BOSTON – Averting traffic woes in the area around Boston's North Station – as huge office, residential and hotel towers begin to rise in the neighborhood – is the goal of a city planning effort that kicked off this week.
After an initial phase, a transportation consultant will be sought next year to aid in the effort to ease traffic and promote better circulation around the commuter rail station, Government Center and the North End, according to the Boston Redevelopment Authority, or BRA. Its goal is to map out transportation strategies for the next 15 years.
BOSTON – "Black Friday," the day that officially kicks off the season of holiday shopping madness, has gotten so insane that some retailers are just saying no and won't even open their doors on what for many is the biggest day of the year, while plenty of consumers plan to follow their lead.
Recreational Equipment Inc., better known as REI, an outdoor sports and apparel chain based in Seattle, said in October that its stores would stay shut the day after Thanksgiving. The cooperative's website indicates more than 900,000 people have joined its "Optoutside" campaign to shun shopping this year on what for many consumers has become a holiday in its own right, celebrating the art of the sale.
