Due to Northampton’s looming budget shortfall, it has been widely reported that Bridge Street Elementary School is at risk of closing. We appreciate that the closure could save $400,000, but it goes against some of the better goals of the Sustainable Northampton Plan, which include getting people out of their cars and encouraging them to […]
Continue reading Closing Bridge Street School Contradicts Smart Growth Goals
We enjoyed Chivas Sandage’s guest column in the March 15-16 Gazette. She writes: The luxury of saving a single tree …Through the years I’ve had relationships with several remarkable trees, green spaces and wooded areas. Fascinated by Julia Hill-Butterfly, I followed her work closely for years. In recent years, I had the chance to write […]
Continue reading Gazette Guest Column: “The luxury of saving a single tree”
The Sustainable Northampton Plan presents Smart Growth (compact, transit-oriented development) as if it’s good for everyone. The problem is, different environments suit different living situations. In addition, mass transit has a troubled record outside of a handful of large, older dense cities. Let’s hear from the blog Asymmetrical Information (9/27/04): Smart growth is great if you are an upscale […]
Continue reading Smart Growth Winners (Rich People) and Losers (Other People)
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’
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”
Saturdays’ Gazette publishes a letter from Beverly Parker Bingham of Northampton. She expresses concerns about the higher densities sought in the draft Sustainable Northampton Plan: …The Northampton we all wish to sustain is the Northampton that we have now…The Northampton League of Women Voters was the major force behind the creation of our master plan. The […]
Continue reading Letter to Gazette: “Increased housing density will hurt Northampton”
Proponents of Northampton’s new wetlands buffer zone regime, which authorizes development as close as 10 feet to wetlands in nine zoning districts, tried to reassure critics by saying developers wouldn’t automatically be entitled to get that close. The reality, however, is Northampton’s Conservation Commission will now be on the defensive whenever it asks developers for more […]
Continue reading Gazette guest column: “Don’t ease controls on wetlands”
The lead editorial in today’s Gazette calls for improvements in our system of environmental compliance: “Protecting the environment”…the state has abdicated its responsibility to developers, who are essentially allowed to monitor themselves by hiring their own environmental consultants. Meanwhile, local conservation commissions are finding there are limits to what they can do to ensure compliance […]
Continue reading Gazette editorial: “Protecting the environment”
Today’s Gazette publishes a letter from Suzanne Beck, executive director of the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce: “Wetlands law will help city secure a sustainable future”. Ms. Beck believes the new ordinance will create “new no-disturb areas of 10 to 50 feet”.Regardless of the merits of the other parts of the proposed ordinance, a 10-foot wetlands […]
Continue reading Our Response to Suzanne Beck’s Letter to the Gazette
This week’s Valley Advocate has two articles addressing wetlands. At the front of the paper, editor Tom Vannah pens “Between the Lines: No Time to Relax — The Wetlands Protection Act is under attack”: …West Brook is one of the most closely studied trout streams in the United States. I’ve run into many federal fish biologists […]
Continue reading Two Articles on Wetlands in the Valley Advocate