Letter to Advocate: “Heartsick Over Noho”

The August 30 Valley Advocate publishes “Heartsick Over Noho”, a letter to the editor from Ann Foley of Berkeley, California:

I’m heartsick over all the bad planning that’s been going on in Northampton. On my recent two-week visit, I noticed many changes to Northampton from just a year ago! Green Street is a silent, gaping hole…empty storefronts punctuate Main Street like question marks. The green and white signs of the newly formed North Street Neighborhood Association dot front yards, as if to announce: “Northampton’s urban forest and wetlands are next…”

I don’t know what’s wrong with the Planning Board that they always focus on the minutiae instead of the master plan… My big dream is for citizens to reclaim Northampton as the enlightened, progressive, arts-friendly city it’s purported to be–and to keep it that way for visitors and future generations.

See also:

Northampton Redoubt: Urban Ecology, Planting Trees, and the Long-Term View
If we remove all of our in-town forested areas and wetlands they will likely be gone forever or at least a very long time. We would do well for posterity to err on the side of caution.

Fran Volkmann: Planning Board Needs to Consider Proposals in their Broader Context
At its meeting on Thursday night, the Planning Board addressed only a few of the many “tree” questions and essentially no “forest” questions…

Letter to The Republican: “planners and most board members are out of touch with the city’s residents”
The planners and the head of the Planning Board worked on their computers and shuffled papers throughout the public session, barely noticing the speakers, some of whom are well-known city residents. All but one of the board members failed to address any of the public’s concerns, limiting themselves instead, to small details…

Gazette Lead Editorial: “A public role in planning”
While the Planning Board’s options are limited statutorily, in our opinion there needs to be a way for the board to garner public opinion earlier in the process and work with developers sooner to address design concerns…

Northamptonist: A New Blog Joins the Fray