We would like to share with you this open letter to Mayor Clare Higgins from Clark Avenue resident Ellen LaFleche. To All It Concerns, My husband works as an activities director at a local retirement community, and although our own retirement is more than a decade away, we spend lots of time talking about where […]
Neighborhood Character
Envisioning Sustainable Northampton: Notre Dame Urban Design Presentation – Video and Handout
Here is a complete Google video of Envisioning Sustainable Northampton, the final presentation of The Notre Dame Northampton Charrette. This video is 2 hours and 33 minutes long, and may also be viewed at Vimeo video. You may download a PDF of the slides here. The video was recorded by Adam Cohen. [1/9/09 update: Northampton […]
More Detail on the Zero Lot Line Proposed Changes; Evaluating Infill Impacts
[Revised on 12/17/08] Carolyn Misch, Senior Land Use Planner in the Northampton planning department, has kindly provided us with more details about the proposed changes to the Zero Lot Line regulations. These details are reproduced below and may also be downloaded as a PDF, but first, here is explanatory text circulated by Ward 3 City […]
Envisioning Sustainable Northampton: Notre Dame Urban Design Presentation – Slides
Urban design students from Notre Dame University presented Envisioning Sustainable Northampton at Northampton High School yesterday. Below are selected slides from their presentation. Download all 97 slides (PDF, 16.9MB). We will make a video of the presentation available online within a few days. In the meantime, please visit The Notre Dame Northampton Charrette website for […]
“Broken-Windows” Theory Validated in Study
Daryl LaFleur links to this valuable Economist article in Northampton Redoubt: Can the can: The idea that graffiti-spraying and other forms of low-level delinquency promote further bad behaviour has now been tested experimentally (11/20/08) A place that is covered in graffiti and festooned with rubbish makes people feel uneasy. And with good reason, according to […]
December 13: Notre Dame Final Presentation in Northampton
The Northampton Design Forum makes the following announcement: Hello everyone, We’re still hard at work here at Notre Dame, finishing up our designs for Northampton, but we want to remind you that our studio will soon be returning to Northampton to present the results of our work from this semester. We’ll be giving our presentation […]
Notre Dame Northampton Charrette Critical of Hospital Hill Plans, Fleshes Out Alternative
The Notre Dame Design Studio circulated the following announcement yesterday. They will present their final proposals from the Northampton Charrette to the public on Saturday, December 13th at 2:30pm at Northampton High School. The public is encouraged to attend. Hi everyone, In response to feedback from a number a people requesting more information about our […]
Video: November 13 Planning Board Meeting: Hazards Mitigation Plan; Zoning Revisions Committee; Hotel Northampton Complaint; Hospital Hill Diverging from Vision of Planned Village; Comments on Notre Dame Charrette Website
Here is a complete Google video of the Northampton Planning Board meeting of November 13, 2008. The video is 2 hours and 49 minutes long. Here are selected highlights of the meeting: 0:00:00-0:58:49Discussion of the Proposed Local Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan (PDF)0:00:00-0:15:50… Summary of planning process and highlights of plan 0:15:04-0:15:28… Planning Board member George Kohout […]
Notre Dame Urban Design Studio Seeks Comments
A message from Joel Russell, chair of the Northampton Design Forum: The Notre Dame urban design studio has been hard at work since the Design Northampton Week charrette in September. The students have been refining ideas, creating new plans, and illustrating them with more perspective views. Some of this work was presented at their mid-term […]
Smart Growth vs. “Smart Growth”
“We would like to concentrate development closer in, we like the idea of walkability, bikeability, neighborhood center… The thing that happens to us, however, is that we buy that and then somebody builds some horrible thing…and then they say to you, “This is infill, you know. It’s good, it’s infill.” …You know if you walk […]