The July 18 Republican reports on the state of the local housing market: Home prices slide in Pioneer Valley Hampshire County sales were down 29.3 percent and the median price was $270,000, down 3.1 percent compared with the second quarter of last year… There were 3,500 houses on the market July 1 compared with 3,300 […]
Continue reading The Republican: “Home prices slide in Pioneer Valley”
We are pleased to relay this announcement from the Ward 3 Neighborhood Association: From: Jerry Budgar, President I’m writing to inform everyone of a very important public meeting to be held on Wednesday, July 23 at 6:30 p.m. to present the new Three County Fair Master Plan to the residents of Ward 3 and the […]
Continue reading July 23rd Meeting To Present Fairgrounds Master Plan
The North Street Neighborhood Association recently engaged Hyla Ecological Services to compare Northampton’s new wetlands buffer zones to those found elsewhere in Massachusetts. As a refresher, here are the buffer zones in Northampton (Municipal Code, Chapter 337-10-E-2). Note the multiple zoning districts where encroachment to within 10 feet is permitted: The City’s general policy is […]
Continue reading Hyla Report: Northampton Wetlands Buffers at Narrow End of Massachusetts Spectrum
We are pleased to see a new blog join the local array of citizen journalism: Northampton Blight. Its mission: This blog is to publicize urban blight right here in Northampton — — The Paradise City! Every city faces the challenge of keeping things well maintained and looking good, but Northampton has been looking pretty darn […]
Today’s Gazette publishes a letter by Adam Cohen, a member of NSNA: Government works best when it is closer to home To the editor: I would like to respond to Neal Peirce’s June 30 column, “Using the power of ‘metropolitics.’” [link] Mr. Peirce writes, “while the metros have our top talent, they’re often disorganized, divided […]
Continue reading Letter to Gazette: “Government works best when it is closer to home”
The sales copy for this $875,000 home in Amherst suggests that Kohl Construction well knows the value of greenspace to a home buyer (emphasis added): Gorgeous custom-designed Doug Kohl 5 bedroom Contemporary home with gourmet kitchen w/Granite & butler pantry on lovely landscaped yard allowing privacy yet in a neighborhood. Family room with 20′ vaulted […]
Continue reading Adjacent Conservation Land Promoted as Feature of Kohl-Built Home in Amherst
Infill and urban design are hot topics in Springfield as they are in Northampton. The Springfield Office of Planning and Economic Development is currently working on an infill design manual. They expect to release it in the fall. The City of Springfield conducted a housing design forum on June 26 to gather public input. Noting […]
Northampton’s Rezoning Subcommittee consists of two city councilors (Michael Bardsley and David Murphy) and two members of the planning board (George Kohout and Kenneth Jodrie). They are charged with coming up with proposals as to who should sit on a Rezoning Committee that will distill the Sustainable Northampton Plan into new proposed rules and regulations. […]
Here is a video of the last 59 minutes from the June 26 meeting of Northampton’s Planning Board. A discussion of lighting standards for gas stations is followed by a longer discussion of evolutions at Hospital Hill (Kollmorgen Electro-Optical proposes to locate an expanded plant there). At the end is a brief discussion of local […]
A new group, the Northampton Design Forum, released this announcement today: On Tuesday, June 24, 2008, the “Northampton Design Forum” was formed under the umbrella of Available Potential Enterprises, Ltd (APE), a non-profit arts organization based in Northampton. The Design Forum, whose members include Northampton citizens interested in fostering quality urban design, decided to invite […]
Continue reading Notre Dame Urban Design Studio Project Slated for September 7-13