This has been a year of significant political upheaval at the federal level, with ripple effects reaching down to American communities in a variety of ways.

In their new website, The New(ton) Critique, Newtonians Jacob Himelfarb and Owen Halberstadt aim to talk about how federal issues relate to issues in Newton politics.

Himelfarb is a senior at Concord Academy; Halberstadt at Newton South. Himelfarb got the idea for the website after being a summer intern for his state representative, Amy Sangiolo, and seeing how changes from the federal government were having an impact on state politics.

“There’s so much stuff that Newton has to focus on now,” he said, referring to issues like immigration, which previously seemed more distant.

While the largest change to Newton and elsewhere is funding cuts, he thinks it’s more than that.

“It’s not so much a funding thing but a sentiment thing,” he said. People find the news distressing, and tune it out. But it is important to know how these changes will affect the community. “We want to provide a broader platform for people to know about them.”

As the name of the website implies, he and Halberstadt also want to examine the bad aspects of Newton politics they think go ignored. They’re frustrated by Newton being a wealthy city that claims to profess progressive ideas but often does not follow through with its supposed beliefs, particularly around issues like affordable housing.

Himelfarb calls this “Lawn Sign Liberalism.”

“Our social impact isn’t as high as it could be,” Himelfarb said. “[I]f we want to live up to our inviting lawn signs, we must … allow more people to live here, not just millionaires,” wrote Halberstadt in his article about affordable housing.

They’re hoping to expand their reach and talk to more residents about their views on Newton political issues.

You can check out the New(ton) Critique here.