Since before we even published our first feature, we set out to use BINJ as an incubator to produce and distribute longform reporting. While our team has also taken on other big challenges, from teaching to advocating for journalism, we are proud to have fulfilled our mission to pursue the kind of comprehensive stories, often investigative, that fewer outlets are able to publish in today’s troubled media climate.
As part of our retrospective celebration of BINJ entering its tenth year, we hit the archives for some of our most impactful, popular, and memorable articles. Recognizing how hundreds of them intersect topics, we picked nearly 250 of our favorites and parsed them into 13 categories: Education; Labor; Housing & Gentrification; Police & Surveillance; Prisons & Parole; Transit; Environment; Politics & Government Accountability; Immigrant Communities; Music, Arts & Sports; LGBTQIA+; Opioids & Other Drugs; Massachusetts History.
We are posting these compendiums by category weekly through the end of January 2025, and it’s not just for posterity. We hope that seeing the fruits of our labor in this light inspires you to support BINJ to do more of this work; the greatest hits in these roundups alone add up to two features a month over a decade, and they are in addition to hundreds of columns and shortform articles from projects like Somerville Wire and Manchester Divided.
Finally, you can also help by telling us which topics and investigations you think we should follow up on in the new year. Check out the list below, then find our quick engagement survey near the bottom of the post.
Housing & Gentrification Reporting
Turf War (September 23, 2015) By Douglas Yu
The saga of gentrification in Somerville is playing out in the city’s youth sports leagues.
The Land That Boston Forgot (October 14, 2015) By Rachel Hock
The (r)evolution of Barry’s Corner and the search for Annie Soricelli.
Little House Emissaries (April 13, 2016) By Karen Morales
From Martha’s Vineyard to Boston to Los Angeles, the small home movement struggles for acceptance at the end of the road.
50 Years Of Yeast And Love (November 22, 2016) By Chris Faraone
An oral history of Haley House
Eight Isn’t Enough (April 26, 2017) By Laura Kiesel
For people living on the margins in the cities, towns, and suburbs around Boston, the available housing subsidies are painfully inadequate — just like the public transportation and job opportunities
The Battle Of Fort Hill (September 27, 2017) By Chris Faraone
They rebuilt their Roxbury home from ruin, so now why won’t the city let them sell?
Unwilling Converts (March 28, 2018) By Rob Katz
Somerville’s largest condo grab in history yields relative tenant win in tense market
Final Cries (June 20, 2018) By Olivia Deng
Plight of EMF musicians echoes a longstanding Cambridge reality
Nor’easter For Artists (July 10, 208) By Olivia Deng
In region’s latest mass eviction, Northeastern boots African-American creatives from JP space
Greenfield Blues (August 7, 2018) By Jason Pramas
Homelessness is not just a big-city problem in Mass
Fair Housing? (November 28, 2018) By Dan Atkinson
For developers in Boston, it may pay off to blow off inclusionary building requirements
Landlords Can’t Evict During Pandemic, But A Bunch Of Them Tried (April 29, 2019) By Dan Atkinson
“It was sort of testing the water with it, seeing what [evictions] they can get away with. This legislation stopped folks in their tracks before it caught on.”
Artificial Turf Debate Intensifies, For Somerville Locals And Advocates (January 29, 2021) By Samantha Herrmann
A park on Somerville Avenue becomes the subject of a heated argument.
Mass Spent Millions On COVID Consultants To Rationalize Letting Eviction Moratorium Expire (July 12, 2021) By Dan Atkinson
Documents obtained from state show contractors misrepresented expert predictions, saw sunshine around every corner
Pandemic Housing Relief: End Of An Era (January 31, 2022) By Dan Atkinson
Mass diverts eviction relief funds to investigate fraudulent applications
A New American Project (February 1, 2022) By Chris Faraone
In the nationwide bipartisan blitz to privatize public housing, Boston’s giving billions worth of benefits to some of America’s largest developers, financiers, and property management firms. Politicians are applauding, but for many residents caught in the transition, their housing future is unclear
Sacred Spaces: Special Mosque Edition (May 5, 2022) By Claire Sadar and Alyssa Maldonado-Estrada
While many Christians have been pushed out of their longtime places of worship, Muslims have spent decades configuring residential and commercial buildings
US2 Expands Its Union Square Footprint (September 13, 2022) By Linda Pinkow
Two new lab buildings being designed on McGrath Highway at Medford Street
Redesigning Union Square’s Substation (December 14, 2022) By Linda Pinkow
Eversource hears from neighbors on future of electrical infrastructure within a changing urban landscape
Cambridge Unhoused (2023 – 2024) By Multiple Authors
Blanketing one Massachusetts city with focused housing crisis coverage for the winter
