[Revised on 12/17/08] Carolyn Misch, Senior Land Use Planner in the Northampton planning department, has kindly provided us with more details about the proposed changes to the Zero Lot Line regulations. These details are reproduced below and may also be downloaded as a PDF, but first, here is explanatory text circulated by Ward 3 City […]
Continue reading More Detail on the Zero Lot Line Proposed Changes; Evaluating Infill Impacts
[11/13/08 update – Notre Dame Professor Philip Bess sent us this comment and authorized us to share it with you: We share your commitment to green space in Northampton, both usable and preserved; and are cognizant of the low-lying downtown areas prone to flooding. I just want to reassure you here that even if our […]
Continue reading Update from Notre Dame; Critique of Northampton Sector Diagram
This week’s Valley Advocate critiques the Sustainable Northampton Plan and contrasts it with the picture-filled work from the recent Notre Dame Northampton Urban Design Charrette. Here are a few excerpts: Sustainability: Vision or Buzzword in Northampton?Why Notre Dame’s Urban Design Team’s work matters more than Northampton’s Sustainability Plan In many ways, what Professor Bess and […]
Continue reading Valley Advocate Critiques Sustainable Northampton Plan
The Notre Dame School of Architecture has launched a website to present their ideas about Northampton and engage with citizens. Professor Philip Bess and six graduate architecture and urban design students–Kalinda Brown, Dan Degreve, Josh Eckert, Scott Ford, Aaron Helfand, and Crystal Olin–initiated a semester’s worth of study of Northampton with Design Northampton Week. Visit […]
Continue reading The Notre Dame Northampton Charrette – Website Launches
Dr. Rutherford Platt has kindly given us permission to reprint the full text of his September 6 guest column in the Gazette. Dr. Platt cautions about the hazards of overplanning a city: The ‘humane micropolis’ Northampton has evolved on its own terms “Design Northampton Week,” which begins this Sunday evening at the Senior Center on […]
Continue reading Rutherford Platt, “The Humane Micropolis” – Full Text
Northampton’s Rezoning Subcommittee held its fourth meeting at Forbes Library on August 4. The two members of the city council (Michael Bardsley, David Murphy) and two members of the planning board (George Kohout, Kenneth Jodrie) worked to nail down the optimal size and composition of the prospective Rezoning Committee. Planning director Wayne Feiden attended the […]
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”
At the February 7 meeting of Northampton’s planning board, one member characterized as “carbuncles” condo developments that integrate poorly with their surrounding neighborhoods. Let’s take a look at the characteristics of some attractive streets with detached houses in the North Street neighborhood, and then contrast them with three carbuncle candidates–two built and one proposed. Trees […]
Smart Growth advocates are concerned about the energy consumed by America’s many cars and the emissions they produce. With gas nearing $4 a gallon, it’s hard not to share these concerns. However, the solutions commonly proposed–densification to support rail and bus travel–often don’t work well in practice. Many homebuyers resist being packed into dense neighborhoods […]
Continue reading Energy-Efficient Personal Vehicles of the Near Future
Saturday’s Gazette publishes a letter from Keith and Amy Wilson of Northampton. Keith is a member of Northampton’s Planning Board. Here the Wilsons are writing in their personal capacity as residents, asking city officials to take their time as they weigh the fate of our elementary schools: …the many factors that go into this decision […]
Continue reading Letter to Gazette: “Don’t rush into a decision on school closure”