We are pleased to publicize the following announcement: The Environment Task Force of the Hampshire Interfaith Council is pleased to presentThe Humane Metropolis–People and Nature in the 21st Century CityAn illustrated talk byRutherford H. PlattSunday, March 9, at 7 p.m.Edwards Church299 Main Street at corner of Main and StateNorthampton, MADr. Platt is professor of geography […]
Springfield Republican: “Pioneer Valley home sales drop 26%”
Today’s Republican reports on the state of the local and national housing market: The Realtor Association of Pioneer Valley Inc. today released statistics showing that single-family home sales in the region fell 25.9 percent last month compared to January 2007. The median price of a home dropped nearly 7.5 percent, from $210,500 to $195,000, over […]
Downtown house on “dead end street” in “rural setting” flies off market
The Gazette reports that residential real estate sales in Northampton are slow, but you wouldn’t know it if you were the seller of a certain single-family house on Bradford Street. According to the Multiple Listing Service, this home went on sale on February 8 and is now under agreement, just 12 days later. What makes it […]
Scientists Assist Efforts to Build Urban Tree Canopy
Scientists at the University of Vermont are helping cities measure and increase their tree canopies, AP reports today: “The benefits [of urban trees] are many. First, there’s the environmental. Trees cool things. They remove particulates in the air. They’re linked to mitigating storm water flows, which is an enormous problem in all urban areas because […]
Gazette: “Contractors assess extent of slowdown, as some projects lag”
Today’s Gazette contains a large section examining the local real estate market. Softness in residential development is evident… Construction at crossroads, or dead end? Contractors assess extent of slowdown, as projects lagFor the first time in recent memory, Northampton city planners do not expect to have a permit application for a residential or commercial project before them, […]
Paved Surfaces, Salt and Water Bodies: A Bad Mix
This news item from the February 17 Republican underscores why it’s a bad idea to locate paved surfaces near bodies of water… Road salt taints 9 home wellsTests of private home wells along Route 10 have shown that three in Westfield and six in Southampton are contaminated by road salt, officials said yesterday…All of the homes […]
Snow and Slush Expose Limits of Storm Drains
If infill is to mean adding more impervious surface to the already built-up areas of Northampton, this will increase pressure on our man-made stormwater drainage system. The limits of this system were on display this week, as snow, sleet and nearly 3 inches of rain came to Pioneer Valley. Today’s Gazette reports: Water, water everywhere […]
Massachusetts Audubon: The Value of Floodplain Forests
“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, […]
Terrain.org: The Breath of Trees Is Good for You
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. […]
Terrain.org: “Cultivating Natural and Cultural Landscapes through Conservation Subdivision Design”
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 […]