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A guide to Boston's hidden gem restaurants

Food and Drink

Chris Evans' Boston wedding brings the Avengers to town

Chris Evans' nuptials brought Downey, Johansson, Hemsworth and Renner to Boston

Culture

Massachusetts' peak fall foliage schedule

When and where the good leaf peeping will be.

Things to Do

MBTA saw slower summer service as repairs mount

Slow zones on the MBTA led to longer delays this summer.

Transit

Boston apartment construction's steady decline

Metro area home-builders have been slowing down.

Real Estate

Roughly 5,593 new apartment units are expected in the greater Boston area this year, just over half the units that were built in 2020, according to a new report.Driving the news: Boston has seen a steady decline in new apartment construction in the last three years, per a <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="RentCafe" data-vars-click-url="https://www.rentcafe.com/blog/rental-market/market-snapshots/new-apartment-construction/" data-vars-content-id="844e21b8-b8d5-4bbf-b38b-669a9fd9cab6" data-vars-headline="Boston apartment construction&#x27;s steady decline" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.rentcafe.com/blog/rental-market/market-snapshots/new-apartment-construction/" target="_blank">RentCafe</a> analysis of data from real estate intelligence service Yardi Matrix.

Poll: Your Massachusetts backup plan

Obviously Massachusetts is the best place to live — but if you couldn&#x27;t call the Commonwealth home anymore, where would you go?

Illustration of a turkey pulling a suitcase. 

Boston's first "passive" single-family homes preview greener future

The West Roxbury homes are air-tight and net-zero.

Climate

A new West Roxbury residential development has been certified as &quot;passive.&quot; <ul><li>They are the first single-family houses in Boston to join a global green building trend reshaping design and construction.</li></ul>Why it matters: As municipalities in Greater Boston tighten building codes and energy efficiency rules, design methods and certifications like passive homes will become the norm to limit energy use and emissions.

Despite rising home values, Boston homeowners pay among lowest shares of property taxes

Homeowners in areas where assessments have lagged will likely see bigger tax bills in the future.

News

While the overall amount of property taxes Americans paid <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="rose" data-vars-click-url="https://www.attomdata.com/news/market-trends/home-sales-prices/attom-2022-property-tax-analysis/" data-vars-content-id="76369df6-d671-49a6-84aa-e86d7fe4a4f1" data-vars-headline="Despite rising home values, Boston homeowners pay among lowest shares of property taxes" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.attomdata.com/news/market-trends/home-sales-prices/attom-2022-property-tax-analysis/" target="_blank">rose</a> in 2022, effective property tax rates — a homeowner&#x27;s tax bill as a percentage of a property&#x27;s value — dropped slightly in large cities last year on average.<ul><li>That&#x27;s according to a new <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="report" data-vars-click-url="https://go.lincolninst.edu/50-state-property-tax-comparison-for-2022.pdf?_ga=2.91021214.547185496.1692363510-491308411.1692363510&amp;_gl=1*joaax6*_ga*NDkxMzA4NDExLjE2OTIzNjM1MTA.*_ga_26NECLE3MM*MTY5MjM2MzUwOS4xLjEuMTY5MjM2MzU3Ni4wLjAuMA.." data-vars-content-id="76369df6-d671-49a6-84aa-e86d7fe4a4f1" data-vars-headline="Despite rising home values, Boston homeowners pay among lowest shares of property taxes" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://go.lincolninst.edu/50-state-property-tax-comparison-for-2022.pdf?_ga=2.91021214.547185496.1692363510-491308411.1692363510&amp;_gl=1*joaax6*_ga*NDkxMzA4NDExLjE2OTIzNjM1MTA.*_ga_26NECLE3MM*MTY5MjM2MzUwOS4xLjEuMTY5MjM2MzU3Ni4wLjAuMA.." target="_blank">report</a> from the nonprofit Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and the Minnesota Center for Fiscal Excellence.</li></ul>

A graph showing the cities with the highest effective tax rates (like Detroit and Newark) and the lowest (like Boston and Salt Lake City). 

Lego chooses new building above MassPike for HQ

Not all employees from Connecticut will relocate here.

Business

The <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Lego" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/boston/2023/01/25/lego-boston-headquarters-move" data-vars-content-id="4f228037-c36a-4df5-97e9-ed0249bacfc8" data-vars-headline="Lego chooses new building above MassPike for HQ" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/boston/2023/01/25/lego-boston-headquarters-move" target="_self">Lego</a> Group is moving its headquarters to the new <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="building" data-vars-click-url="https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/construction-on-turnpike-tower-new-cargurus-hq-cleared-to-start/2157755/" data-vars-content-id="4f228037-c36a-4df5-97e9-ed0249bacfc8" data-vars-headline="Lego chooses new building above MassPike for HQ" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/construction-on-turnpike-tower-new-cargurus-hq-cleared-to-start/2157755/" target="_blank">building</a> above the MassPike, the company announced yesterday.What&#x27;s happening: Lego will start unpacking at 1001 Boylston St. in mid-2025 and plans to finish the move by the end of 2026, the company said in a press release.

How downtown Boston's pandemic recovery is going

Foot traffic is rebounding unevenly in different parts of Boston&#x27;s downtown, according to two studies of where people are going.What&#x27;s happening: Foot traffic in the two zip codes that make up the city&#x27;s Financial District is at 47.8% of pre-pandemic 2019 levels, according to mobile phone data analyzed by University of Toronto researchers.

Fancy new digs surface in Southie

The six-block complex at Damrell and Old Colony used to be industrial space.

Seven new apartment buildings are rising over six blocks of former industrial space in South Boston.What&#x27;s happening: Leasing is open for the first building in the 5-acre Washington Village complex at the corner of Damrell Street and Old Colony Avenue.

How much a water view will cost you in Boston

There's nothing better than sitting back and taking in a view of the sea.

There&#x27;s nothing better than sitting back and taking in a view of the sea. And if you can find that just by stepping onto your own porch, you&#x27;ve truly got it made.<ul><li>Housing with an ocean view in Boston doesn&#x27;t come cheap, but here are a few options:</li></ul>

Illustration of a welcome mat that says SIGHHH instead of welcome.

Boston trails the nation in home construction

Boston saw roughly half the nationwide homebuilding rate in May.

Boston significantly trails the national average for building new homes, showing that Massachusetts has a long way to go to increase stock and confront its housing crisis.Driving the news: 26.5 new homebuilding permits per 100,000 residents were issued in Boston in May 2023 — roughly half the nationwide rate of 42.3 permits per 100,000 residents.

Check out these Boston homes for sale with pickleball courts

Blue courts, green courts, and price points across the board.

We know it&#x27;s not square footage, central air or location that drives people to spend ungodly amounts of money on condos or houses — it&#x27;s the trendiest amenities.<ul><li>And nothing&#x27;s hotter than pickleball right now, so let&#x27;s take a look at Zillow units that feature courts.</li></ul>

Real Estate 🏠