[7/26/07 clarification: In the article below, we don’t mean to imply that dengue/malaria/yellow fever are currently in Northampton. However, they serve to illustrate that mosquitoes are associated with disease in general (such as West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis), and that excessively exposing people to mosquitoes is risky. As the New England climate has […]
Continue reading More Reasons Why Smart People Don’t Build Near Wetlands: Mosquitoes and Disease
The Associated Press reports today that the national housing market continues to pull back… Sales of existing homes fell for a fourth straight month in June and even a small increase in home prices was not enough to lift the gloom surrounding the housing industry. The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing […]
Continue reading Existing Home Sales Drop for Fourth Straight Month
Valley Advocate blogger Daryl LaFleur this week reports on NSNA’s July 21 barbecue with a long article on Northampton Redoubt. Some excerpts: More than sixty people attended the North Street Neighborhood Association Barbecue [Saturday], July 21 to learn about Douglas Kohl’s 31-unit condominium project proposed for their area… Situated close to a wetland area, the […]
Continue reading Northampton Redoubt: “North Street area citizens join together”
Here for your reference are several maps and plans showing the area around View Avenue. In the 1916 Moriarty Plan of Building Lots directly below, we observe the right of way in the middle of the building lots is 30 feet wide. This may or may not have implications for Kohl Construction’s plans to have […]
All those interested in a Sustainable Northampton are urged to attend one or more of the following public meetings today: Attend the Ordinance Committee meeting on July 24, 6:00pm at 212 Main Street in City Council Chambers. This meeting will discuss changes to Northampton’s wetlands regulationsCouncilor David Narkewicz says this is the “final and required […]
Continue reading Wetlands Ordinance, Other Important Meetings on Tap for Today
It was a pleasure to meet our neighbors and share good food at the North Street Neighborhood Association barbecue on July 21. Dennis Helmus spoke to the crowd about Kohl Construction’s plans to build 31 condo units in the forest nearby. Attendees included Ward 3 City Councilor Marilyn Richards and Northampton Redoubt blogger Daryl LaFleur. The […]
NSNA member Thomas McCurry has taken some beautiful pictures of the forest behind View Avenue. Much of this area is imperiled by Kohl Construction’s proposal to build 31 condo units (mostly 3- and 4-bedrooms) in the area…Fellow member Heather McLaughlin has taken these pictures of Millyard Brook as it borders the new bike path and […]
Former Northampton mayors are coming out of the woodwork to comment on current development proposals. In April 1925, Nature Magazine urged Americans to observe American Forest Week. It quotes from a proclamation by President Calvin Coolidge: “We have too freely spent the rich and magnificent gift that Nature bestowed on us. In our eagerness to […]
Continue reading Calvin Coolidge: Forest Protection is a Sacred Trust
Today’s Gazette publishes a letter from Nancy Wychorski of Northampton. She gives several reasons why wetlands should be protected, among them: The wetlands do act as sponges when snow melts and rain threatens to overflow riverbanks. The watershed area, of streams, swamps, etc., acts as a buffer filtering some of the pollutants from roads and […]
Continue reading Letter to Gazette: “The importance of protecting the Valley’s wetlands”
The North Street Neighborhood Association is now circulating a Northampton Trees & Wetlands Petition (MS Word version, Rich Text File version). The text of the petition reads: Northampton was designated a “Tree City” in 2005, in recognition for its commitment to community trees and forests. Nevertheless, large, cherished trees continue to be cut down without […]
Continue reading NSNA Circulates Northampton Trees & Wetlands Petition