Despite appearances, business slows on Westford's Route 110
*Co-written with Mehul Shrivastava
We took a step outside of Westford Academy to report on Route 110, Westford's major economic artery that has sustained most of the town's business since its population began to skyrocket in the 80s. A shiny new plaza and the addition of a Whole Foods give off the appearance of a thriving economy, but a closer look reveals a paradoxical economic stagnation: Westford is both reaching business saturation and suffering from growing vacancies. We wrote this piece as a summer job for local news source The Westford CAT.
In order to write this piece, we talked to various local economic experts, mainly the Economic Development Committee, and also talked to the Town Manager. While the EDC stated that business was at a concerning place in Westford, the Town Manager denied this, so we had to juxtapose the information portrayed by the two in a non-biased fashion. In addition, we researched older articles, business statistics, and vacancy numbers (available as public record) in order to support this article.
We took a step outside of Westford Academy to report on Route 110, Westford's major economic artery that has sustained most of the town's business since its population began to skyrocket in the 80s. A shiny new plaza and the addition of a Whole Foods give off the appearance of a thriving economy, but a closer look reveals a paradoxical economic stagnation: Westford is both reaching business saturation and suffering from growing vacancies. We wrote this piece as a summer job for local news source The Westford CAT.
In order to write this piece, we talked to various local economic experts, mainly the Economic Development Committee, and also talked to the Town Manager. While the EDC stated that business was at a concerning place in Westford, the Town Manager denied this, so we had to juxtapose the information portrayed by the two in a non-biased fashion. In addition, we researched older articles, business statistics, and vacancy numbers (available as public record) in order to support this article.
Westford Farmers' Market closes after twelve-year run
*Co-written with Mehul Shrivastava
The Farmers' Market is not the first topic that comes to mind in regards to investigative journalism, to be sure. However, in this case, a simple feature about the market's closing ballooned into a long-form piece that brought to light issues with the town government and the hidden costs of the organic boom in affluent suburban towns. In the weeks that it took to complete this piece, I understood that in quiet towns, things are rarely as quiet as they seem.
We interviewed both Gloria Gilbert, the market's founder, as well as those at whom she pointed fingers for restricting the market, namely, the Board of Selectmen. Once again, we had to present both conflicting sides in a way that was fair to them both. We researched national trends in farmers' markets to see if what was occurring in Westford was unique, and the articles we referenced are linked in our article.
The Farmers' Market is not the first topic that comes to mind in regards to investigative journalism, to be sure. However, in this case, a simple feature about the market's closing ballooned into a long-form piece that brought to light issues with the town government and the hidden costs of the organic boom in affluent suburban towns. In the weeks that it took to complete this piece, I understood that in quiet towns, things are rarely as quiet as they seem.
We interviewed both Gloria Gilbert, the market's founder, as well as those at whom she pointed fingers for restricting the market, namely, the Board of Selectmen. Once again, we had to present both conflicting sides in a way that was fair to them both. We researched national trends in farmers' markets to see if what was occurring in Westford was unique, and the articles we referenced are linked in our article.