Design Northampton Week kicks off today with a 7-9pm public presentation by Professor Philip Bess of the University of Notre Dame. This will take place at the Northampton Senior Center on Conz Street. The final presentation and feedback session will take place from 4-6pm on Saturday, September 13, also at the Senior Center. In between, […]
Continue reading Public Input Hours and Presentations at Design Northampton Week
Debates about infill and urban land use have lately become hot topics, spurred by the Sustainable Northampton Plan and the prospective Hilton Garden Inn. Some of the underlying issues have been in play for many years. On the eve of Design Northampton Week, let’s revisit some of the voices from Northampton: Reflections on Paradise (1988), […]
Continue reading Today’s Urban Planning Debates Echoed in Northampton’s Near Past
We are pleased to pass along this announcement from the Northampton Design Forum… YOU ARE INVITED TO DESIGN NORTHAMPTON WEEK The Northampton Design Forum invites you to participate in Design Northampton Week, a week-long opportunity for the community to come together and develop a common vision of our future. The Notre Dame University Urban Design […]
Continue reading You Are Invited to Design Northampton Week, September 7-13
Here is a video of the complete Best Practices Forum that took place on August 25. We are giving the Vimeo web video platform a try. The video is about 86 minutes long. Here is an excerpt from the Best Practice Committee’s press release publicizing this forum: It took two years and eight major public […]
Continue reading Video: Best Practices Forum Studies Evolution of Meadows Plan
The April 2008 issue of The Atlantic describes the benefits of urban gardens in Holyoke. As in Northampton, the harvest goes beyond food to include education and community-building. A few excerpts: A Papaya Grows in Holyoke …Holyoke [is] fertile ground for “urban agriculture”–the successor to the still-flourishing community-garden movement, which itself grew out of World […]
Continue reading Urban Community Gardens Flourish in Holyoke
The Rezoning Subcommittee has kindly provided us with the latest draft of the ordinance to set up a Zoning Revisions Committee. This ordinance will be reviewed by Northampton’s Planning Board on August 28 at 7pm, Council Chambers, Puchalski Municipal Building, 212 Main Street. The public is encouraged to attend. Draft Ordinance: Zoning Revisions Committee Establishment; […]
Continue reading Latest Draft of Zoning Revisions Committee Ordinance
Here is a Google video of the formal portion of yesterday’s presentation of the proposed new police station. The video is about 57 minutes long. Today’s Gazette reports: Public gets look at Northampton police station plans Construction of the city’s new police station could begin as soon as the late fall, but city and project […]
Continue reading Video: Police Station Building Committee Presents Design
As reported in today’s Gazette, the newly signed Environmental Bond Bill includes an offer of funds to help conserve the woods off North Street. We are deeply grateful for this support from the state to preserve our urban greenspace. Here is the relevant portion of “An Act Providing for the Preservation and Improvement of Land, […]
Continue reading State Offers Funds to Help Conserve North Street Woods
We are pleased to share with you the preliminary schedule for Design Northampton Week. This schedule is also posted with additional information at the website of Northampton Design Forum. DESIGN NORTHAMPTON WEEK SCHEDULE (emphasis added) Note: This is a preliminary schedule – times may change. 9/6 (Saturday) 7:00 pm Notre Dame Design Team arrives in […]
Continue reading Design Northampton Week: Preliminary Schedule
Northampton’s Rezoning Subcommittee held its fifth meeting at Forbes Library on August 11. The two members of the City Council (Michael Bardsley, David Murphy) and one member of the Planning Board (Kenneth Jodrie) discussed a draft ordinance on the mission and composition of a Zoning Revisions Committee, also known as the Rezoning Committee. Subcommittee member […]