Tag Archives: island economics
E is for Editing #AtoZChallenge
Editing is not a particularly well-paid trade, although it requires considerable aptitude, expertise, and education to do it well. Some freelance editors of my acquaintance regularly rail against the complaints, expectations, and demands of clients and prospective clients, saying things … Continue reading
Bills to Watch Out For
This is the post that “Into the Mud” was supposed to be the introduction to. You can read it first, but you don’t have to. Here’s the key line: “many, many of us have only the shakiest grasp of how government … Continue reading
A Liberal Paradox
The other day I overheard a guy I know who most certainly voted for Trump complain that a guy he knows has said he won’t do business with Trump supporters. Well, I wasn’t about to wade into that one. I … Continue reading
Sunday Closing
Up-Island Cronig’s (the one in West Tisbury, as opposed to Down-Island Cronig’s, the bigger one in Vineyard Haven) recently posted a notice on its door that after Labor Day (tomorrow!) it would close on Sundays for the off-season. I live … Continue reading
MVFF Deal Closes, More Dealing Ensues
As June 22 approached, the date set for the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival (MVFF) to close on the Walsh property off Old County Road, the rumors flew. Opposition to MVFF’s plan to build a “campus” or “home” on the 12.5-acre … Continue reading
Now Filming in West Tisbury
Seen from a distance, Martha’s Vineyard looks bucolic, homogeneous, and maybe even a little boring. Up close it’s much more interesting. The best way to understand what the place is about, how it works and how it doesn’t, is to … Continue reading
Real Life Isn’t 20/20
Hot — OK, lukewarm — news item in the Vineyard Gazette: “Midnight Farm Manager Charged with Theft.” No, this is not about the security guard at an all-night agricultural establishment, and the individual was not charged with rustling sheep. Midnight Farm … Continue reading
So You Want to Move to Martha’s Vineyard
A month or so I received an email from someone who was considering moving to the Vineyard year-round. She had liked my “10 Reasons Why I Like Living on Martha’s Vineyard” and wondered if we could meet for coffee when … Continue reading
Sonnets on a Planning Board Meeting
In “Small-Town Journalism in the ’80s,” guest blogger Eileen Maley recalled covering “West Tisbury’s planning board meetings, where much of the action took place. Overflow crowds showed up to hear proposals to chop up large plots of land for housing … Continue reading
Housing 101
How bad is the housing situation on Martha’s Vineyard? In recent memory (which is to say mine, which goes back 30 years), it’s never been good. No situation is “good” where about 20 percent of the population has to move … Continue reading
From the Seasonally Occupied Territories . . . 