At the February 7 meeting of Northampton’s planning board, one member characterized as “carbuncles” condo developments that integrate poorly with their surrounding neighborhoods. Let’s take a look at the characteristics of some attractive streets with detached houses in the North Street neighborhood, and then contrast them with three carbuncle candidates–two built and one proposed. Trees […]
Infill
Energy-Efficient Personal Vehicles of the Near Future
Smart Growth advocates are concerned about the energy consumed by America’s many cars and the emissions they produce. With gas nearing $4 a gallon, it’s hard not to share these concerns. However, the solutions commonly proposed–densification to support rail and bus travel–often don’t work well in practice. Many homebuyers resist being packed into dense neighborhoods […]
People Cannot Live on Boutiques Alone: The Myth of Northwest 23rd
Northwest 23rd Avenue in Portland, Oregon sounds a bit like Main Street in Northampton. It is “lined with classy shops and restaurants” that attract visitors from a wide area. To be sure, these are both pleasant destinations. We are glad to have them around. However, they are not sufficient for meeting all the core needs […]
Portland, Oregon Voters Sour on Densification Over Time
In the back of the Sustainable Northampton Plan, you’ll find results from a 2006 opinion survey (Appendix B, p.71-80). At first blush, it appears that Smart Growth principles such as densification and transit-oriented development are popular: 89% of respondents agreed that “Development Should Be Encouraged At Densities And Locations That Can Support Transit”. The problem […]
Halle-Neustadt: A Case Study in Compact, Transit-Oriented Development
Randal O’Toole of the Thoreau Institute tells the story of Halle-Neustadt, a case study in compact, transit-oriented development in East Germany. He draws parallels between certain soviet planning concepts and Smart Growth. O’Toole does not claim, nor do we, that Smart Growth itself is the work of communists. What we do see, however, is the […]
Portland: A Photo Tour of Spiraling Densification
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]