It was a year of dramatic ups and downs in the country, and here in Massachusetts, even Mother Nature seemed to know it, pummeling Massachusetts’ coastline with four nor’easters.
That said, the wild weather didn’t affect transit nearly as badly as the “Snowpocalypse” season of winter 2015, a winter so dramatic it’s clearly identifiable in the chart below. See the plunging on-time performance lines? Massachusetts got over 100 inches of snow that winter – so much precipitation that the final snow pile did not melt until July. The MBTA continued to struggle after 2015, with three different executives in the top slot, the most recent leaving the job this month.
Folks with access to the commuter rail were much more likely to get where they were going according to schedule than those dependent on buses. Which bus route is least likely to arrive on time? It’s the 449, which goes from Marblehead to Boston.
You may ask, what about the T? Well, the MBTA doesn’t report those numbers in the same way, and if you feel like you’re waiting on the platform or at the bus stop more often than you'd like, you're not alone – WGBH News’ Jim Braude has criticized how the T reports or underreports delays.
Whether they took the T, walked, biked, or used an electric scooter, Massachusetts residents showed up to the polls in force this November. Voter turnout in midterm elections is usually less than those in presidential years – but this year’s midterm election saw a whopping 2.7 million Massachusetts residents cast their vote.
One thing voters cast their ballots on in 2016 came to pass this year: Recreational marijuana businesses opened, first in Leicester and Northampton. As of this writing, two more have opened, one in Salem and one in Wareham. Combined, the businesses brought in $7 million in revenue in the first four weeks alone, according the the state’s Cannabis Control Commission. State taxes on the product are steep – 17 percent -- and cities and towns can add their own tax, as did Leicester, where the town has levied a 3 percent tax on cannabis products.
Wherever Massachusetts cannabis consumers choose to buy their legal weed, they’ll have to consume it at home. But housing in Massachusetts has become much more expensive over time.
However, we may be turning a corner: Homelessness went down slightly in the Bay State in 2018. Even house prices and competition among those looking to buy may be cooling off. I think it’s changing, actually,” says Patti Reilly, a realtor at Re/Max Destiny in Cambridge. “I’ve been able to get more buyers into homes. I’ve got four properties under agreement under the asking price in different communities right now, something that wouldn’t have happened a year ago.”
Wherever 2019 takes us, we’ll be there, counting all the things that count.
