“Floodplain forest—a woodland that is regularly inundated with water that moves into the lowlands bordering a river—is a disappearing ecological treasure,” writes Gayle Goddard-Taylor for Mass Audubon’s Sanctuary magazine (March 2006). While some may quibble that the North Street woods are not a forest and Millyard Brook is not a river but an intermittent stream, […]
Continue reading Massachusetts Audubon: The Value of Floodplain Forests
The breeze from trees might be more than just sweet-smelling, writes Terrain’s Joan Maloof in, “Old Growth Air”: …I am breathing deeply of a forest gift that I had forgotten: the air! Americans have largely ignored this dimension of the forest’s allure, but the Japanese recognize it and have a name for it: shinrin-yoku, wood-air bathing. […]
Continue reading Terrain.org: The Breath of Trees Is Good for You
Terrain.org is an online journal devoted to smart growth that’s integrated with the natural environment. It won a 1999 Media Award for Sustainable Development, and has an entire category devoted to UnSprawl. Randall Arendt’s article, “Cultivating Natural and Cultural Landscapes through Conservation Subdivision Design”, is a good example of increasing sensitivity among Smart Growth advocates for […]
In a January 16 guest column for South Coast Today, Ian Bowles, secretary of energy and environmental affairs for Massachusetts, argues that Smart Growth needs to provide for urban parks as well as habitat reserves and working landscapes (agricultural and forest lands). It’s not sufficient to presume that compact growth and the preservation of open […]
Today’s Gazette reports that financing challenges and market conditions have suspended a condo development off North King Street. It was to have been one of Northampton’s largest residential development projects in recent years: James M. Harrity Jr., of Northampton, has put 46 acres off North King Street on the market for $2.4 million. The listing […]
Continue reading Gazette: “North King Street condominium project stalls”
Today’s Gazette features Virginia Otis’s monthly column about nature… “Go to the winter woods. There is nothing more beautiful than the forest clothed to its very hollows in snow,” wrote Fiona MacLeod in “Where The Forest Murmurs.” (1906) It is an invitation to go snowshoeing, skiiing, or hiking on snowmobile trails to see that clean […]
Continue reading Gazette Column: “Winter offers a whole new way to view and enjoy the forest”
The Sustainable Northampton Plan (PDF), recently approved by the Planning Board, includes these goals (p.23): Conserve wetlands with programs to ensure no net loss of wetlands…Preserve existing forests, floodplains, wetlands, and agricultural soils of high ecological value…Recognize that the protection of environmental resources will improve the quality of life and the value of property in […]
Continue reading Greening Smart Growth: The Sustainable Sites Initiative
Daryl LaFleur’s Northampton Redoubt discusses how Kohl Construction’s proposed condo project off North Street has spurred a larger debate over what Smart Growth means and how to implement it… It’s great to read everyone’s posts on the Paradise City Forum listserv regarding the North Street Condominium proposal and Smart Growth……the Kohl development on North Street will […]
Continue reading Northampton Redoubt: Urban Planning, Public Policies, and Urban Ecology
Let’s further explore Dr. Rutherford Platt’s thinking about “ecological cities”. Dr. Platt is affiliated with the Department of Geosciences at UMass Amherst. He is no fan of sprawl, but does believe that ecological cities should incorporate greenspace and green infrastructure throughout their fabric. “Regreening the Metropolis: Pathways to More Ecological Cities”A 2004 Keynote Address by Dr. Rutherford […]
Continue reading Rutherford Platt, “Regreening the Metropolis: Pathways to More Ecological Cities”
The Ecological Cities Project is affiliated with the Department of Geosciences at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. It was founded in 1999 by Dr. Rutherford H. Platt, a familiar figure in the Valley. The project website currently features “The Humane Metropolis”, an article by Neal Peirce. Peirce champions the cause of greenspace in urban environments: […]
Continue reading The Ecological Cities Project: Greenspace in “The Humane Metropolis”