The Rocky Mountain News reports how densification has provoked a strong backlash in certain Denver neighborhoods. The focus there is on multifamily dwellings. Just to be clear, the North Street Neighborhood Association has no objection to two- and three-family detached homes, of which there are many in our ward. We are concerned, however, about the […]
Continue reading Scrape-Off Redevelopments Provoke Backlash in Denver Neighborhoods
Bloomberg reports today: The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index dropped 12.7 percent [in February] from a year earlier, more than forecast and the most since the figures were first published in 2001. The gauge has fallen every month since January 2007. Prices will probably keep sliding as foreclosures push even more properties onto the market just as […]
Continue reading Bloomberg: “S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. Home-Price Index Fell 12.7%”
Los Angeles shows what can happen when developers perceive profits in density, public officials egg them on, newspapers are quiescent, and citizens are asleep at the switch. LA Weekly reports: City Hall’s “Density Hawks” Are Changing L.A.’s DNA (2/27/08) …Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavksy…has been staging a one-man campaign to slow City Hall’s feverish […]
Continue reading LA Weekly: “City Hall’s ‘Density Hawks’ Are Changing L.A.’s DNA
The Pioneer Valley Guildhouse and Michael Bardsley, Northampton City Councilor-at-Large, are sponsoring a second General Public Forum as a follow up to a similar event held at the Florence civic center January, which had an attendance of 25 people. This second forum will take place at the Jackson Street School on Tuesday, April 29, from […]
Continue reading April 29, 6pm: General Public Forum at Jackson Street School
Home sales and prices continue to fall in Pioneer Valley, reports today’s Springfield Republican. In Hampshire County, 151 homes sold in the first quarter of 2008, down 21% from the first quarter of 2007. The median sales price slipped from $259,000 to $249,000. The median sales price of homes in the Pioneer Valley fell 4.9 […]
Continue reading Springfield Republican: Hampshire County Home Sales Fall 21% in Q1
Mike Kirby is a former city councilor who currently authors two blogs, Kirby on the Loose and Doyle’s Progress. He has kindly allowed us to reprint two articles from the former. Whether they be condo developers or convenience store owners, the decisions of private businesspeople affect the quality of life in our neighborhood. Crack is […]
Continue reading Mike Kirby: “Where Can You Buy a Crack Pipe?”
The Mayor has proclaimed April 25 to be Arbor Day in Northampton. Please enjoy these pictures as spring comes to our North Street woods… See also: Photo Essay: 10 Reasons People Like Trees Around Them; Will the Sustainable Northampton Plan Put Urban Trees at Risk?The environment above faces threats from two directions. First, Kohl Construction proposes […]
Continue reading Photo Essay: Arbor Day and the North Street Woods
It is our pleasure to publicize these announcements from the Ward Three Neighborhood Association… Water, Water Everywhere A forum on water issues in Northampton JFK Middle School Community Room 100 Bridge Road, Florence Thursday, May 15th 6:30-8:30 pm Free and Open to the Public The Northampton Department of Public Works and the Ward Three Neighborhood […]
Continue reading Water, Water Everywhere: A Forum on Water Issues in Northampton, May 15
The value of urban parks is ever more appreciated, reports USA Today… “Push for urban parkland takes root” (4/13/08) “We grew so rapidly in the ’80s and ’90s in the rate we were consuming land, people did become alarmed,” says David Goldberg, spokesman for Smart Growth America, a national coalition promoting green space. “This desire […]
Continue reading USA Today: “Push for urban parkland takes root”
Today’s Gazette includes an AP report on the kind of smart growth we think is great: brownfields revitalization. Reusing buildings and paved areas, as opposed to knocking down urban trees and encroaching on wetlands, is infilling the right way. “‘Brownfields’ law altering landscape” …Back in the early 1990s, the state was faced with a backlog […]
Continue reading Gazette: “‘Brownfields’ law altering landscape”