Ed Shanahan is the editor of downstreet.net. He writes: As a member of the Northampton Tree Committee, I, like other members of the committee, have been frustrated by our inability to advance the cause of shade trees in this community.Each year, the city removes more dead or hazardous trees than it replaces, leaving a net […]
Author: NorthAssocAdmin
The Nature of Northampton: Henry James and Tracy Kidder
Henry James captures the air of Northampton in Roderick Hudson (1875)… …The next day was Sunday, and Rowland proposed that they should take a long walk and that Roderick should show him the country. The young man assented gleefully, and in the morning, as Rowland at the garden gate was giving his hostess Godspeed on her […]
Irony of Infill: You Have to Drive to Enjoy Nature
A key assumption built into infill is that walking access to amenities associated with civilization takes priority over walking access to nature. If developers are permitted to aggressively pave over green spaces downtown, more residents will be compelled to drive if they want to enjoy parks and woods. Most likely their overall time spent in ‘unbuilt’ environments […]
Environmental Consultant: “there are likely to be several hundred vernal pools in the City which could be certifyable”
As commissioned by the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce, New England Environmental, a consulting firm, just sent a report on vernal pools to Suzanne Beck. Suzanne is the executive director of the Chamber. Here are excerpts from Michael Marcus’s report, which assesses the vernal pool portion of Northampton’s proposed wetlands ordinance. The complete report is available […]
Poem: “We Have Faith”
Daryl LaFleur: North Street Area and Urban Ecology
Daryl LaFleur recently posted the following to Paradise City Forum. He has kindly given us permission to reprint it here. We have added emphasis to certain passages. The North Street neighborhood residential development as proposed by Mr. Kohl presents Northampton with a unique in-town development opportunity. While I often read entries on the PCF that […]
An Open Invitation to Bill Dwight, WHMP Commentator
Dear Bill,I understand you discussed the North Street Neighborhood Association on your July 26 WHMP radio program [mp3 file]. We would welcome the opportunity to present our case on the air. If it’s NIMBY to be concerned about the paving over of what green space remains in downtown, feel free to call us NIMBYists. More […]
More Reasons Why Smart People Don’t Build Near Wetlands: Mosquitoes and Disease
[7/26/07 clarification: In the article below, we don’t mean to imply that dengue/malaria/yellow fever are currently in Northampton. However, they serve to illustrate that mosquitoes are associated with disease in general (such as West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis), and that excessively exposing people to mosquitoes is risky. As the New England climate has […]
Existing Home Sales Drop for Fourth Straight Month
The Associated Press reports today that the national housing market continues to pull back… Sales of existing homes fell for a fourth straight month in June and even a small increase in home prices was not enough to lift the gloom surrounding the housing industry. The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing […]
Northampton Redoubt: “North Street area citizens join together”
Valley Advocate blogger Daryl LaFleur this week reports on NSNA’s July 21 barbecue with a long article on Northampton Redoubt. Some excerpts: More than sixty people attended the North Street Neighborhood Association Barbecue [Saturday], July 21 to learn about Douglas Kohl’s 31-unit condominium project proposed for their area… Situated close to a wetland area, the […]