'Tis the season for forced thankfulness (you know the routine, Boston: "I am thankful for the Bruins' recent streak and that Belichick got his ass in gear...") We're thankful for the following because they're either fun and/or funny to follow or make living (and covering) here genuinely interesting.
10. Mass. Ave. Bike Lanes
Earlier this month, Mayor Menino announced the city would replace parking spaces with bike lanes, igniting, we're sure, the sort of biker vs. pedestrian, long-timer vs. newcomer debate that has already roiled New York.
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9. Tracy Campion
Boston's top broker ($179 million in recent sales and counting) has "legs like a Wonderland greyhound" and the city's residential sales record ($13.2 million).
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8. Brookline
If Marge Simpson and Principal Skinner had a baby, he or she would run Brookline. And he or she would come up with seemingly arbitrary development rules that cause consternation and controversy.
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7. Innovation District
The Boston Redevelopment Authority green-lighted the 319 A Street Rear project last week, a linchpin—linchpin!—for the city's plans to turn the old South Boston industrial waterfront into a bustling, hustling, hipster tech haven. Imagine the coffee!
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6. Copley Place
Despite Occupy the Mayor's Office, the BRA said O.K. to what will be the tallest condo tower in Boston, part of a wave of residential construction sweeping the choicer parts of town.
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5. Occupy Boston
Say what you will about their politics, but their means have made Dewey Square and the Financial District that much more interesting.
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4. The Charlestown Rutherford Avenue Debate
This brouhaha—in which allegations of Commie propaganda have been shouted about—reminds us how seriously Hub residents take their neighborhoods and communities. People give a damn what's going on, and are not afraid to talk/call-in/email/tweet about it.
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3. The Big Somerville Project
The planned $1.5 billion complex on the site of an old car factory would plunk 50 outlet stores on the banks of the Mystic and surely rejuvenate the area. (Honorable mention addendum here: the apparently serious-this-time plans to extend the Green Line into Somerville and Medford, including toward the aforementioned complex.)
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2. The Boston Apartment-Building Boom
Five thousand new apartments, mostly in Back Bay, Chinatown, Fenway and the Seaport District, are at the crest of the biggest wave of residential development hereabouts in years. But will it mean lower rents all around? Stay tuned.
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1. Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen's House Hunt
If the Hub's high school (and isn't life, really?), then Tomsele is our It Couple. And the It Couple is looking for new digs, possibly in Back Bay, while trying to sell their current one, definitely in Back Bay.