Here are the preliminary minutes of the Best Practices Meeting of November 12. Members debated which recommendations to put forward to the City Council. Accompanying the minutes are pictures of the whiteboard used at the meeting (left and right halves with overlap). The image is also available at higher resolution as a PDF. We will […]
Best Practices
Video: November 5 Best Practices Meeting; Media Coverage Wanted; Marathon Session on Tap for November 12
Northampton’s Best Practices Committee met at the Board of Public Works conference room at 125 Locust Street on November 5. Here is a complete Vimeo video of the meeting as recorded by Jendi Reiter. It’s one hour and 36 minutes long. Selected highlights: 16min:30sec: Discussion of how to interest the Gazette in the work of […]
Press Release: Best Practices Committee Begins Final Report
We are forwarding this press release from the city: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 6, 2008 BEST PRACTICES COMMITTEE BEGINS FINAL REPORT The Ad-Hoc Committee on Best Practices in Northampton Decision-Making (Best Practices Committee) is entering the final phase of its activities and beginning the preparation of a draft final report to the Northampton City Council. […]
Ordinance to Simplify Zero Lot Line Developments to Come Before City Council on 11/6/08
[Update: The City Council agenda says this proposal is getting its first reading on November 6, but it’s actually at an earlier stage of the process. The proposal will likely be referred out to various committee meetings and hearings before coming back to the Council.] This November 6, Northampton’s City Council will get its first look at amending Ordinance […]
Videos: Best Practices Working Group Meetings of 10/29; Get Your Suggestions in Now
Two working groups of the Best Practices Committee met on October 29. In the morning, David Narkewicz, Wendy Foxmyn and Lisa DePiano met as the Inreach Working Group. In the evening, Wendy Foxmyn and Alex Ghiselin met as members of the Report Writing Working Group. Here are complete Vimeo videos of both meetings, with the […]
Video: October 23 Best Practices Meeting; Report Deadline Draws Near
Here is a complete Vimeo video of the October 23 meeting of Northampton’s Best Practices Committee. The meeting took place in the Board of Public Works Board Room at 125 Locust Street. The video is 92 minutes long, and was shot by Lachlan Ziegler.The City Council is expecting a report from the Best Practices Committee […]
Video: September 25 Best Practices Meeting; Forum on Smith College Overlay District to be Considered
Here is a complete Vimeo video of the September 25 meeting of Northampton’s Best Practices Committee. The committee is to issue a report within a few months on how to improve the city’s decision-making processes and better integrate public opinion. The meeting took place in the Human Resources Department Conference Room of Memorial Hall. The […]
Research on Best Practices in Other Communities
Northampton’s Ad-Hoc Committee on Best Practices is circulating this research memo for public review. It includes an exploration of how other cities bring the public into their decision-making. You can download this memo as a PDF (which will let you copy the text and click the links). Here is the date and location of the […]
Rutherford Platt in Gazette: Avoid Overplanning
Rutherford Platt is Emeritus Professor of Geography at UMass Amherst. We have cited on several occasions his concept of The Humane Metropolis. In Saturday’s Gazette, Dr. Platt cautions about the hazards of overplanning a city: The ‘humane micropolis’…Urban adaptation cannot be imposed from above through preconceived plans. Instead, it depends upon the resourcefulness of local […]
Video: Best Practices Forum Studies Evolution of Meadows Plan
Here is a video of the complete Best Practices Forum that took place on August 25. We are giving the Vimeo web video platform a try. The video is about 86 minutes long. Here is an excerpt from the Best Practice Committee’s press release publicizing this forum: It took two years and eight major public […]