The Boston Informer Marks 20 Years; Watchdog Publication Celebrates Milestone

BOSTON—Launched in April 1992 as Boston’s Central Artery/Tunnel project (aka the Big Dig) was getting underway to keep track of transportation, development and planning initiatives in downtown Boston, The Boston Informer newsletter has served a unique niche for 20 years. As the only newsletter of its type, The Boston Informer is known for doggedly following projects from inception to completion, tracking the twists and turns in the project’s design and associated policy issues.

Following this tradition, The Boston Informer’s 20th anniversary issue features retrospectives that examine what Boston and the region were thinking and doing in 1992…and how little is going on now in comparison. The special anniversary issue has the usual insightful reporting plus a special feature by Cranston Rogers, P.E., a retired engineer who worked on the design of both the elevated Central Artery and the depressed Central Artery. Rogers analyzed what was going on and what were the transportation visions in the region 20 years ago and concluded the Commonwealth  is suffering from a Central Artery-induced fear of bold thinking, planning and doing. His provocative article is a fitting addition to The Boston Informer’s 20-year legacy.

The Boston Informer was inspired by a sudden surge of activity along Boston’s waterfront. Christopher Fincham, management consultant, and his partners, Anthony Casendino, architect and landscape architect, and Anne McKinnon, transportation planner, launched The Boston Informer to help fill an information void for residents and workers and to have fun as “watchdogs for the public interest,” as described in a news report.The Boston Informer is published five times a year and is available by subscription only.  See www.bostoninformer.com.