If one looks at the woods behind North Street at night, their most striking feature is that they are dark. Very dark. According to The New Yorker, many creatures like it that way. From “The Dark Side”, 8/20/07Deer…have excellent nighttime vision but appear extremely vulnerable to temporary blinding by bright light…Although nighttime lighting has seldom been […]
Continue reading The Environment Says: The Woods Are Lovely When They’re Dark and Deep
We have enlisted OLIVER, The MassGIS Online Data Viewer, to show just how rare and precious the woods behind North Street are in downtown Northampton. These woods are part of Kohl Construction’s proposed 5.49 acre condo site. The plan calls for 31 units and 66 parking spaces, plus access roads [update: the latest version of the plans calls for […]
Daryl LaFleur urges the long view in “Northampton developments: Barrett Street Marsh in Jeopardy”, published yesterday on Northampton Redoubt. We have emphasized certain passages with bold type. Mr. Kohl is an influential real estate developer in the greater Northampton area. He purchased Thornes Marketplace for $6.4 million in 2006 according to media reports and has helped […]
Continue reading Northampton Redoubt: Urban Ecology, Planting Trees, and the Long-Term View
Northampton’s Planning Board will hold a two-hour workshop to review the Sustainability Plan (PDF) on August 9 and possibly again later in the month. While public comments will not be taken at these workshops, the public is encouraged to email comments to su********************@********up.com. Here is an expanded version of comments we recently sent to Cecil […]
Continue reading Sustainable Northampton: An Open Letter to the Cecil Group
Today’s Gazette gives a welcome plug for shade trees in Northampton. We say, if it’s good to plant ’em, it’s even better not to take ’em down in the first place… When it’s hot and you’re on foot, it’s shade you crave. Then you appreciate trees – enough to hug them. In much of the […]
Continue reading Gazette: “Trees add to city’s appearance, well-being”
Ed Shanahan is the editor of downstreet.net. He writes: As a member of the Northampton Tree Committee, I, like other members of the committee, have been frustrated by our inability to advance the cause of shade trees in this community.Each year, the city removes more dead or hazardous trees than it replaces, leaving a net […]
Continue reading Downstreet.net: “Despite Tree City USA Honor Northampton Planting Lags”
Henry James captures the air of Northampton in Roderick Hudson (1875)… …The next day was Sunday, and Rowland proposed that they should take a long walk and that Roderick should show him the country. The young man assented gleefully, and in the morning, as Rowland at the garden gate was giving his hostess Godspeed on her […]
Continue reading The Nature of Northampton: Henry James and Tracy Kidder
Daryl LaFleur recently posted the following to Paradise City Forum. He has kindly given us permission to reprint it here. We have added emphasis to certain passages. The North Street neighborhood residential development as proposed by Mr. Kohl presents Northampton with a unique in-town development opportunity. While I often read entries on the PCF that […]
Continue reading Daryl LaFleur: North Street Area and Urban Ecology
All those interested in a Sustainable Northampton are urged to attend one or more of the following public meetings today: Attend the Ordinance Committee meeting on July 24, 6:00pm at 212 Main Street in City Council Chambers. This meeting will discuss changes to Northampton’s wetlands regulationsCouncilor David Narkewicz says this is the “final and required […]
Continue reading Wetlands Ordinance, Other Important Meetings on Tap for Today
NSNA member Thomas McCurry has taken some beautiful pictures of the forest behind View Avenue. Much of this area is imperiled by Kohl Construction’s proposal to build 31 condo units (mostly 3- and 4-bedrooms) in the area…Fellow member Heather McLaughlin has taken these pictures of Millyard Brook as it borders the new bike path and […]