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, […]
Rutherford Platt in Gazette: Avoid Overplanning
Rutherford Platt is Emeritus Professor of Geography at UMass Amherst. We have cited on several occasions his concept of The Humane Metropolis. In Saturday’s Gazette, Dr. Platt cautions about the hazards of overplanning a city: The ‘humane micropolis’…Urban adaptation cannot be imposed from above through preconceived plans. Instead, it depends upon the resourcefulness of local […]
Residence for Homeless Seeks Donations of Furnishings and Household Goods
It’s our pleasure to publicize this appeal… Furnishings needed: The Friends of Hampshire County Homeless Individuals purchased a duplex this summer consisting of two apartments to serve as permanent residence for six formerly homeless people. The purchase was made possible by a generous grant from the Community Preservation Committee. Residents will be provided with supportive […]
Today’s Urban Planning Debates Echoed in Northampton’s Near Past
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), […]
You Are Invited to Design Northampton Week, September 7-13
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 […]
Video: Planning Board Hammers Out Cautious Support for Design Northampton Week
[8/30/08 update: Joel Russell sent us the following comments, which we are reprinting with permission: Thank you for posting the video of the Planning Board meeting. I would like to offer some clarifications and corrections, however: The Planning Board has never been asked to contribute public funds. When the Board voted in June, the main […]
Video: Best Practices Forum Studies Evolution of Meadows Plan
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 […]
Urban Community Gardens Flourish in Holyoke
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 […]
Latest Draft of Zoning Revisions Committee Ordinance
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; […]
Reminder: Best Practices Forum on August 25
As a reminder, the Best Practices Committee invites the public to a forum on August 25. The forum will study what made the Meadows Plan a success. Here is the press release: It took two years and eight major public forums to create a Land Use Plan for the 4,000 acres, mostly flood plain, called […]