by Jennifer Smith, CommonWealth Beacon July 9, 2025 THE FATE short-term rentals on the small, wealthy island of Nantucket is, for now, treading water. For an island that booms from around 14,000 to over 80,000 residents between the off-season and the so-called “high season,” vacation rentals are an existential issue. Though the rentals are essential […]
Jennifer Smith, CommonWealth Beacon
Posted inEnvironment & Health
FEMA quietly removes access to New England coastal erosion hazard tool
by Jennifer Smith, CommonWealth Beacon April 11, 2025 AT SOME POINT between February and early March, as seasonal wind and rain hammered New England coasts, a relatively new but enthusiastically embraced tool for predicting erosion slipped off the Federal Emergency Management Agency website. Pioneered on Nantucket in 2020, the Coastal Erosion Hazard viewer that covered […]