The issue is that Boston will continue to need the T even if no suburban commuters ever return to the city. It serves a crucial function to the urban core.

Plain as day there something will need to change

Yeah but in these forums if you promote that (that not everyone should live in a city) | you're a .... {fill in term of the moment here}

Such a pain when the Patriots are on FOX.

>What does it look like in the daytime?

It's far enough away that I can't see it. I can only see the light—which, now that I think about it, puts it farther away than the two antennas in the Pelham–Belchertown hills are from Rt. 116 (at that stretch, South Pleasant Street) in Amherst. (They're visible over Amherst College's wildlife sanctuary's meadow.) The northern one is a cell tower near the intersection of Amherst Road and Rt. 202 in Pelham, while the southern one is WFCR's transmitter (as well as that of WAMH at Amherst college).

>There's a radome on a hilltop on the UMass campus that you might be pointed to at times, though that's not really very far above terrain.

I believe you're thinking of the observatory on the rise/ridge between Orchard Hill and Sylvan (PDF).

>But there's also a north/south run of power lines with towers that are tall enough they might require lighting at night.

I've paralleled them on Rt. 116 and crossed under them on east–west roads and never seen a light.

>WHYN's towers rise in a field in Southampton but that doesn't seem to be the direction you're looking in or necessarily even visible given intervening ridges.

That's very true. The view is directly west and very constricted by the trees lining the road.

It’s the law now, and will be a part of driver’s education curriculum. It’s something. It’s not new infrastructure.

Thank you, Sen. Brownsberger!

Yes, I chose a wealthy town to show that not all rural residents are poor. That's a logical statement, nothing ironic about it. You need to read more slowly because you aren't understanding much of what we're discussing here. Your confusion and bitterness are apparent, but your argument is nonsensical. I'm sorry you take issue with your representation, but you're not really communicating your needs, either.

It's also odd to comment on my self-awareness when I haven't mentioned myself once. I believe you meant to insult my social awareness.

All the ad hominem stuff aside, we agree that the less fortunate should be helped. I'm more confident in my ideas than yours is all; you'll live.

Civil rights decisions, like those leading to the end of Jim Crow laws, are a justification for the Judicial Branch. Their institution is not a justification to reconstitute representative power.

Believing majority power matters in the distribution of funding doesn't make one prejudicial, and hitching rural MA to the plight of people living in the Jim Crow south is plain gross.

Yeah, it's a tough situation to figure out. Having the best hospital in Boston makes sense because the most people are served by it, but then if you pay taxes and have no hospital nearby you don't feel like you're getting much return on your investment. The same with public transportation. Paying a ton to keep the T going in Boston makes sense, but it sucks to pay for it and not even have a train station within a 45 minute drive. It's a classic problem.

I can see the possibility of the safety equipment for trucks being enforced, but not the other two. If everyone speeds on a certain road, it's because of road design. Still glad the law is being written into the books though.

I’m not convinced Boston really does get outsized investment in infrastructure. Of course it gets most, since most of the people are there, most of the taxable income is there, and maybe that will always seem unfair. But does the metro area really get the most funding per capita, or per taxable income?

Infrastructure in rural areas benefits a lot fewer people who bring in a lot less tax income. Maybe your rickety town bridge that only serves a dozen cars a day is relatively more expensive than the Zakim bridge serving tens of thousands

Uber is a private company so really doesn’t count. Taxis are a private use of government granted monopoly so might, depending on where the shortage is caused.

Bus or other public service is firmly in the hands of local government

I don’t know enough about rural MA but in other places an underlying issue is lack of a town center. If it’s entirely rural, there’s just no way to effectively provide transit. However even the smallest towns can have a center, a cluster of destinations or higher density living. Could that be a pre-requisite?

Massachusetts is a leader on medical stuff in several different ways, so building on one of our strong points would be a great idea

There was that thread about Boston workdays only having 52% of pre-pandemic activity. Although I don’t know how that would explain decades of deferred maintenance

Thanks.

We got independent testing done by a lab in Leominster.

Our level of aluminum is 7x higher than the max EPA limit.

We're shopping RO systems now.

It seems like your points 4 and 5 are they need to do more marketing.

> They need more … professionals

As a parent of kids entering college, I suggest service programs to help pay off student loans. I know such things exist but usually only for places that are the extremes. However for whatever reason you don’t have enough doctored, you may attract more by advertising a student loan benefir

You can't win the Presidency with just California, New York, Florida, and Texas. Go after just the urban vote and you're doomed to failure. The electoral college fixes problems that don't exist anymore, if they ever did.

Rural Americans have been consistently overrepresented in all levels of government for literal centuries, but sure, keep playing the victim.

I don’t think it’s about having equal representation. I think it’s about making sure that certain communities aren’t invisible to the people in power. Nobody is suggesting they get extra votes in the legislature.

Of course not, but saying that for instance every county should have equal say is insane when middlesex has over a million people and Franklin has 70k

Also if you have a well I’d strongly suggest you get it tested for PFAS just the be save. Just my opinion.

The point I’m making is that a huge part of Massachusetts goes unnoticed and when in witnessed and talked to the people that lived there I was appalled by the scope of the problem. This isn’t just a rural problem it’s very simple if you don’t live in the coast where the money is. The legislature doesn’t see that your worth there time.

Westminster is central Mass, though.

https://westminsterwindow.com/stories/thorntons-pfa-levels-exceed-epas-new-health-advisory,398290

https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2022/08/08/pfas-compost-contamination

Look up Westminster PFAS these are the only article I can find you don’t really have to pay for. PS- this PFAS problem is pressing in this state and the legislature has chosen to allow there citizens to get exposed to cancer causing agents instead of spending the money that it needs to in order to fix the problem.