Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy
Collaborative Research | Innovative Approaches | Practical Solutions ▪ A "think and do" tank based at Northeastern University
Recent Research Reports
Life Sciences Innovation as a Catalyst for Economic Development
Download the Report
2012 Greater Boston Housing Report Card
Download the Report
Hub and Spoke: Core Transit Congestion and the Future of Transit and Development in Greater Boston
Download the Report
Recapturing the American Dream: Meeting the Challenges of the
Bay State’s Lost Decade
Download the Report
Home
Special Recent Posts
Big housing plans for smaller cities
June 6th, 2013By Paul McMorrow | The Boston Globe | June 4, 2013 THE PEOPLE who built Malden City Hall did their best to imitate Boston’s more famous seat of municipal government. Malden’s charmless version of Government Center is even harder on the eyes, and the surrounding neighborhood, than Boston’s. A squat brick monolith with a leaky roof overlooking an Orange Line station, the complex succeeds in imitating Boston in just one way: It chokes the life out of everything in its path. Malden City Hall looks headed for the slag heap, since the building is both unloved and prohibitively expensive to maintain. City officials [read more]
Alan Clayton-Matthews Explains Economic Slip and Predicts Uptick
June 5th, 2013U.S. consumer spending slips, income stagnates By Jordan Graham | The Boston Herald | June 1, 2013 Spending in the U.S. dropped for the first time in a year and income stagnated according to the U.S Department of Commerce’s report yesterday on the April economy — released even as consumer confidence numbers hit a six-year high. The report showed the first drop in spending since last May — a 0.2 percent slip that came after a strong first quarter, including a 0.8 percent jump in spending in February. “The economy is in a bit of a soft patch,” said Alan Clayton-Matthews, an economist at [read more]
Michael and Kitty Dukakis Ride the CapeFlyer
May 31st, 2013By Fran McDermott | The Barnstable Patriot | May 30, 2013 NICE GOING, GUYS – Former Gov. Michael Dukakis, center, has complimentary words for Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority Administrator Tom Cahir, left, and John Kennedy, general manager of the RTA’s operations company, on the CapeFlyer. “This makes all kinds of sense,” Dukakis said in an interview with the Patriot. “What’s needed is some significant track improvement.” He said people who live near rail lines should expect them to be used, and cited the experience of his wife’s childhood neighborhood in Newton, where some residents initially opposed transit service. “Now homes are [read more]
Retiring Baby Boomers and Young Adults Want the Same Housing
May 29th, 2013Home values in the Boston area increased by 6.7 percent in March By Jenifer B. McKim | Boston.com | May 28, 2013 Home values in the Boston area increased by 6.7 percent in March compared with the same time last year, according to data released Tuesday by the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, another indicator of a rejuvenated housing market. Nationwide, home prices increased 10.9 percent compared with March 2012, according to Case-Shiller, and values increased in all 20 metro areas measured by the firm. Because Case-Shiller measures repeat homes sales, it is considered one of the best markers of the nation’s housing health. “Other [read more]
Alan Clayton-Matthews Forecasts Unemployment and Job Growth
May 23rd, 2013Economists see more slow growth in Mass. By Priyanka Dayal McCluskey | Worcester Telegram | May 22, 2013 Forecasters expect more slow growth for the Massachusetts economy in the year ahead as the state struggles through federal spending cuts and tax increases. Payroll employment is expected to grow 1 percent in 2013, increasing to 1.6 percent next year and 2.2 percent the year after that. "Normal" job growth won't return until 2016. A forecast from Alan Clayton-Matthews, economist at Northeastern University, predicts the state unemployment rate to drop gradually to 5.2 percent by the end of 2017. The state unemployment rate was 6.4 percent [read more]