Abel Toussaint
Writes on construction, permits, zoning, land and infrastructure.
A pen name for the RE413 desk. What that means.
Rail Trails in Western Mass: Every Named Trail and What Kind It Is
Half of what gets counted as bike infrastructure here is a painted lane on a road. The traffic-free trails are a much shorter and more specific list.
Is Western Mass Losing Its Farmland? What the Last Full Survey Showed
Between 1971 and 1999 the region converted cropland and pasture acre by acre. Nobody has repeated the survey since, which is a finding in its own right.
Electric Companies in Western Mass: Who Serves Your Town
Six towns own their power utility outright. The rest buy from one of two investor-owned companies, and which one you get is decided by the town line.
How Old Are the Houses Here? Median Year Built in All 101 Towns
The median house ranges from 1925 in one town to 1988 in another. Age decides insulation, wiring, water service and what an inspection is going to find.
How Big Is a House in Western Mass? Square Footage and Lot Size by Town
The median single-family home runs from 1,200 square feet to 2,587, and the lot under it varies by a factor of thirty across towns in the same county.
Where People in Your Town Actually Go to Work
In the median town here, about seven percent of working residents have a job in the town they live in. The commute map decides which towns are options.
Your Old House Might Be on a State List. Here Is What That Does
More than 40,000 properties here sit in the state's historic inventory. Being listed imposes nothing by itself, and the thing that does is a town bylaw.
Buying Land in Western Mass: Can You Actually Build on It?
Cheap acreage is cheap for reasons that are mapped and checkable. Slope, soil, wetland and water decide whether a lot is a house site or a very large garden.
Chapter 40B Explained: What It Means If Your Town Is Below 10%
Twelve of the 101 towns hold safe harbour. The other 89 can face a permit that overrides their own zoning, and most residents have no idea until it happens.
Commuting to Boston from Western Mass: Who Actually Does It, and From Where
Nearly 1,800 people commute from Springfield to Boston. The nearest western town is 82 minutes away in free-flowing traffic, which is not what you will get.
Internet in Rural Western Mass: Which Towns Built Their Own Fibre
Twenty-one towns here gave up waiting for a cable company and built municipal fibre themselves. Broadband take-up still ranges from 78% to nearly all.
Town Water or a Well? Sewer or Septic? Every Western Mass Town
Thirty-one towns have no community water system and forty-nine have no municipal sewer. If you are buying here, the odds are you are buying a well.
Living Near Springfield: What 38 Towns Within an Hour Actually Cost
Drive time, median price, annual tax bill, schools and broadband for every town inside a real 50-minute commute. The spread is over $700,000 wide.
New Construction in Western Mass: Which Towns Are Actually Building
The permit number everyone quotes fell from 3,668 units to twelve. Almost none of that is a construction collapse, and the real reason matters more.