Roger Bolton, the William Brough Professor of Economics, Emeritus, at Williams College has received the David Boyce Award for "service to the field of regional science." The David Boyce Award is given by the Council of the North American Regional Science Association (NARSC) to acknowledge the activity of a prominent figure in regional science and reward outstanding service contributions made to a regional science organization.
The award recognizes Bolton's work as a book review editor of the Journal of Regional Science. Through his editorship, he promoted the multidisciplinary field of research by economists, geographers, historians, planners, and transportation analysts. Bolton is known for having turned part of the Journal of Regional Science into "the most stimulating review section in all the urban and regional journals world." He transformed review writing into an art, "reflecting his own intellectual curiosity, his broad knowledge, and his love for places and all matters urban and regional." The journal now publishes 60 or more reviews a year.
Besides the Journal of Regional Science, Bolton has served on the editorial boards of the Canadian Journal of Regional Science, Growth and Change, and Annals of Regional Science. He was co-editor of the International Regional Science Review for five years, where he introduced special issues on the regional dimensions of Chinese economic reforms and on regional input-output analysis. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles, and the author or co-author of four books, including "Defense Purchases and Regional Growth." In 2002, he was a member of the National Research Council Committee that authored the book "Community and Quality of Life."
Bolton joined the Williams faculty in 1966. His fields of interest include regional and urban economics, geography, history of economic thought, and the philosophy of Jurgen Habermas. His research focused on defense purchases and regional growth, as well as regional policy, with a concern for economic interpretations of place, and Arthur Latham Perry, a 19th -century Williams College economist.
During his tenure at Williams, he was chair of the economics department, chair of the Committee on Environmental Studies, and first director of the Francis Oakley Center for the Humanities and Social Sciences. Williams College recently appointed him to coordinate its Self Study for College Accreditation.
Bolton received his B.A. from Franklin and Marshall College and his doctorate from Harvard University. Bolton has served the community on the Williamstown Planning Board, Rural Lands Foundation, Hoosic River Watershed Association, and the Berkshire County Regional Planning Commission, from which he received its award for outstanding contribution to planning in 1988.
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What a delight to read that a most deserving and excellent person, Roger Bolton, has been recognized for his outstanding scholarship and service. He is most deserving.
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Planning Board on Tuesday agreed in principle to most of the waivers sought by Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity to build five homes on a Summer Street parcel.
But the planners strongly encouraged the non-profit to continue discussions with neighbors to the would-be subdivision to resolve those residents' concerns about the plan.
The developer and the landowner, the town's Affordable Housing Trust, were before the board for the second time seeking an OK for the preliminary subdivision plan. The goal of the preliminary approval process is to allow developers to have a dialogue with the board and stakeholders to identify issues that may come up if and when NBHFH brings a formal subdivision proposal back to the Planning Board.
Habitat has identified 11 potential waivers from the town's subdivision bylaw that it would need to build five single-family homes and a short access road from Summer Street to the new quarter-acre lots on the 1.75-acre lot the trust purchased in 2015.
Most of the waivers were received positively by the planners in a series of non-binding votes.
One, a request for relief from the requirement for granite or concrete monuments at street intersections, was rejected outright on the advice of the town's public works directors.
Another, a request to use open drainage to manage stormwater, received what amounted to a conditional approval by the board. The planners noted DPW Director Craig Clough's comment that while open drainage, per se, is not an issue for his department, he advised that said rain gardens not be included in the right of way, which would transfer ownership and maintenance of said gardens to the town.
Town meeting voters will be asked Monday to approve a request to change state law in a way that will preserve education at Hancock Elementary School. click for more
The Charter Review Committee on Wednesday voted unanimously to endorse an amended version of the compliance provision it drafted to be added to the Town Charter. click for more
Developer David Traggorth asked the trustees to make the contribution from its coffers to help unlock an additional $5.4 million in state funds for the planned 54-unit apartment building at the south end of the Cable Mills site.
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