To see how Smart Growth policies might affect Northampton, we can look to the experience of those who are farther down the path. The experience of the Portland metro area raises concerns. Restricting sites that can be developed boosts home prices. Homeownership rates can suffer, especially among minorities and those with lower incomes. Buyers who want affordable homes with yards […]
Month: November 2007
Large Lots Gobble Up Land in Massachusetts
In Massachusetts, the chief drivers of sprawl include larger home sizes and lots. The Daily Item reports (3/8/04): Despite its gradual land protection progress, Massachusetts still lost more than 202,000 acres of forest, farmland and open space between 1985 and 1999, nearly 90 percent of those 40 acres a day taken for residential construction, while […]
Natick Hailed as Example of How to Do Smart Growth Well
NSNA is not opposed to all compact growth strategies. What concerns us most is when “smart growth” is cited as an excuse to consume precious downtown greenspace. However, we support efforts to revitalize commercial sites and underused parking lots, such as can be found on King Street. In this vein, MetroWest reports on successful initiatives in […]
The Atlantic Monthly: “A Good Place to Live”
While the Sustainable Northampton Plan is under consideration, let’s consider some successful initiatives seen elsewhere. In this Atlantic Monthly article (March 1988), Philip Langdon discusses architects who spurn sprawl and admire characteristics of nineteenth-century American towns, all while acknowledging the preferences of today’s homebuyers and the realities of cars: At first glance, what seems to make Seaside [Florida] special is […]
AP: “Empty Houses Home to Crime As Loans Fail”
An undersupply of houses in an area is bad, pushing up prices, but so is an oversupply. Aggressive plans to build housing units merit caution in the face of today’s uncertain demand. This month, AP reports how foreclosures and vacant homes are damaging neighborhoods: As defaults surge on mortgages made to borrowers with spotty credit and adjustable-rate […]
Gazette: Over-55 Condo Project in Amherst Stalled for Lack of Demand
Today’s Gazette reports how a condo project at Hampshire College has stalled for lack of demand. High prices are part of the problem. Veridian Village is asking $350-$385 per square foot. Some of the expense is for green features like bamboo flooring. Other local projects for retirees, however, cost $240-$275. More broadly, developers say the […]
Metro Portland: “Nature in Neighborhoods”
Metropolitan Portland has been grappling with issues of Smart Growth for years. Its Nature in Neighborhoods program recognizes that greenspace is an important amenity for residents: The Portland metropolitan region is set in an exceptional natural landscape. It is surrounded by hills and mountains and laced with rivers and streams. It is a region of national […]
Letter to Gazette: “Increased housing density will hurt Northampton”
Saturdays’ Gazette publishes a letter from Beverly Parker Bingham of Northampton. She expresses concerns about the higher densities sought in the draft Sustainable Northampton Plan: …The Northampton we all wish to sustain is the Northampton that we have now…The Northampton League of Women Voters was the major force behind the creation of our master plan. The […]
Pictures of Northampton Streets at Various Densities
Yesterday we called for the Sustainable Northampton Plan to include pictures so the public can better understand its vision. Northampton planning director Wayne Feiden alerted us to images relating infill and density on the Office of Planning and Development website.Below we have extracted images from OPD’s Density Study Poster (PDF) and Northampton Density Samples (PDF). OPD also presents […]
Grasping the Sustainable Northampton Vision: We Need Pictures
In all the 78 pages of the draft Sustainable Northampton Plan (PDF), there is only a single graphic. It’s the Future Land Use Map, an abstract, top-level view of the city. That’s unfortunate, because without drawings, pictures and illustrations, it’s difficult to envision how the Plan will change the look and feel of Northampton. James Kunstler, […]