The University of Massachusetts Press (Amherst) recently published Preserving and Enhancing Communities: A Guide for Citizens, Planners, and Policymakers, a timely addition to the Sustainable Northampton debate. The book generally supports Smart Growth concepts while it also underscores the value of urban open space. We focus on the latter in these excerpts from Chapter 10, “Natural Land: Preserving and Funding […]
Continue reading UMass Press: “Natural Land: Preserving and Funding Open Space”
Paved surfaces are notorious for creating stormwater runoff and pollution issues, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Chicago is having success with new kinds of paving materials, reports The New York Times (11/26/07): …with nearly 2,000 miles of small service streets bisecting blocks from the North Side to the South Side, Chicago is the […]
Continue reading New York Times: The Green Alleys of Chicago
Today’s Gazette reports New England is experiencing more extreme rainstorms than in the past. We can also expect longer periods of relative dryness. Extreme downpours and snowstorms are rising in frequency nationally, with the highest increases in New England…Massachusetts saw a 67 percent rise in severe storms during [1948-2006], trailing only Rhode Island and New Hampshire……the […]
Continue reading Gazette: “Region’s storms going to extremes, report finds”
Today’s Daily Hampshire Gazette features a guest column written by Dennis Helmus and Adam Cohen, members of NSNA. The column, reprinted below, touches on a number of points we have raised in recent weeks. We have added links so topics can be explored in greater detail. The hidden risks of ‘smart growth’By Dennis Helmus and Adam CohenSmart […]
Continue reading Our Column in Today’s Gazette: The Hidden Risks of ‘Smart Growth’
Wendell Cox, a critic of Smart Growth, made this presentation to the Apartment Association of Metro Denver Economic Conference on January 23, 2001. He underscores how density and traffic congestion go together, in Europe as in America: If Denver were as dense as Los Angeles it would cover a bit more than one half the area. […]
NSNA is enthusiastic about infill and urban development when it involves brownfields revitalization. There is much that government can to assist this process. Syd Gernstein explores the subject for National Policy Analysis (2002): Brownfields are abandoned commercial and industrial sites that are suspected to suffer from environmental contamination.…regulatory uncertainties made it difficult, risky and impractical for entrepreneurs to invest in […]
Continue reading Syd Gernstein: “Brownfields Revitalization Cuts Urban Blight, Suburban Sprawl”
Writing in Regulation magazine in Fall 2001, Randal O’Toole maintains that Oregon’s well-intended Smart Growth policies have had bad side effects. Mr. O’Toole is senior economist for the Oregon-based Thoreau Institute, which advocates environmental protection through incentives rather than government regulation. His analysis is available as a PDF.“The anti-sprawl movement,” O’Toole writes, “came into prominence in 1973 […]
Continue reading Randal O’Toole: “The Folly of ‘Smart Growth'”
In today’s Gazette, Northampton resident Stephen Dashef urges officials to obtain citizen input early in the decision-making process: Since most people are not experienced or comfortable with public speaking in front of large groups, the mode of reaching out and obtaining information could include interviews, written answers to questionnaires, e-mail, or some combination of these […]
Continue reading Gazette Guest Column: “Give residents a role in city issues”
Many Smart Growth advocates are motivated by a sincere desire to emulate the best of urban environments: vibrant downtowns with strong civic ties that minimize car use. However, it must be acknowledged that some proponents may have less noble motivations. Among them are some who already live in the suburbs and are eager to restrict development around […]
Continue reading Suburban ‘Raise the Drawbridge’ Sentiment Motivates Some Smart Growth Policies
One big challenge is emerging to the Smart Growth model: how to serve families with young children. In the case of Portland, high housing costs are motivating families to move to the newest edge suburbs, perpetuating sprawl. The New York Times reports (3/24/05): San Francisco, where the median house price is now about $700,000, had […]
Continue reading New York Times: “Vibrant Cities Find One Thing Missing: Children”