Michelle Wu is perhaps headed in the precise path, however is Boston?
Town underneath Wu appears to be headed in a gradual, downward spiral, with a downtown ghost city, transportation gridlock, priced-out Millennials fleeing to the suburbs, cracked sidewalks, needles in parks, random crime and streets overrun with rodents.
All these simple damaging developments may mix to overhaul the mayor’s second time period ought to she get a mandate, because the polls now present.
However her reelection will solely embolden her and make her much less accountable, and gained’t get her to vary her authoritarian type.
She casts herself because the defender of town with out taking any duty for these troubling developments.
Vacant downtown? Blame it on Covid. Rat drawback? Blame it on local weather change. Mass and Cass? It’s an dependancy drawback.
It’s by no means Wu’s fault.
She has a knack for avoiding blame, whether or not it’s Donald Trump’s fault or the economic system’s fault. Her critics are a voice within the wilderness.
And she or he might pull off the last word political win in November, passing the buck on the decline of town. Massive metropolis mayors often take the blame for any of those issues. Not Wu.
Boston is teetering on the sting and a cussed Wu glides together with an enormous smile. Outdoors town, there’s a notion that it’s unsafe, unclean and not possible to get round or park. It’s why you see main restaurant chains relocating away from Boston.
One of many greatest looming issues is the dying of downtown, with skyrocketing emptiness charges and employers now not needing workplace house. Changing the places of work to low-income housing shouldn’t be the one reply. What, have the Boston Housing Authority take over deserted workplace towers?
Guests don’t wish to come to Boston anymore and it’s not simply financial forces past Wu’s management that’s protecting individuals away.
The post-Covid shift to distant work didn’t assist however it’s not the one cause downtown is struggling. Violent crime is at its highest degree in 7 years in Downtown Crossing, which was once the heartbeat of town.
As soon as an enormous metropolis loses its company anchor, it’s the start of a collapse. The company core of town creates jobs and feeds the encircling neighborhoods. It’s what makes a metropolis run, which is what former Mayor Kevin White realized.
The collapse of downtown has a domino impact on different elements of town and its tourism enterprise.
However Wu has ignored or pushed away the enterprise neighborhood, whereas in close by neighborhoods just like the South Finish plagued with overrun drug use and crime spilling over from Mass and Cass, she has refused to make main modifications like extra legislation enforcement.
Wu is the feel-good mayor, not the city mechanic Tom Menino was or champion of the neighborhoods like Ray Flynn. The decline of Wutopia doesn’t match together with her ‘I do know greatest’ type.
After November, there’s no extra accountability for Wu, barring an upset win from Josh Kraft.
But when she sticks round, which isn’t totally assured, she’ll be confronted by all these issues if she wins a second time period.
