62 Projects: In Boston alone, the Boston Redevelopment Authority expects 62 major residential projects to be built within the next few years. A third of those are already under construction. Total projected cost: an amazing $9.8 billion.

Pent-Up Demand: The anticipated level of construction spending far exceeds that of the last four years and indeed is more than in the years that proceeded the recession. BRA estimates new activity will create 14,000 construction-related jobs. New Boston dwellings alone will house over 20,000 residents.

Examples from Boston area:

• After a 17-year tussle over permits, Boston developer Michael Rauseo is finally moving forward with a project to transform a century-old warehouse in Charlestown into 124 loft-style apartments. Rauseo said he will start a $40 million renovation of the long-vacant Terminal Storage Building this summer, hoping to get the apartments ready for occupancy by fall 2013.
• Construction starts this fall on the $165 million Merano, located across from the TD Garden. It will include a 210 room Courtyard Marriott, 231 apartments, restaurants and shops.
• The massive Assembly Row complex in Somerville has begun construction. The first two residential buildings for the $1.5 billion project are now underway.
• Major bio-tech projects are happening. The developers of a long-stalled laboratory building in Boston's Longwood Medical Area have resumed construction of the $300 million project that had been put on hold in 2008. This is part of a burst of development activity in the region's health care sector. Major projects are also happening in Cambridge.
• Construction begins next summer on a $500-million Fenway Center across from Fenway Park. Some of the construction will take place over the Mass Pike. The project includes up to 500 residences, offices and retail space directly adjacent to a new Yawkey Commuter Rail Station.

Not Everywhere: Despite the good news here in Boston, the national construction outlook is not as positive. Construction spending fell 1.1 percent in February.

Home Sales UP: According to the Boston Globe, single-family home sales in Mass. rose 35% in February compared to a year ago. It was the best February showing in five years.

Apartments: The metropolitan Boston apartment market is very tight. Rents have reached record highs. Average rent within Route 495: $1686 / month. Vacancy rate of 4% in the fourth quarter was lowest in 9 years. The slow housing sales market means more people stay in apartments.

Landlords: The Wall Street Journal reports that some of Wall Street's largest investors have begun buying large pools of foreclosed homes from Fannie Mae. Their plan: get management companies to handle rentals, then sell them in a few years at a nice profit.

Stock Market: The stronger stock market plays a role in the growing sense that it may be time to invest again in real estate - whether that is a condo, single-family home….or a large construction project like those starting to happen around town. The WSJ reports that the Dow Jones average jumped 994 points in the first quarter. It was the strongest start in 14 years.

Wall Street: Their bonuses are decreasing 20% - 30% this year. Still, many will receive bonuses of hundreds of thousands -- or millions--of dollars.

Profit: The WSJ recently said that the government has made a $25 billion profit on the $225 billion of mortgage bonds it purchased during the 2008 - 2009 crisis.

Employment Picture: According to the New York Times, there were 1.4 million more jobs in January than there had been last spring. Job gains are occurring in almost every industry. Largest gains went to whites, black women, and, overwhelmingly, to college graduates. Yet overall job growth has been slow. 220,000 new jobs in February; 120,000 in March. At that rate it would take a long time to replace the approximately 6 million jobs lost in the Great Recession.

Did the Stimulus Work? Much debate about this. We know that it created at least a few jobs; our PHCC Chapter and Local 12 won a $310,000 stimulus grant to build rainwater re-use and solar thermal demonstration models at the Local 12 Training Center. The grant is also being used to train hundreds of union plumbers in the design, construction and use of these systems.

Beyond That, What Jobs? The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says that the $831 billion stimulus created at least 1.6 million jobs, and perhaps as many as 8.4 million by 2013.

Were There Alternatives? Yes. The federal government could have followed the Republican plan to slash spending, and cut even more public jobs than Obama did. (Public employment is way down from what it was before the recession.) Europeans have been using this alternative approach. Britain slashed government programs by 25 to 40 percent. So far, the British economy is 4% smaller than before the recession, while in the US there has been slow, steady growth.

Bank Rates: Chairman Ben Bernanke has continued to say that the Federal Reserve plans to keep interest rates low at least until late 2014. He sees this as an assist to the job market.

Bailout: The last chapter of the auto industry bailout story is still to be written. What we know so far: auto manufacturers like GM and Chrysler were loaned $60 billion. About $35 billion has been repaid. An estimated 1.5 million jobs were saved at car companies and their suppliers.

Salem Coal Plant: It will close in 2014, following a ruling that it can no longer burn coal. But a New Jersey company wants to buy it and convert it to natural gas.

Middle Class: It's shrinking. The NYT reports "The portion of American families living in middle-income neighborhoods has declined significantly since 1970....as rising income inequality left a growing share of families that are mostly low-income or mostly affluent....44% of families now live in middle class neighborhoods, compared to 65% of families in 1970.

Power: The NYT reports that Google uses 260 million watts of power at all times….equivalent to one-quarter of the energy from a nuclear power plant.

Penalties: If you are a licensed plumber, make sure you have completed Sessions 3 and 4 of the required continuing education program by May 1, when your license must be renewed. Renewal can't happen if you have not completed the two 6 - hour sessions. The Plumbing Board is aggressively fining those who fail to meet this requirement. They are starting to pull licenses from those who have not complied.

Crime: Following a pattern that has developed around the country (for reasons no one quite understands) the crime rate in Cambridge last year was the lowest in 49 years. Why crime rates fall - especially during a severe recession - is puzzling to most analysts.

And Punishment: The American system of crime and punishment is in trouble. In early April, the US Supreme Court voted 5 - 4 to allow strip searches for any legal violation. Examples: If you are stopped for a broken tail light, the police can take you to the local jail and strip search you. If your community has a law that says it is a crime to have an overdue library book (some do), police can take you in and conduct a strip search. These examples were cited by members of court's minority.

Troubling Statistics: If someone ends up in the criminal justice system, he / she will be joining a pretty large group. According to the New Yorker, six million people are under correctional supervision in America. This is more than were in Stalin's gulags. While people of all races are in jail, more black men are in prison or on probation than were in slavery in 1850.

Aspirin Saves the Day: The New York Times reports that two major studies indicate taking aspirin every day significantly reduces the risk of many cancers, and prevents tumors from spreading. After five years of taking aspirin daily, the overall risk of dying from cancer was reduced by 37%. Esophageal cancer was reduced by a remarkable 75%. And there was a 40 to 50% reduction in the most common cancer: colorectal.

Falik at Harvard: William Falik is a good-humored 1971 graduate of Harvard Law School. (Yes, his name is pronounced "phallic.") The real estate developer and California college professor wanted to honor his father's 100th birthday. Professor Falik recently gave a $100,000 gift to Harvard. At his suggestion, the school named a new bathroom in his father's honor: The Falik Men's Room. He donated a similar gift to a theater in California. That room is known as the "The Falik Gentlemen's Lounge."

"Be well, do good work, and stay in touch." - Garrison Keillor