Elise Rapoza

‘Forewarned is forearmed’ on housing voucher cuts This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jennifer Smith is joined by Kenzie Bok, head of the Boston Housing Authority, to discuss the threat of President Trump’s budget on rental assista...

Proposed cuts to federal budget could make 11,000 kids homeless in Greater Boston alone through cuts to Section-8 voucher program: commonwealthbeacon.org/the-codcast/...

Massachusetts seeks to address shortage of primary care doctors - The New Bedford Light A 25-member task force will collaborate with legislators, the governor, advocates and providers to find consensus on urgently needed policy solutions.

So glad to see this topic finally get some attention. However, the thing I don't think gets enough attention is the role of HMOs in creating sometimes unnecessary paperwork and visits to the PCP #masspoli #healthcare #HMOs #primarycare newbedfordlight.org/massachusett...

Voters support more action to boost housing, new poll finds Some 57 percent of voters think that the cost of housing is a "a big problem" in their own communities, according to a new poll conducted by the MassINC Polling Group for Abundant Housing Massachusett...

81% of Massachusetts voters support legislation to make it easier to build more #housing and offer a greater variety of housing types. commonwealthbeacon.org/housing/vote...

When the river rises By 2050, severe floods that were expected to happen once every 100 years will be three times more likely to occur in the Connecticut River Valley in Massachusetts. But the uneven distribution of…

By 2050, severe floods in the Connecticut River Valley in Massachusetts that were expected to happen once every 100 years will be 3x more likely to occur.

More: buff.ly/rR6yIJI

The Revitalization of Lowell, Mass. After a long economic slump, the post-industrial New England city is encouraging development, filling vacant properties and zoning for more housing.

Great profile by Governing Magazine on the revitalization of Lowell, MA. #economicdevelopment #housing #gatewaycities www.governing.com/management-a...

Falling Behind: The Miseducation of America's Boys American boys are falling behind in academics as early as eight years old. It’s a gap that only grows as those boys become men. This special On Point series explores why America’s boys are falling beh...

Important podcast/radio show series on how our education system is failing boys: www.wbur.org/onpoint/2025...

Standing room only at event in New Bedford to discuss ADUs. More than half of the audience were actually from the suburbs!! #southcoastplacesforpeople #AffordableHousingAct

‘Water doesn't know property lines’: Where Massachusetts’ climate and housing crises meet “The state rules have to catch up with the reality of climate change," said Matthew Fee, a Nantucket select board member. "A town road can’t be abandoned if someone’s on it, but what happens when the ...

It's #climatechange month at Commonwealth Beacon! @cwbeacon.bsky.social Today: "‘Water doesn’t know property lines’: Where Massachusetts’ climate and housing crises meet." #housing @mapoli.bsky.social commonwealthbeacon.org/environment/...

The potential of places like New Bedford A quarter of the nation lives in smaller cities, which are often overlooked but more affordable, have great assets, and have room to grow.

The potential of places like #NewBedford. "A quarter of the nation lives in smaller cities, which are often overlooked but more affordable, have great assets, and have room to grow." www.cnu.org/publicsquare...

South Coast Rail is great. It is also 30 years late. - The Boston Globe The new commuter rail service to New Bedford and Fall River is worth celebrating. Still, the fact that it took so long, cost so much, and goes so slowly shouldn’t be acceptable to anyone.

Great editorial from the @bostonglobe.com on the long journey to #southcoastrail completion and why we need to make it easier to build. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/03/25/o...

The new #SouthCoastRail schedule is deeply disappointing. Though I live in New Bedford, I'll probably keep driving to the Middleborough station a majority of the time because there are no departures from New Bedford between 7:25 and 9:33 and school drop off is 7:30 at the earliest. @mbta.com

Year After Year, Milwaukee Manages to Reduce Homelessness Over the last decade, Wisconsin's largest county has made dramatic progress in reducing its homeless population.

#Homelessness is up across the country, but Milwaukee has bucked the trend through strong county government leadership and collaboration with the business community. www.governing.com/urban/year-a...

Heads up: Nate Silver and I will be doing a live conversation via the Substack app tomorrow at 11 AM New York time tomorrow. Topics will not include sports or poker.

Gateway City Housing Profiles - MassINC The Gateway Cities Housing Monitor is a new resource providing the data needed to make effective housing policy decisions. It tracks housing market conditions in the 26 Gateway Cities and their suburb...

I created a new data tool to access data on #GatewayCity #housing conditions. Check it out here! massinc.org/policy-cente...

Empty apartments across Massachusetts could be key to solving housing crisis It’s usually a lot cheaper to put vacant housing units back on the market than to build new ones.

Rehabbing empty homes can help address the housing shortage while making neighborhoods healthier and safer. www.wgbh.org/news/housing...

Become a champion and join the fight for facts. We need champions like you spreading the word through social media to help push back against misinformation.

Just learned about Rumor Guard. Worth bookmarking: www.rumorguard.org

This is pretty wild.

On a cold night, looking for New Bedford’s unhoused - The New Bedford Light The annual overnight census provides a snapshot of New Bedford’s homeless population.

Incredibly well-written article from The New Bedford Light on the plight of the unhoused population in Bristol County and the annual effort to count their numbers. #homelessness newbedfordlight.org/on-a-cold-ni...

Suburban and Gateway City! In most cases I would prescribe apartments for the former and condos for the latter to achieve a better tenure balance.

New England’s fishing industry is struggling to keep up with fast-moving climate change The seafood industry in New England generates more than $20 billion in sales each year and employs more than a quarter million people...but it isn't moving fast enough to meet the challenges of climat...

Climate change is already impacting New Bedford's fishing industry. If I were them, I'd be more concerned about that than offshore wind. www.wbur.org/the-common/2...

Final tally. Pretty clear winner here for top issue.

Are you at MMA / Connect 351? Visit @massincpolling.bsky.social and our MassINC colleagues at booth 424! And vote in our poll on top local issues.

Something tells me that gathering face-to-face is going to become more important than ever.

Trump targets offshore wind, but stopping projects won’t be easy - The New Bedford Light New leases are halted. Current wind projects face review. But Vineyard Wind and SouthCoast Wind’s 11th-hour Biden administration approvals will be hard to undo.

A local, well-informed take on the prospects for offshore wind in Massachusetts. Honestly, it kinda seems like New Bedford has a target on its back. newbedfordlight.org/trump-order-...

‘It’s not going to be pretty’ On a chilly November evening, the first after a string of 70-degree days, people made their way to a former storefront on Acushnet Avenue in New Bedford’s

From @kevingandrade.bsky.social: New Bedford has more experience than most communities with deportations at scale, but the lack of details about President-elect Trump’s mass deportation plans leaves residents anxious about the tactics and impacts of such an operation. buff.ly/3DqEOiZ

OOOooo...they're going to be local.

Net International Migration Drives Highest U.S. Population Growth in Decades The U.S. population grew by nearly 1.0% between 2023 and 2024, according to the new Vintage 2024 population estimates released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

"U.S. population grew by nearly 1.0% between 2023 and 2024...this is the fastest annual population growth the nation has seen since 2001 — a notable increase from the record low growth rate of 0.2% in 2021. The growth was primarily driven by rising net international migration." tinyurl.com/bds7pjcx

I’m getting frustrated that all the reporting on microplastics I’ve heard in the news lately totally ignores the primary source of microplastics in both indoor and aquatic environments—synthetic textiles—and that inhalation is a major exposure route. #publichealth #microplastics @npr.org

FBI Warns iPhone And Android Users—Stop Sending Texts US officials urge citizens to use encrypted messaging and calls wherever they can—here’s what you need to know.

Uh...

New England’s Lotteries: Trends in State Revenues and Player Spending

This eye-opening finding from the Boston Fed has important equity implications. “Massachusetts has the country’s highest per capita spending on state lottery purchases at $839, according to the most recent data. The national average is $293.” www.bostonfed.org/publications...