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 […]
Ordinances and Regulations
Breaking News: Conservation Commission Wants Kohl to Leave 35-Foot Wetland Buffer Zone Alone for the Most Part
At tonight’s meeting of Northampton’s Conservation Commission, the sense of the Commission was that Kohl Construction should largely leave alone the 35-foot buffer zone around the wetland behind North Street. This is likely to require a substantial redesign of Kohl’s plans, which called for encroachment as close as 12 feet. The Commission did not take […]
Video: Best Practices Committee Presents Draft Recommendations to City Council, 12/4/08
Here is a complete Google video of the public portion of Northampton’s City Council meeting of 12/4/08. This video is one hour and 40 minutes long and was recorded by Lachlan Ziegler. View the agenda (PDF) of this meeting. During 1:14:22-1:25:38, members of the Best Practices Committee presented their Draft Recommendations to the council. The […]
Best Practices Committee Presents Draft Recommendations to City Council; Public Meeting Review Form
On December 4, 2008, the Best Practices Committee formally presented draft recommendations to the Northampton City Council. Copies of the report are downloadable below and hard copies are available for review at Forbes Library, Lilly Library, City Clerk’s office, Mayor’s Office, and the office of the City Council. Draft Recommendations for Ensuring the Use of […]
“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 […]
Video and Slides: Public Forum on Innovative Approaches to Manage Northampton’s Solid Waste, 11/19/08
Here is a complete Google video of the Public Forum on Innovative Approaches to Manage Northampton’s Solid Waste, a special meeting of Northampton’s Board of Public Works. This meeting, also known as the Landfill Alternatives Forum, took place on November 19, 2008 in the Community Room of John F. Kennedy Middle School. Jeff Edelstein moderated. […]
Best Practices Meeting of November 12: Video; Discussion of Term Limits
Here is a complete Google video of the Best Practices Committee meeting of November 12. It’s 2 hours and 57 minutes long. This video is also available in two parts at Vimeo (part one, part two). See the preliminary minutes from the meeting and a picture of the written-on whiteboard here. In many areas the […]
Best Practices Meeting of November 12: Hammering Out the Recommendations
Here are the preliminary minutes of the Best Practices Meeting of November 12. Members debated which recommendations to put forward to the City Council. Accompanying the minutes are pictures of the whiteboard used at the meeting (left and right halves with overlap). The image is also available at higher resolution as a PDF. We will […]
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 […]
Press Release: Best Practices Committee Begins Final Report
We are forwarding this press release from the city: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 6, 2008 BEST PRACTICES COMMITTEE BEGINS FINAL REPORT The Ad-Hoc Committee on Best Practices in Northampton Decision-Making (Best Practices Committee) is entering the final phase of its activities and beginning the preparation of a draft final report to the Northampton City Council. […]