Boston's year ahead: What we're watching in 2025

Wu goes for second term

A Boston mayor hasn't been voted out of office since 1949, but center-right forces in the Boston business world and beyond have their knives out for Michelle Wu this year.

• Josh Kraft, son of billionaire Patriots owner Robert Kraft, is seen as Wu's likely challenger from the right.
• Wu will also have to convince her left-leaning coalition that she's been progressive enough at City Hall to deserve another four years.

Transpo talk

Much of Beacon Hill's agenda this year will focus on transportation: how to lessen traffic congestion and improve the MBTA — and how to pay for it.

• A Healey administration report — meant to be the cornerstone of the governor's transportation agenda — is delayed, meaning lawmakers don't yet know if Healey wants to commit more tax funds to roads and trains.
• The backdrop: a $700 million budget gap at the MBTA that could undo the work the agency has put into speeding up the transit system.

Irish repeat

The Celtics are off to a good, not great, start this season as they seek to repeat as NBA champions.

• The playoffs start April 19.

Medical upheavals

Mass. General Brigham is adding more cancer care with a huge new expansion to its main campus.

• The clock is ticking before the hospital chain loses its partnership with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in 2028 to competitor Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
• All of Boston's big health players are facing a growing trend of doctors unionizing and the fallout from the collapse of the Steward chain last year.

Labor on the rise

A new law passed by voters last year means ride-share drivers can form their own unions, potentially shaking up the gig economy landscape.

• Coffee chain workers are also showing more interest in organizing, and labor unions are more than willing to help.

Karen Read, take two

Read's second murder trial begins April 1, and if the excitement around it is half the circus the first trial was, most of New England will once again be glued to courtroom livestreams.

• More scrutiny is being applied to Norfolk County prosecutors and police culture in Greater Boston than last year, so expect the dialogue surrounding Read Round 2 to be more critical of her accusers.

Higher ed faces threats

The higher education world is still reeling from the end of affirmative action last year and the reckoning over DEI programs.

• Colleges have a third crisis to deal with in 2025: how to handle free speech issues and student protests over global conflicts.

Real estate woes

The real estate trends of 2024 are likely to continue in 2025, with sky-high prices, not enough homes built and too many empty office spaces.

• Policymakers will try to avoid the supposed "urban death loop" where high housing costs send workers and companies fleeing from the city, leaving tax coffers dry.

Yes, but: More towns are getting on board with allowing more housing, thanks in part to the state's MBTA Communities law.