A lot of communities around the country are struggling with affordable housing and have come up with some very interesting solutions, so far. But because we are an island, a lot of the solutions or changes that work elsewhere need to be modified to work on Nantucket. Adding more affordable and workforce housing is a …
It has taken decades for us to get to this point and it will surely take decades more to fix this problem. Here are a few ways to get that process going.
I posted an article on Facebook about a proposed measure in Washington DC to heavily tax oversized personal vehicles that take up too much room and have an outsized impact on roads, traffic, and emissions. Interesting and rather defensive responses from many people. One person said that the problem with too many people and too …
I ran a little survey this past week. 60 people responded. The goal was not to find out what people’s opinions are on housing, but instead to understand how people feel about those who sell their homes and the choices they make. Here’s the rather purposefully round-a-bout hypothetical question: Let’s say you have an older …
There has been a story in the local media about the Steamship Authority looking into adding a new boat to the Nantucket route. While some think this would solve the problem of an over-booked boat line, a new boat would likely cause more problems than it would solve. We already have too many cars on …
Let’s talk about property rights as it relates to rentals on Nantucket. I’ve heard a few people say that regulating and limiting short-term rentals on the island infringes upon their property rights. And for them, it likely feels that way. But the truth is something different. As voters, we all need to grasp the fact …
I wrote this on Facebook 8 years ago about a measure to add a new supermarket in the mid island. It’s even more true today. In a recent survey about the proposed supermarket on Old South Road, I received 368 responses (some people took the survey multiple times, but their duplicate responses were deleted.) And …
When making change happen, it always helps to have a goal. When it comes to net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, our community could be making changes to conserve resources, produce and use more renewable clean energy and not contribute to global warming. But we have not set the goal yet. A goal has been set …
I am always a little amused by the number of people who say something is illegal without knowing what the law says. This is exactly what happened on Facebook over the weekend. Someone asked if they could rent a campsite on someone’s property and everyone jumped all over her saying it was not allowed on …