Pushcart at Downtown Crossing

Independent pushcart vendors have been at Downtown Crossing for almost 30 years. Now the Boston Business Improvement District, and the Boston Redevelopmnet Authority have banded together to kick them out. Now, I'd be the first to say that Washington Street could do with some improvement. After all, there's been a crater in the ground where Filene's used to be for over 5 years now. And the old Barnes and Noble store has empty for even longer. And the giant store-that-used-to-be-Border's has yet to reopen. But are the pushcart vendors really part of the problem? You could argue that they have breathed a little life into the rundown center of Boston.

Anyway, it seems that the mayor, Tom Menino, has lent his support to the pushcarts and they have been granted a small reprieve. For the moment, anyway.