Battenfeld: Michelle Wu headed in right direction, but is Boston?

Michelle Wu might be headed in the right direction but is Boston The city under Wu seems to be headed in a slow downward spiral with a downtown ghost town transportation gridlock priced-out Millennials fleeing to the suburbs cracked sidewalks needles in parks random crime and streets overrun with rodents All these undeniable negative trends could combine to overtake the mayor s second term should she get a mandate as the polls now show But her reelection will only embolden her and make her less accountable and won t get her to change her authoritarian style She casts herself as the defender of the city without taking any responsibility for these troubling trends Vacant downtown Blame it on Covid Rat predicament Blame it on context change Mass and Cass It s an addiction challenge It s never Wu s fault She has a knack for avoiding blame whether it s Donald Trump s fault or the commercial sector s fault Her critics are a voice in the wilderness And she may pull off the ultimate political win in November passing the buck on the decline of the city Big city mayors usually take the blame for any of these problems Not Wu Boston is teetering on the edge and a stubborn Wu glides along with a big smile Outside the city there s a perception that it s unsafe unclean and impossible to get around or park It s why you see major restaurant chains relocating away from Boston One of the biggest looming problems is the death of downtown with skyrocketing vacancy rates and employers no longer needing office space Converting the offices to low-income housing is not the only answer What have the Boston Housing Authority take over abandoned office towers Visitors don t want to come to Boston anymore and it s not just economic forces beyond Wu s control that s keeping people away The post-Covid shift to remote work didn t help but it s not the only reason downtown is suffering Violent crime is at its highest level in years in Downtown Traveling which used to be the heartbeat of the city Once a big city loses its corporate anchor it s the beginning of a collapse The corporate core of the city creates jobs and feeds the surrounding neighborhoods It s what makes a city run which is what former Mayor Kevin White realized The collapse of downtown has a domino effect on other parts of the city and its tourism business But Wu has ignored or pushed away the business district while in nearby neighborhoods like the South End plagued with overrun drug use and crime spilling over from Mass and Cass she has refused to make major changes like more law enforcement Wu is the feel-good mayor not the urban mechanic Tom Menino was or champion of the neighborhoods like Ray Flynn The decline of Wutopia doesn t fit with her I know best style After November there s no more accountability for Wu barring an upset win from Josh Kraft But if she sticks around which is not entirely guaranteed she ll be confronted by all these problems if she wins a second term The city's Mobile Sharps Company has been busy this summer picking up discarded needles Nancy Lane Boston Herald