Posts Tagged ‘social media’
A revolting development
A Boston University study recently found that municipal zoning boards, planning boards and redevelopment boards are dominated by white male homeowners. Wait. Men are more interested in construction, development and zoning than women are? What’s the next bombshell revelation – male drivers won’t ask for directions? Fight the urban planning patriarchy! Speaking of zoning and […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: American Mutual, Board of Appeals, building, business, Comverse Technologies, construction, development Cabot Cabot & Forbes, elitism, Facebook, Humor, Lake Quannapowitt, Malden MA, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Opinion, Politics, public hearings, public transit, smart growth, social media, Town Meeting, urban planning, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, ZBA, zoning, Zoning Board, Zoning Bylaws
2020, we hardly knew ye
We couldn’t wait to kick 2020 to the curb, and indeed it was a rotten year in many respects. The pandemic brought illness and worse to the old and vulnerable. For the rest of us, it was a year of prohibitions: on going out to eat, on walking around the Lake, on attending church, on […]
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Tags: 2020, business, court, COVID coronavirus, DPW, Fire Department, flags, Humor, lockdowns, Mark Sardella, Memorial Day, News, Opinion, pandemic, plastic, police, Politics, prohibition, social media, straws, Town Meeting, Veterans' Day, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Human Rights Commission, Wakefield MA, Warrior logo, Winship Mansion, wreaths, Youth Council, Zoom
Fine for parking
It was heartening to see the Wakefield Town Council take an action recently that will benefit those who drive automobiles, because the trend across the Commonwealth and the nation in recent years has been to treat motorists as the scum of the earth.
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Tags: automobiles, bike lanes, Boston, Burrage Yale, business district, Cambridge, cars, downtown, drivers, Ed Dombroski, Green New Deal, Harvard Square, Humor, infrastructure, Jame Hartshorne, Main Street, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, motorists, Opinion, parking, pedestrians, Politics, public meeting, social media, Town Council, upgrade, VHB, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA
Pretty Vacant
“Isn’t it a shame about all the empty storefronts downtown?” “Which ones are empty?” “Well, I haven’t been downtown lately. Nobody goes there anymore because there’s too much traffic and not enough parking.” “Oh.” There’s one myth almost as persistent as the one that Wakefield has become so overdeveloped that there’s no room for an […]
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Tags: Boys & Girls Club, business, economy, hippies, John Devlin, Main Street, Mark Sardella, Molise, myth, Nonnos, Piece O Pizza, Procol Harem, Sixties, social media, storefronts, stores, Tommy James & the Shondells, vacancy, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, Yogi Berra
I’ll resist calling it “entertaining,” but it has been fascinating to watch the ongoing feud between the Wakefield Farmers Market and The Bread Shop. A year ago, Farmers Market manager Wendy Dennis initially denied The Bread Shop’s application to have a table at the Wakefield Farmers Market but later grudgingly relented after The Bread Shop […]
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Tags: artisan, bakery, Board of Selectmen, bread, cheese, competition, elitist, food, France, fruit, hippie, Humor, locally grown, Mark Sardella, Opinion, pastry, Politics, shop local, social media, Socialist, The Bread Shop, Town Council, vegetables, vendors, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Farmers Market, Wendy Dennis
Where’s the outrage?
One thing that there’s no shortage of on social media is outrage. Democrats are outraged about Trump. Republicans are outraged about Hillary (and Trump). And apparently everybody’s outraged about underground power lines. Whether on social media or real life, sometimes it seems that there isn’t enough outrage where it’s truly warranted. That’s why it was […]
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Tags: Board of Selectmen, Brian Falvey, Catherine Dhingra, drugs, Ed Dombroski, Facebook, Humor, legalization, marijuana, Mark Sardella, Opinion, outrage, parents, Politics, pot, power lines, social media, teachers, teens, Tony Longo, WAKE UP, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, Wakefield MA, weed, Youth Risk Behavior Survey, youth teenagers
No win zone
Sometimes, the people in charge of things just can’t win, especially in the age of social media, where everybody’s a pundit. Recently, town officials announced several more initiatives to try to revitalize the downtown. Of course, it’s never enough. Or is it too much? Either way, the town is sure to get slammed for doing […]
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Tags: Board of Selectmen, business, business district, commercial property, development, Dog Park, Dollar Tree, downtown, economic development, Facebook, Malden, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Melrose, merchants, parking, police, pundits, Ralph Waldo Emerson, schools, signs, social media, taxpayers, traffic, Twitter, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, zoning
Mark Sardella 