Brockton, Massachusetts

5 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 10 On the education front, the city boasts one of the largest public high schools east of the Mississippi. Brockton High School serves almost 5,000 students and is one of the top performing urban high schools in all of Massachusetts. The high school has one of the highest graduation rates among urban school and has been named one of the top 500 high schools in America for low income students. The city is also home to Massasoit Community College and is just a short drive from Bridgewater State University and Stonehill College. Brockton’s educational opportunities have set the city up with a well-rounded workforce. “We have great educational resources near us. We have an incredibly diverse workforce in the range of skills from manufacturing on to PhDs,” Jenkins says. “There are people here in Brockton that meet all of those categories.” When it comes to location, Brockton is well situated. Just 20 miles south of Boston and the Boston Logan International Airport, Brockton offers an easy commute for residents looking to get in or out of the city. The city has three commuter rail stops that go directly into Boston and it also offers prime highway access to all of New England. “It’s location, location, location – which is real estate 101,” Jenkins says. “We’re close to the city but we’re also in that bubble that we’re just far enough that our taxes are lower in comparison.” The city has plenty of housing stock available, thanks to decisions made by Sullivan during COVID. “One thing I didn’t do during the pandemic that a lot of Mayors in Massachusetts decided to do is pause construction,” Sullivan explains. “I felt that if we did that we would really be going backward. So we did it in a safe way, met all the health protocols of COVID-19 and not stopping construction has really paid dividends. There are more cranes in downtown Brockton right now than I’ve ever seen. We have market rate, we have affordable here in