As a reminder, the Best Practices Committee invites the public to a forum on August 25. The forum will study what made the Meadows Plan a success. Here is the press release: It took two years and eight major public forums to create a Land Use Plan for the 4,000 acres, mostly flood plain, called […]
Best Practices
August 25: Best Practices Forum to Study Meadows Success
We are pleased to relay this press release from Northampton’s Office of Planning and Development. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 7, 2008 Northampton – It took two years and eight major public forums to create a Land Use Plan for the 4,000 acres, mostly flood plain, called the Meadows that borders the Connecticut River in Northampton. […]
New Blog: Northampton Blight
We are pleased to see a new blog join the local array of citizen journalism: Northampton Blight. Its mission: This blog is to publicize urban blight right here in Northampton — — The Paradise City! Every city faces the challenge of keeping things well maintained and looking good, but Northampton has been looking pretty darn […]
Letter to Gazette: “Government works best when it is closer to home”
Today’s Gazette publishes a letter by Adam Cohen, a member of NSNA: Government works best when it is closer to home To the editor: I would like to respond to Neal Peirce’s June 30 column, “Using the power of ‘metropolitics.’” [link] Mr. Peirce writes, “while the metros have our top talent, they’re often disorganized, divided […]
Video: June 30 Rezoning Subcommittee Considers Who Should Shape City’s Future; Proposals from Joel Russell and Ward Three Association
Northampton’s Rezoning Subcommittee consists of two city councilors (Michael Bardsley and David Murphy) and two members of the planning board (George Kohout and Kenneth Jodrie). They are charged with coming up with proposals as to who should sit on a Rezoning Committee that will distill the Sustainable Northampton Plan into new proposed rules and regulations. […]
Transcribed Public Comments from the Best Practices Forum of May 13
Members of Northampton’s Best Practices Committee have just made available this transcription of some of the citizen comments from their public forum of May 13. We added a small amount of formatting to improve readability. Click for video of the public forum and see pictures of the comments as they were written. The committee has […]
Video: Best Practices Workshop Evaluates Public Forum; Hotel Decision-Making Process Scrutinized; Wanting More from Local Media
On May 20, members of Northampton’s Best Practices Committee held a morning workshop to evaluate input from their May 13 public forum. One of the exercises at the forum invited citizens to write comments about major city issues on large sheets of paper (see pictures below). Much of the workshop was devoted to determining how […]
Best Practices: Pictures and Video from the May 13 Public Forum
Northampton’s Best Practices Committee hosted its first public forum on May 13. Dozens of citizens and several city councilors attended. The goal was to brainstorm about ways to improve the city government’s decision-making process. Jason Heffner facilitated. This Google video shows about one hour of the two-hour-long meeting. Quiet periods and small-group sessions are omitted. […]
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 […]