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Community Corner

Can Boston Be a World-Class City Without a Tool Bank?

Cities around the country are reaping the benefits of tool banks, where residents or non-profits can borrow tools for low cost. But Boston isn't one of those cities.

A recent post on the Atlantic Cities blog touted the power of tool banks: places where costly tools can be loaned out at low cost.

Picture a massive shed stocked with shovels, rakes, power tools, wheelbarrows, ladders, water hoses, work gloves—even a tiller and a generator. Since opening last year, Charlotte’s ToolBank has equipped more than 11,000 volunteers at 500 different projects, lending tools with a combined retail value of $243,000 for only $7,200. It now provides 134 nonprofit agencies with tools.

That's in Charlotte, people of Boston. I'm a proud North Carolinian, but when you're talking urban innovations, I'd like to think Boston has a step up on the Queen City. The Boston area doesn't have any tool banks, according to Deb Beatty Mel of Boston Building Resources, which does rent or lend a small number of specialized tools to its members

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Getting back to tool banks — the exact structure depends on the bank. In some, there's a membership fee. Others have a cost per tool that's a fraction of what you'd pay to own it yourself. Berkeley, Calif. — one of the first cities to start a tool bank — runs theirs through the public library.

The list of other cities that have embraced the tool bank model includes:

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With no tool bank in town, where do North Enders go to borrow or rent equipment for gardening or home improvement? Tell us in the comments below.

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