story focused on Heritage Road in Billerica, where the residents were doing reasonably well but having some doubts about the

A victory for Holyoke?

Thursday, October 27, 2011 By John Schneider There’s something very appealing about downtown Holyoke. The city has some great old buildings and public spaces, it was the birthplace of volleyball, and has one of the niftiest city halls you’ll see anywhere. Locals say that their city hall’s clock tower was built high enough so that

Boston’s “diversity density”

Monday, July 11, 2011 Have you checked your “diversity density” lately? Coined by former MassINC colleague Robert Sullivan, diversity density is an indicator of not only of the range of diversity in a city bit also the likelihood that city residents actually encounter each other around town. Sullivan, writing in the Boston Sunday Globe says

Ben Forman presents on innovation cities at the American Planning Association’s annual conference

Wednesday, April 13, 2011 MassINC’s Research Director Ben Forman presented before a group of planners at this year’s APA conference at the Hynes Convention Center. He joined Peter Abair of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, Steven Maggon, Watertown’s director of planning, and Kathryn Madden, of the Madden Planning Group on a panel titled Rising to Meet

Gateway Cities ed poll shows public has low expectations

Wednesday, February 9, 2011 Steve Koczela In a survey of Gateway City voters conducted by the MassINC Polling Group last month, nearly half of respondents gave their community’s public schools a grade of A (12 percent) or B (37 percent). These positive grades contrast sharply with the state’s assessment. According to the Department of Elementary and

A call to service

Tuesday, September 14, 2010 By Amelia Aubourg There are a number of social justice issues that need our attention. As young professionals, we play a crucial part in responding to these issues with our gifts of time, talent and treasure. Members of the Boston Young Professionals Society of the American Red Cross of Mass Bay

A Frontline View of Healthcare in the Commonwealth

Friday, August 13, 2010 Daisy Gómez is a licensed Social Worker at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and MassINC Associate Board Member. Every day, I see the direct impact health care polices have on the public.  In my work, I support parents of children diagnosed with cancer as they wrestle with a multitude of concrete needs

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