Article written by Adam

2 responses to “Is It Boston?”

  1. Nicolas Ward

    I was thinking about this in the context of the last mayoral election. On the one hand, the mayor of Boston should represent Boston (and therefore be voted on only by actual Boston proper residents)… but on the other hand, a lot of what the mayor and city council do affects my regular use of the city, and I have no representation with them.

    It makes me think that for large urban areas there needs to be some kind of “supermayor” or “supercouncil” that has some kind of metro-area jurisdiction dealing with things like transit, public parks, libraries, etc., maybe a council of mayors or something. In non-urban areas this could be handled at the county level, but even in a relatively small regional city center like Boston that would be too large of a county (by both area and population).

    Overall though, the resolution of identifying one’s hometown depends on the audience – saying “Boston” to someone not from Boston (proper or otherwise) is usually just shorthand for “Greater Boston”. I say I grew up in Minneapolis even though we never lived in Minneapolis proper; if someone else is from the area, then I might specify one of the suburbs we lived in.

    1. Adam Pieniazek

      Some metro/macro level leadership would be useful. You got me thinking about how a supermayor would greatly benefit something like transit. Right now all our roads are a crazy mix of randomness, instead of a unified system that makes sense to everyone and everywhere. Things like bike paths getting cut off when entering/exiting the next city could be much easier fixed.

      Micro mayors might be a good idea too. For places like Boston and New York, having mayors of each of the neighborhoods would lead to the Mayor getting better communication and being able to focus on the city as a whole without each area being neglected