Photos from Jane’s Walk 2024
Ray Oldenburg talks about third places
Ray Oldenburg introduced the term "third place" in 1989, and it's now ubiquitous. Property developers, museum planners, and shared workspace companies use it - sometimes accurately and sometimes not. This phone conversation took place on Ray's 88th birthday, in April 2020. Karen Christensen, who is writing the new coauthored edition of The Great Good Place, [...]
West-East, North-South with Rep Smitty Pignatelli
On this episode of Train Time we're talking to Rep William (Smitty) Pignatelli about his advocacy for new connections for western Massachusetts. Host Karen Christensen explains, "I'm delighted to welcome my own representative, Smitty Pignatelli of Lenox, to Train Time. Rep Pignatelli has been a great advocate for regional equity, in transportation as well as [...]
1972: Train Service to Upper Harlem Valley Terminated
There have been several women active in campaigning for passenger rail in the tristate region. One was Mrs. Gerald Carson. We wonder what her name was! By Harold Faber; Special to The New York Times - March 26, 1972 Train Service to Upper Harlem Valley Terminated CHATHAM, N.Y., March 25 — The last passenger train from Chatham [...]
The Network Effect: A Conversation with Jim Mathews of the Rail Passengers Association
This conversation with Jim Mathews, CEO of the national Rail Passengers Association, began when he and host Karen Christensen met at the 40th Annual NYS Passenger Rail Advocates Meeting & Lunch in Albany on 7 March 2020, just days before the US lockdowns began. Mathews frequently talks about the important of measuring the value [...]
T for All of MA: A Conversation with Chris Dempsey of Transportation for Massachusetts
We're speaking with Chris Dempsey, director of Transportation for Massachusetts (T4MA), about the “us or them” mentality that often pervades transport funding, and the efforts is making to build connections across the entire state, including out to western Mass and even to Berkshire County, which we sometimes call western western Mass. In this [...]
Fast, Low-cost Ways to Improve Passenger Rail Service Now: A Conversation with Jay Flynn of TransitMatters
[ss_player] We spoke to Jay Flynn, officially “Bus Lead” but generally known as one of the TransitMatters gadflies. Jay worked in government for years before becoming a transportation advocate with TransitMatters. We’ve observed that TransitMatters seems to be good at holding feet to the fire. Flynn laughed and said, “Speaking truth to power.” [...]
A Conversation with State Senator Eric Lesser: Can We Build Back Better?
Just over a year ago we interviewed Massachusetts Senator Eric Lesser about his efforts to bring frequent, fast passenger rail service from Boston to western Massachusetts. This week, we caught up with him again, talking about the COVID-19 pandemic and what it means for his constituents and our nation. We asked if the crisis [...]
Day on the Hill & Support for Rail in Washington DC
A year ago, we did a survey asking what the Train Campaign's priorities should be in 2019. The highest rated item was, "Outreach to federal legislators & campaign for infrastructure funding." We were at that point hoping for a federal infrastructure bill. Our hopes were dashed in May 2019 when talks in Washington broke down. [...]
Coronavirus Period
The sun lit the golden dome of the Massachusetts State House. There was a spangling of tiny red buds on the trees. A soft breeze was blowing. It was a glorious day, just two and a half weeks ago, and I'd spent the afternoon talking to legislators about the Housatonic Line bill. As I drove [...]