🥵 A wet hot Boston summer

📚 Need a summer read? The BPL shared its staff picks for July, and some unlikely suspects made the cut, e.g., Paris Hilton’s memoir.

👀 What’s on tap today:

Up first...

Yeah, it’s hot in here. It’s not just you. This sticky, icky, rain-riddled, no good, very bad weather pattern has overstayed its welcome, according to our followers in a recent IG video (and likely everyone you ask).

But what exactly is causing this nasty stretch? And when will it end? Here’s what to know:

🦫 In simple terms: There’s a dam blocking a river. At least that’s according to Andy Nash, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Norton. The dam is a high pressure system hanging over the Atlantic near Canada and Greenland, and the river is the jet stream that “makes weather systems move” around the globe.

🌩️ Disturbances in the jet stream = storms and rain. And we generally see more of that in the summer with the heat and humidity. But the jet stream is also weaker during the summer, making it difficult to push that dam out of the way. Instead, it has to go around it, “which backs everything up,” and explains why we’re stuck in this pattern.

🪰 And when it’s muggy, it’s buggy. News analysis from Axios found that the number of "mosquito days" has trended up in Boston over the past several decades: We now have 15 additional mosquito days per year since 1980, on average. So if you’ve noticed more bugs recently, you’re not seeing things.

😫 Now, for the million-dollar question: When will this weather end? These kinds of blockages can take days — even weeks — to clear. And it doesn’t look like this pattern will change for another eight to 10 days. We could see a break from the humidity and just have classic summer heat at the end of July or beginning of August, but like the weather, that could change.

☔ Until then, get ready for another wet and humid weekend. We’ll likely see some heavy rain tonight into Friday morning, with a sustained chance of showers and stickiness throughout the weekend. If you had outdoor plans, Saturday is looking the driest of the two days.

🏢 Consider this your reminder that your lease is about to expire. Before you get into the back-and-forth with your landlord about re-upping your lease, remember there’s a new (and cheaper) way to find apartments this summer. Boston-based rental agency, Nobee, offers a ton of beautiful apartment options, and their business model allows you to save, on average, 50% on broker fees. Here are some of your top offerings:

To find more spots around Boston, download the app here.

👀 Boston’s City Council is the talk of the town … for all the wrong reasons. Car crashes, conflicts of interest, in-fighting, a departure because of in-fighting, the list goes on. And Mayor Wu has had it up to here. She addressed the recent controversies on GBH’s Boston Public Radio this week, saying they hurt the City Council’s credibility. She also noted Bostonians will have their chance to demand accountability at the polls this fall. The race is already shaping up to be a spicy one: five of the nine district councilors have drawn challengers, according to the city’s elections department.

💸 Splitting rent in Boston still ain’t cheap. A new report from SpareRoom found that the average roommate rent in Boston reached $1,329 in the second quarter of 2023, up nearly 10% ($117) from last year. We now rank fourth in the U.S. for the highest YoY growth and overall roommate rents. As of July, the average rent for a one-bed in Boston was $2,800. Just to twist the knife, here’s a three-bed, two-bath, 1,000+ square-foot duplex for rent in Wichita, Kansas for only $1,075 (for the whole thing). But then again, it’s Kansas.

🧠 Local colleges are beefing up their mental health services. A recent health assessment of college-aged participants found that 37% reported anxiety and 28% reported depression affected their academic performance, both increases from 2019. To address the moment, local universities have expanded on-campus support with things like mental health days, telehealth, and wellness centers. But experts warn that free yoga can’t replace a mental health professional.

🍳 Three cheers for two more brunch options! Grace by Nia, the new supper club/live music venue in the Seaport just launched Sunday brunch with a loaded menu complete with brown butter beignets, carrot cake chicken and waffles, and unicorn grits. You can see the full lineup here. Just a few blocks away, Coquette also joined the brunch club, and will be serving thin and crispy Capri-style pizzas, lobster benedict, and more, alongside its cocktail menu on Saturdays and Sundays. You can make a res here.

We’re giving away a Five Class Pack to B/SPOKE! To be eligible, refer a friend below and have them accept your invite between now and July 13. If you have already referred a friend to B-Side (and they’ve accepted), you're eligible! Full details below*

Your uncle from Southie may grumble about the city changing, but he’s not wrong this time. Five major real estate developments in the works are bringing big changes to the city’s skyline.

Sam Reifman-Packett, a realtor with Compass Boston, goes over each development in this TikTok video, noting the projects’ size and potential impact on local neighborhoods. And the renderings look WILD.

One of the developments he lists is Dorchester Bay City, a mammoth $5 billion, 21-building project that will turn the waterfront area next to UMass Boston between Southie and Dorchester into an entirely new neighborhood (think lots of commercial space and nearly 2,000 residential units).

It just got the greenlight from Boston’s Architectural Review Board on Tuesday, and now heads to a vote from the Boston Planning and Development Agency later this summer.

🚇 Thanks for reading! Thoughts and prayers for the MBTA having to support this new neighborhood.

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