From the category archives:

Local to Boston

Choosing the Worst Schools

by Dave Atkins on May 4, 2012

in Education,Local to Boston

At our parents meeting on Monday night, we heard from one parent who must have drawn the worst lottery number–both this year and last. His child got nothing for K1 last year after ranking 14 schools, then after ranking 16 elementary schools this year, remains unassigned. They are wait listed at 3 schools, but at [...]

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An Unlucky Start to Weekend

by Dave Atkins on April 17, 2012

in Local to Boston

Sometimes, Friday the 13th is actually unlucky. This is not my car: It’s the scene in the parking lot from Friday evening as we grabbed an unhealthy dinner at the BK Steakhouse on Washington Street in Roslindale. This is my car: Around 3:30am Saturday (the 14th) morning, some clown in a white Chevy Impala (based [...]

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I’ve been fascinated by solar power since I was a kid and visited one of those model “homes of the future.” With the current financial incentives available, especially in Massachusetts, it not only makes sense to put a solar array on your roof, it might even be worth cutting down a tree to do it. [...]

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I’m starting a series of posts on education, and I’ll begin with a practical observation that seldom makes it to the top of most education reform discussions: One of the most important functions of elementary education is to provide a safe, supervised environment for parents to leave their kids so they can work. Many parents [...]

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Hubway Relaunch

by Dave Atkins on April 3, 2012

in Active Transportation,Cycling,Local to Boston

Boston cyclists have taken 15,000 rides since Boston’s bike share system, Hubway, soft-relaunched in early March. Memberships have grown to over 5,000. Today at noon, Mayor Menino and bike czar Nicole Friedman officially reopened the Hubway at a short ceremony/event in front of the Boston Public Library.

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We had a moment on the bus yesterday. As I sat holding Marshall on my lap, on a very crowded 36 bus leaving Forest Hills, the woman sitting in front of me started confronting a girl with her young child: “Did you just say you was going to hit him?” The girl shot back, “Did [...]

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I am increasingly entertained by blog spam. Since I started reposting (from my phone, no less), I must concede the quality of my writing has declined and yet the quality of spam improves daily. What was once gibberish and quotes copied and pasted from somewhere else has become obsequious pidgin prose. [update: I'm not the [...]

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Boston March

by Dave Atkins on March 23, 2012

in Local to Boston

Last year, we gathered the children together and braved the freezing cold of May and June to play Tee Ball at Pine Bank just up the hill from Jamaica Pond. Popsicles seemed a cruel irony to close the games we did play while rain and sleet cancelled others. But this week in Boston has been [...]

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Hubway is back in Boston. After the mildest winter I can remember, with barely any snow, the paths are clear and, as the mercury passed 81 degrees today, I found myself breaking a sweat. I leisurely rode from my job near North Station, along the Esplanade to the new bike lanes on Mass. Ave to [...]

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Marshall is set to be a “T”-pro by the time he goes to high school. This year, he’s attending a preschool in Jamaica Plain (the next neighborhood up from where we live in Roslindale) and most mornings, I drop him off on the way to work. It’s much easier than driving and it makes each [...]

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