Welcome to Inside Methuen!

The idea was simple: create a place where residents can get real information about what’s happening in our city; not rumor, not spin, and not the kind of “good news only” coverage that leaves out the rest of the story. All of those have their place but there is a hole left in this city's coverage that needs to be filled.

Methuen deserves a place where residents can get the full story, the facts, the context, and the accountability that help us understand what’s really going on. That’s what this site is about.

Inside Methuen is meant to be a community-sourced news outlet, a place where city leaders, local organizations, and residents can all contribute. Over time, you’ll see columns from councilors and committee members, neighborhood updates, and coverage of issues that actually affect your daily life; schools, taxes, roads, public safety, and everything in between.

Our focus is evidence-based political reporting... not gossip, not party lines. Every political story will be built on public records, meeting minutes, data, and firsthand sources. When we make a claim, we’ll show you where it came from. When we ask a question, it’ll be one that matters to the people who live here.

In addition to news, you’ll also find opinion and commentary pieces on this site. Those will always be clearly labeled as opinion so readers can easily distinguish between fact-based reporting and personal perspective. We believe thoughtful commentary has a place in local journalism but it should never be mistaken for straight news.

We also believe in education through clarity. City government can be complicated with budgets, Chapter 90 funding, road acceptances, and state reimbursements (just to name a few) aren’t exactly dinner table topics. Our goal is to break these things down so that every resident can understand what’s being discussed, why it matters, and how it affects Methuen. You shouldn’t need a law degree or a background in public finance to follow local decisions. Educational pieces will be marked accordingly and rely on references to City Charter, State law, and other sources.

This project will grow, hopefully. Maybe it becomes a podcast, maybe it adds video... who knows. But the goal will stay the same: to make Methuen a little more informed, a little more connected, and a lot more transparent.

Thanks for reading. Thanks for caring. And welcome to Inside Methuen.