Boston Mayor Michelle Wu recognized the economic importance of the life sciences industry in Massachusetts and the opportunity to continue leading as the top life sciences cluster in the world by hosting ARPA-H headquarters in her speech to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce last week. Mayor Wu acknowledged the significance of Biden’s decision to announce the cancer moonshot in Boston earlier this month. She also applauded the innovations of the life sciences sector in the development of COVID-19 vaccines.
Massachusetts has among the highest rates of employees working from home in the country, according to a recent study by the American Community Survey. In 2021, nearly 1 in 4 employees in the state worked from home, placing Massachusetts in the top five states in the country.
The city of Boston has put forward a proposal that would require new buildings in the city to have net zero greenhouse gas emissions. Buildings over 20,000 square feet or with at least 15 housing units must be certifiable as LEED Gold or face fines. The Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) is accepting comments on the proposal through October 28.
Boston is experiencing a COVID-19 surge with a recent spike in COVID-19 identified in the area’s wastewater. COVID-19 surge in Boston wastewater. Data show rates of COVID-19 in Boston-area sewage the highest it’s been since June of this year.
Cambridge was named the most family-friendly city in the country in the OpenDoor 2022 ranking. The ranking takes into account proximity and access to parks, museum, community centers, and schools.
The 2022 MassBio transportation survey is NOW LIVE. Please participate in the survey to inform MassBio of the commuter-behavior of our industry to guide internal policy recommendations and public policy advocacy. This survey is completely anonymous — we do not retain contact information. Aggregated data and survey findings will be shared publicly. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MassBioTransportation
The Health Policy Commission Advisory Council meets on Thursday to discuss the 2022 health care cost trends report. The meeting livestream starts at 1pm.