Axios Boston

March 20, 2023
It's Monday. May your hangovers be cured, whether they're from booze or Boston traffic.
Today's weather: Sunny with a high around 50°.
Today's newsletter is 885 words — a 3.5-minute read.
1 big thing: 📈 Evictions rate climbs back

Eviction filings in Boston have exceeded pre-pandemic levels, according to data from the Eviction Lab.
State of play: The Princeton University project recorded a weekly eviction filing rate for Boston of 111, based on the average of data over a four-week period ending March 4.
- That rate was up 73.8% from a year ago, when there was a weekly average of 64 filings.
- The Eviction Lab project aims to fill an "information hole in the center of the evictions crisis" by collecting data from court filings and other sources, research specialist Jacob Haas told Axios.
Driving the news: Sweeping local and national eviction moratoriums helped keep many families in their homes through the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic. With those moratoriums long since over, many Americans are once again exposed to the threat of displacement.
- That's especially true as high rent prices have renters spending record shares of their paychecks on their monthly housing bills.
- The eviction crisis tends to disproportionately affect minority groups — particularly Black women, says Haas.
Zoom in: Massachusetts housing advocates sounded the alarm about a potential "eviction tsunami" when the state eviction moratorium lifted in October 2020 and the federal moratorium lifted the next year.
- Nearly 17 months later, that tsunami appears to have landed.
What they're saying: "We've seen a return to or beyond pre-pandemic averages in a large number of areas where we've been tracking [evictions] data," says Haas.
- "To return to that is disappointing given all of the initiatives that were taken to prevent housing instability."
Of note: The Eviction Lab's data set doesn't capture illegal evictions, nor does it include cases where renters are effectively forced out by large rent hikes.
The big picture: Some cities, such as Philadelphia and Cleveland, have recently launched or expanded programs meant to help tenants access financial relief, stay in their homes amid eviction disputes or mediate disputes with landlords.
- "Good cause" bills, meanwhile, aim to restrict evictions to cases where tenants violate their lease agreements, as well as limit major rent increases.
The bottom line: The Eviction Lab's data set, which includes 34 cities, is the closest thing available to a nationwide evictions database.
- That data void makes it all but impossible to adequately track — and therefore address — the problem at scale.
Is a new job in your future?
💼 Check out who's hiring around the city.
- Executive Director at Transportation for Massachusetts.
- Director, Risk Control - Middle Market Solutions at Arch Insurance Group Inc.
- Executive Assistant at Boston Children's Hospital.
Want more opportunities? Check out our Job Board.
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2. 🔙 Back that Mass. Up: News from around the commonwealth
Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios
🚃 The MBTA lifted some speed restrictions on the Green Line on Sunday, a day after originally planned.
- Now block restrictions are in place in some spots, which represent 18% of the Green Line’s track, the agency wrote in a news release.
🗳️ More than 95% of members in the Wellesley teachers union approved a no-confidence vote in the superintendent on Saturday. The vote comes 14 months into contract negotiations with the district. (Globe)
🏥 Massachusetts hospitals paid $1.52 billion last year to hire traveling nurses and other temporary hospital workers — a 610% increase from before the pandemic. (GBH News)
- In fiscal 2019, they paid $204 million.
☘️At yesterday’s South Boston St. Patrick’s Day parade, revelers came out for the chilly pageantry, a few arrests were made, “borgs” were consumed and no white supremacists demonstrated. (Globe)
3. 🏀 Catching up to Larry Bird
Yes, it's Steph Curry. Photo: Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images
Celtics legend Larry Bird and Los Angeles Lakers icon Steve Nash may no longer be the only two NBA players who scored historic 50-40-90 averages in multiple seasons, writes Axios' Jeff Tracy.
What's happening: Golden State Warriors point guard Steph Curry bumped up his shooting averages with last Wednesday's game against the Clippers to 50.4% from the field, 44% from three-pointers and 91.5% from the free-throw line.
- Curry finished the weekend with shooting averages of 49.9% from the field, 43.5% from three-pointers and 91.3% from the free-throw line.
Why it matters: If he keeps his averages up this season, he'll join Nash and Bird as the only NBA players with multiple 50-40-90 seasons.
- Nash achieved the feat four times, while Bird pulled it off twice. Curry has done it once before, in the 2015-16 season.
Plus: Curry's performance Wednesday put him above Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the all-time assists list. He now ranks 48th with 5,674 assists during his NBA career. Bird ranks 47th with 5,695 assists.
Steph's thought bubble: I know Boston loves to hate Curry or any Warriors player, but we can't deny my name-twin is one of the best. And he's starting to catch up to our beloved Bird when it comes to NBA records.
4. 📲 1 cool feature to go
The Central Artery Tunnel, before and after Apple Maps' redesign. Photo courtesy of Apple
Apple Maps, once known for its borderline unusable navigation, got a major facelift in Boston.
Driving the news: The California-based technology giant rolled out a "city experience" redesign last week that shows custom-designed 3D versions of Fenway Park, Quincy Market and South Station. (You can even spot Fenway's famed red seat in the app.)
- The Boston rollout also shows bus- and bike-only lanes, trees, elevation and crosswalks.
- And it offers a road-level view that helps you see which lane you actually need to take for your exit, a potential game-changer considering sometimes even Google Maps fails us on Boston's highways.
The intrigue: Apple claims its "city experience" rollout offers an unprecedented level of detail that's not found in any other digital map.
Steph's thought bubble: I gave up on Maps more than a decade ago, but the prospect of not having to play a guessing-game when I reach an unfamiliar exit with multiple lanes could win me over.
Deehan evacuated so hard last Friday.
Steph introduced Townie to M&M's dumpster fries the other day.
This newsletter was edited by Hadley Malcolm and copy edited by James Farrell.
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