![]() Few of us are familiar with what this actually looks like, so I’ll mention a few industries that could easily slot into former office spaces downtown. Manufacturing today, especially in an expensive city like Boston, means high-value-added light manufacturing. I’m not talking about your grandfather’s dusty, noisy factory with alligator-tooth gears and massive conveyor belts. What’s missing is manufacturing density that brings makers and innovators together. Sure, 21st-century Boston is rich in entrepreneurial researchers and venture capitalists eager to finance industry to develop new products. Since the 1960s, which brought urban renewal and the dispersal of industries, talent has been scattered and siloed. Back when Boston was a manufacturing powerhouse, transportation was designed to shuttle up to 69,000 production workers straight into downtown, which is why all T lines - Green, Blue, Red, and Orange - cross right there. In fact, the entire city was built on this “starburst” model with industry at the core. That’s why the construction of lab space in the city has exploded. Small, nimble biotech companies have shown that they want to be located close to universities, an international airport, decent housing stock, and public transportation. ![]() ![]() Density is magical - it’s why the presence of so many universities here bolsters Boston’s biotech industry. ![]() Why downtown specifically? Because a truly sustainable innovation economy happens only where you have a critical density of makers, innovators, and spaces for building. By rezoning downtown to allow for manufacturing and other industrial uses, we can rescue the commercial real estate market that has been struggling as a result of remote work - a problem that threatens the city’s property tax base - and supercharge the innovation economy by bringing cutting-edge industries straight into the heart of the city. ![]()
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