Randal O’Toole of the Thoreau Institute most kindly assembled a photo tour of Portland, Oregon for us. For a generation Portland has been a stronghold of Smart Growth planning. Mr. O’Toole provides the following narrative: What we see happening is that planners are never satisfied — let them densify you a little bit, and they […]
Author: NorthAssocAdmin
May 7: Northampton Redevelopment Authority Meets to Discuss Northampton Industrial Park
An intriguing public meeting is on tap for Wednesday. The Northampton Redevelopment Authority will discuss changing the rules at the Industrial Park… NORTHAMPTON REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY 6:00 PM Wednesday May 7, 2008 Consider repealing the Industrial Park Covenants regulating the redevelopment of the Northampton Industrial Park. Discuss possible future directions of the Northampton Redevelopment Authority. Any […]
May 8: Planning Board Revisits Sustainable Northampton; Green Roofs = Open Space?
Concerned citizens are urged to attend the May 8 meeting of Northampton’s Planning Board. Among other things, it looks like green roofs may be classified as “open space”. In effect, this implies some open space will become privatized, as the public may not have access to these green roofs… NORTHAMPTON PUBLIC MEETING FOR Thursday May […]
May 13: Best Practices Forum at JFK Middle School
We encourage citizens to attend this public forum on best practices in Northampton city government. Here is the agenda from the Best Practices Google Group: Agenda Best Practices Public Forum #1 When: May 13th, 2008 7:00 – 9:00 pm Where: Jackson Street School Facilitator: Lisa DePiano Topic Time History & mission of BPC, intro […]
May 7: Open Meeting on Redevelopment of Three County Fairgrounds
We are pleased to relay this announcement from the northamptonward3 Yahoo group: The Three County Fair Board of Directors has hired Bullock, Smith and Partners [link] to prepare a master plan for redevelopment of the fairgrounds. They will be in Northampton on May 6, 7 & 8 to gather input from stakeholders. There will be […]
Portland Suburb Successfully Staves Off Densification
Randal O’Toole of the Thoreau Institute has kindly allowed us to share his photo tour of Oak Grove, Oregon. Oak Grove, a suburb of Smart Growth stronghold Portland, decided in favor of preserving the pleasant community they knew over gambling on densification. Oak Grove’s population is about 12,800 inhabiting an area of 3.2 square miles […]
U.S. News to Retirees: Choose a locale with plenty of greenspace
Northampton is one of the “best places to retire” according to U.S. News & World Report and Money Magazine. A similar positive citation in the New York Times is mentioned on the City of Northampton website. Retiree in-migration can look attractive to city officials because their households consume a relatively low proportion of city services, […]
Scrape-Off Redevelopments Provoke Backlash in Denver Neighborhoods
The Rocky Mountain News reports how densification has provoked a strong backlash in certain Denver neighborhoods. The focus there is on multifamily dwellings. Just to be clear, the North Street Neighborhood Association has no objection to two- and three-family detached homes, of which there are many in our ward. We are concerned, however, about the […]
Bloomberg: “S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. Home-Price Index Fell 12.7%”
Bloomberg reports today: The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index dropped 12.7 percent [in February] from a year earlier, more than forecast and the most since the figures were first published in 2001. The gauge has fallen every month since January 2007. Prices will probably keep sliding as foreclosures push even more properties onto the market just as […]
LA Weekly: “City Hall’s ‘Density Hawks’ Are Changing L.A.’s DNA
Los Angeles shows what can happen when developers perceive profits in density, public officials egg them on, newspapers are quiescent, and citizens are asleep at the switch. LA Weekly reports: City Hall’s “Density Hawks” Are Changing L.A.’s DNA (2/27/08) …Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavksy…has been staging a one-man campaign to slow City Hall’s feverish […]