Infill and urban design are hot topics in Springfield as they are in Northampton. The Springfield Office of Planning and Economic Development is currently working on an infill design manual. They expect to release it in the fall. The City of Springfield conducted a housing design forum on June 26 to gather public input. Noting […]
Infill
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. […]
Notre Dame Urban Design Studio Project Slated for September 7-13
A new group, the Northampton Design Forum, released this announcement today: On Tuesday, June 24, 2008, the “Northampton Design Forum” was formed under the umbrella of Available Potential Enterprises, Ltd (APE), a non-profit arts organization based in Northampton. The Design Forum, whose members include Northampton citizens interested in fostering quality urban design, decided to invite […]
The Condos at Bixby Court: A Closer Look
At the kind invitation of Joel Spiro and Vincent Silluzio, we visited the Bixby Court condos on June 20 to take a closer look. The development consists of ten units housed in seven buildings. It includes two homes built in the early 19th century and remodeled plus five new farmhouse-style townhouse units. Each unit includes […]
Springfield Republican: “Victory gardens fight price wars”
Following on the heels of a similar article in the June 14 Gazette, yesterday’s Republican reports on surging interest in home gardens: Victory gardens fight price wars … “Vegetable plant sales have been phenomenal. Our sales are up maybe 30 percent this year,” said Leo L. Lapinski, who owns Gooseberry Farms in West Springfield… According […]
Salem, Oregon Analysis: Balanced Land Use Key to Balanced Municipal Budget, Quality of Life
In 2001, ECONorthwest prepared a “Fiscal Impact Analysis Relating to City Growth and Annexations” for the City of Salem, Oregon. This 60-page report is available from the City of Salem Community Development Department, 555 Liberty Street SE, No. 305, Salem, Oregon 97301-3503. Among the most interesting findings are how different land uses affect municipal revenues […]
Gazette: “As food, other costs rise, more stake hopes on home gardens”
The lead story in today’s Gazette reports on surging interest in home gardens: Veggie-mania: As food, other costs rise, more stake hopes on home gardens …Locally, garden centers are seeing a spike in sales of garden supplies… According to the Associated Press, W. Atlee Burpee & Co., the nation’s largest seed company, has sold twice […]
Video: Notre Dame Urban Design Studio Presentation
We are pleased to present these video recordings of Notre Dame’s June 2 urban design studio proposal for Northampton. Professor Phil Bess presents highlights of a growth and development plan for Cooperstown, NY as an example of what suggestions might come from the studio. The planning board will discuss the studio proposal at its June […]
Notre Dame Pitches Urban Design Studio to Northampton
To a crowded June 2 audience in City Council Chambers, Professor Philip Bess from the Notre Dame School of Architecture offered an urban design studio to Northampton. Effectively, the studio would help visualize some of the concepts in the Sustainable Northampton Plan, such as compact, mixed-use development. The components of the studio would be an […]
Mayor’s Email Update
Mayor Clare Higgins has just released a new email update to the public, and we are reproducing it here for your general information. We call your special attention to the upcoming presentation from Phil Bess, Professor and Graduate Program Director of the Architecture Program, University of Notre Dame. It will take place on June 2 […]