We received this open letter today from a fellow resident, sharing our concerns about infill projects that consume downtown greenspace:
See also:
Letter to Advocate: “Heartsick Over Noho”
Irony of Infill: You Have to Drive to Enjoy Nature
Northampton Redoubt: Urban Ecology, Planting Trees, and the Long-Term View
If we remove all of our in-town forested areas and wetlands they will likely be gone forever or at least a very long time. We would do well for posterity to err on the side of caution.
Statement from Virginia Schulman, living at 358 South Street, Northampton, since 1983
We had a lovely small wooded area on one corner of the intersection of South Street with New South and Old South streets. The owner of those woods sought to protect them in her will. However, due to quick work by the Historical Commission, a local court, and a developer, we no longer have any wooded area–instead, an extensively rehabilitated architecturally important cottage.
Thanks, but we who live here preferred the woods! When using SmartGrowth techniques and practicing “infill”, kindly moderate your enthusiasm for infill once it is clear that EVERYTHING can be filled in and that having NOTHING but the “built environment” is, like war, not healthy for human beings.
And on top of that, there’s the lost protection to the wetlands if you approve this bull-headed project.
Sincerely,
Virginia Schulman
See also:
Letter to Advocate: “Heartsick Over Noho”
Irony of Infill: You Have to Drive to Enjoy Nature
Northampton Redoubt: Urban Ecology, Planting Trees, and the Long-Term View
If we remove all of our in-town forested areas and wetlands they will likely be gone forever or at least a very long time. We would do well for posterity to err on the side of caution.