For two people who aren’t running for statewide office, Ross Bergen and Lila Gardner have come to know Massachusetts exceedingly well. Over about three weeks, the couple, ages 25 and 24, visited all 351 cities and towns. Yet their project didn’t just produce cool, moody Instagram photos of statues, grand public buildings, and colorful landscapes. It also hinted at what’s good — and bad — about the Commonwealth’s system of local government.
There’s plenty to behold: Many towns have attractive, well defined centers, often with village greens, major civic buildings, and businesses clustered near them; these towns already have the kind of development pattern that land-use planners elsewhere are trying desperately to recreate.
Comments
What a beautiful collection of photographs. Many done w/ HDR or worked over with Photoshop but for what hey purport to be - cell phone pics - they are really wonderful.
Defintely should be more regionalization. DPW's, animal control, inspectors, etc. And all should join the state's pension system, which is one of the few things the state does well.
It blows my mind that Massachusetts all but deprecated its counties in the 90s. Somehow 351 government entities is better than 14?
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