The Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce presented “Rezoning King Street: Findings & Recommendations” to the Planning Board last night. We’ll have that video for you within a few days. In the meantime, download this PDF published by the Chamber (1.3MB). See also: Gazette: “Builders decry slow road to permits” (5/31/10) A pair of King Street developers lay […]
Infill
Albuquerque Journal: “City Should Address Growing ‘Bad Infill’ Problem”
From the March 14, 2010 Albuquerque Journal: A new two-story house in an unassuming Santa Fe neighborhood is built six feet from the back lot line and looms over the windows of the neighboring one-story home. Across the street from one of old Santa Fe’s most notable Pueblo Revival-style historic homes, a row of faux-Territorial condominiums […]
Denver City Council Considers Form-Based Zoning; Stabilizing Neighborhoods
The Denver Daily News reported on May 24 (emphasis added): After five years of what at times has been an excruciating process to update the city’s more than five-decade-old zoning code, the City Council tonight will finally introduce the new code on first reading, paving the way for an extensive public comment period… The new […]
Case Study: Brooklyn Neighborhood Rezones to Combat Out-of-Scale Development
Even in the New York City metro area, with its walkable neighborhoods, areas of high density, and extensive public transit system, many citizens are concerned about development that conflicts with the scale and character of the neighborhoods they love. The New York City Department of City Planning provides this overview of recent rezoning in the Bay Ridge district of Brooklyn: […]
Edwards Square Meeting with Plassmann, Huntley: Video
Here is a complete blip.tv video of a meeting last night between residents of Edwards Square and Ned Huntley, director of the Northampton Department of Public Works. The meeting was hosted by Ward 3 City Councilor Angela Plassmann. It took place in a conference room at ServiceNet. Residents expressed concern about the condition of the road, parking […]
Governing: “Growing America: Demographics and Destiny”
Planetizen is a reliable collector of fascinating articles on urban planning and design. This week they pointed us to this article in Governing by Joel Kotkin. Some excerpts: Growing America: Demographics and Destiny Over the next four decades, American governments will oversee a much larger and far more diverse population. As we gain upward of 100 million people, […]
Video: Zoning Revisions Discusses Making Core Urban Neighborhoods More “Conforming”, More Dense
Here is a 7-minute YouTube excerpt from last night’s meeting of the Zoning Revisions Committee, recorded by Adam Cohen. It is observed that in zoning district Urban Residential C (URC)–the dense neighborhoods surrounding downtown Northampton–perhaps 40% of the existing single-family homes are “non-conforming”, and the percentage for multi-family homes is even higher. These homes don’t meet today’s zoning requirements […]
Christian Science Monitor: “How to plan better for New England floods”
The April 3 Christian Science Monitor uses the occasion of the recent flooding along the New England coast to look at climate trends: How to plan better for New England floods As flood waters recede in rain-soaked New England, March’s record-smashing storms highlight the need for planners in the region to place an increased emphasis […]
Springfield Republican: “Northeast seeing more, fiercer rainstorms in line with global warming predictions, study says”
In 2007, the Northampton City Council approved a new Wetlands Ordinance that, in the name of infill, encourages developers to encroach closer to wetlands in many in-town locations. Climate-wise, this move is badly timed, as the frequency and severity of “precipitation events” in Massachusetts is on the rise. The April 5 Republican reports: The Northeast is seeing more […]
Zoning Revisions Committee Releases Synthesis of Comments from March 17 Forum
Northampton’s Zoning Revisions Committee has released a synthsis of comments from its public forum on March 17. Download the full-size PDF. See the slides from the forum. See the video. The committee will next meet on April 7, 7-9pm in City Hall Room 10 (second floor, enter via the back door). See also: Video and Slides: Joel Russell […]