Think of spokes in this Hub

I agree with most of his ideas. Even during these difficult times, it's hard not to feel the energy and optimism Bostonians have for the future. We owe a lot to good planning and decades of forwarding-thinking public investment.

There is just one part of Campbell's vision I hope we can improve upon. He imagines the day when "the newer Boston suburbs" will "densify and morph from anonymous, unsustainable sprawl into genuine villages and towns." Boston doesn't have "newer" suburbs. The communities surrounding Boston have been villages and towns for centuries. We should protect their small-town character and beauty.

What the region does have is many dense transit-connecting cities that can grow together with the Hub to give the state a strong metropolitan economy. Cities like Brockton, Fitchburg, Lawrence, and Lowell already have the transit connections Campbell envisions. They just need the same forward-thinking investment that has helped Boston transition from a heavy-manufacturing industrial city into a vital contributor in the knowledge economy.

Benjamin Forman
Senior research analyst
Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth
Boston