Does Ward Representation make sense for Newton?

Ward Representation In Newton: Lots of Other Cities Have It — With Great Results

By Fred Arnstein and Pamela Geib — Neighbors for a Better Newtonvile

Summary
The Charter Commissioners believe that local representation is bad for Newton; that we should not have any Ward councilors. Is it true? Is ward representation bad for Newton? Newton is ranked by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) as the Number 1 Best City in the country. So Ward representation has not made Newton a terrible place. But we can dig deeper and look at the WSJ's full list of 50 Best U.S. cities. In that list, there are 43 cities comparable to Newton. It turns out that 60% of those Best cities have ward representation. So the idea that local representation is bad for a city is — that idea is simply wrong.

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