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Community
Community
Buried Truths
The Nation of Women and the Flue of Secrets
The Real Cost of Our Island Home
Beyond the Town Budget and the ‘Family Tax’
When the Whalers Came West
The Long, Complex Ties Between Nantucket and Lahaina After the Fire
A Market for Drugs
Why demand — from seasonal labor to summer wealth — sustains the trade
The Hidden Pressure on Homeowners
Rising valuations are creating wealth on paper — but higher taxes, insurance, and carrying costs are making it harder for some longtime residents to stay
The Island’s Front Door
How Secure Are the Boats to Nantucket?
How Drugs Reach Nantucket
And Why Federal Investigators Are Watching.
The recent federal sentencing of a Nantucket resident for distributing fentanyl and cocaine offers a small glimpse into a much larger reality that rarely gets discussed openly: even an island 30 miles out to sea is not isolated from mainland drug markets.
The recent federal sentencing of a Nantucket resident for distributing fentanyl and cocaine offers a small glimpse into a much larger reality that rarely gets discussed openly: even an island 30 miles out to sea is not isolated from mainland drug markets.
The Island of Parallel Lines
The island’s blue-collar workforce built and maintains nearly everything you see, yet they often can’t afford to stay here long-term.
Examining the labor hidden behind the seasonal shine
Examining the labor hidden behind the seasonal shine
From Comets to Circles
Nantucket’s STEAM Festival Meets Pi Day
An Island Shared
From migratory birds along the Atlantic Flyway to seals hauling out on winter beaches, Nantucket is both a year-round community and an active wildlife corridor — where volunteers often step in when animals and human activity intersect
Turf on Trial
As Nantucket weighs a ban on artificial fields, the science — and the stakes — remain unsettled
The Island Price Premium
Everything — gas, groceries, services — costs more here. But the premium isn’t just dollar tags; it’s tied to transportation, labor costs, and scale.
→ Why “the price premium” is a community constraint.
→ Why “the price premium” is a community constraint.
Underground Tom
In the late 1980s, as housing prices surged, one man quietly built a small home beneath Nantucket’s State Forest. Thomas Johnson lived underground for nearly a decade before a hunter discovered the hidden hatch in 1998.
The story of the man who lived beneath the island
The story of the man who lived beneath the island
The Year-Round Squeeze
Housing prices on Nantucket have ballooned far beyond incomes for people keeping the island running — creating a widening gulf between market value and year-round livability.
Why price alone doesn’t measure community sustainability.
Why price alone doesn’t measure community sustainability.
More Than a Field
More Than a Field
Football at Capizzo Stadium isn’t just a game — it’s a mirror of community identity, investment priorities, and cultural continuity.
Sport as place and pressure point.
Football at Capizzo Stadium isn’t just a game — it’s a mirror of community identity, investment priorities, and cultural continuity.
Sport as place and pressure point.
The Nantucket Tax Reality
Property tax rates here look low on paper. But once you factor in assessed values, state income tax, vehicle excise, and the island’s higher cost structure, the burden looks different — especially for year-round households whose incomes haven’t kept pace with asset inflation.
Who actually carries the tax weight on Nantucket?
Who actually carries the tax weight on Nantucket?
Affordable Housing Audit
“Affordable” isn’t always affordable in practice. Dollars spent, units built, and outcomes delivered don’t always match the promises.
Accountability and what the numbers actually show.
Accountability and what the numbers actually show.
Managing the Herd
Managing the Herd
Nantucket’s white-tailed deer population has grown well beyond what biologists consider sustainable for an island this size, raising concerns about ecosystem damage and Lyme disease risk.
Managing a herd that has outgrown the island.
Nantucket’s white-tailed deer population has grown well beyond what biologists consider sustainable for an island this size, raising concerns about ecosystem damage and Lyme disease risk.
Managing a herd that has outgrown the island.
The Island That Endures
Some patterns persist generation after generation — but endurance isn’t the same as resilience, especially under modern pressures.
History as a lens on present stressors.
History as a lens on present stressors.
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