Boston is, in the scheme of things, a pretty well-governed city with a low crime rate and a public school system that, unusually for a big city, performs above the national average when you control for demographic factors. That’s all probably part of the reason that incumbent Mayor Thomas Menino has been in office since 1993. But that only means there are new issues people need to talk about. For example, City Councilman Sam Yoon is running on a strong platform of transportation reform:
Transportation isn’t just cars
The Menino administration has finally started to introduce limited measures that will make the city more bike-friendly. But gestures are not enough. The real problem is that we have an outdated transportation department and mixed up planning. If we want to be the cleanest, greenest, 21st century city in America, then we must get this right. Street design that moves people – on bike, on foot and on rapid public transit should be the focus. Cars are just one part of the breadth of transportation solutions and Boston should be leading the way.
He’s also right about charter school caps. Obviously, there are other issues in play and lots of local-to-Boston details I’m not on top of, so don’t take this as dispositive. But since this blog likes to cover transportation and urban reform issues, I thought it was worth noting this.
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