Here is a complete Vimeo video of Design Northampton Week’s third public “in-process” presentation and feedback session that took place on September 11. It’s one hour and 32 minutes long. Notre Dame students presented ideas for revitalizing King Street between Bridge Road and North Street. They also made suggestions about Hospital Hill (Village Hill), particularly […]
Ordinances and Regulations
Video: Design Northampton Week Opening Presentation
The video of last night’s opening presentation for Design Northampton Week is now ready to view. It’s 2 hours and 11 minutes long. Notre Dame Professor Philip Bess defines terms like space and anti-space, then offers his vision of good urban design, plus a way to look at zoning based on density (transect-based zoning). Poorly-built […]
Design Northampton Week: Full Schedule and Handout from Opening Presentation
Professor Philip Bess of Notre Dame gave the opening presentation of Design Northampton Week this evening to an intent crowd at Northampton’s Senior Center. The presentation lasted a little over two hours. We’ll do our best to make our video of the event available within a day or two. This handout provided by Notre Dame […]
Rutherford Platt in Gazette: Avoid Overplanning
Rutherford Platt is Emeritus Professor of Geography at UMass Amherst. We have cited on several occasions his concept of The Humane Metropolis. In Saturday’s Gazette, Dr. Platt cautions about the hazards of overplanning a city: The ‘humane micropolis’…Urban adaptation cannot be imposed from above through preconceived plans. Instead, it depends upon the resourcefulness of local […]
Today’s Urban Planning Debates Echoed in Northampton’s Near Past
Debates about infill and urban land use have lately become hot topics, spurred by the Sustainable Northampton Plan and the prospective Hilton Garden Inn. Some of the underlying issues have been in play for many years. On the eve of Design Northampton Week, let’s revisit some of the voices from Northampton: Reflections on Paradise (1988), […]
Video: Planning Board Hammers Out Cautious Support for Design Northampton Week
[8/30/08 update: Joel Russell sent us the following comments, which we are reprinting with permission: Thank you for posting the video of the Planning Board meeting. I would like to offer some clarifications and corrections, however: The Planning Board has never been asked to contribute public funds. When the Board voted in June, the main […]
Video: Best Practices Forum Studies Evolution of Meadows Plan
Here is a video of the complete Best Practices Forum that took place on August 25. We are giving the Vimeo web video platform a try. The video is about 86 minutes long. Here is an excerpt from the Best Practice Committee’s press release publicizing this forum: It took two years and eight major public […]
Latest Draft of Zoning Revisions Committee Ordinance
The Rezoning Subcommittee has kindly provided us with the latest draft of the ordinance to set up a Zoning Revisions Committee. This ordinance will be reviewed by Northampton’s Planning Board on August 28 at 7pm, Council Chambers, Puchalski Municipal Building, 212 Main Street. The public is encouraged to attend. Draft Ordinance: Zoning Revisions Committee Establishment; […]
August 28: Planning Board to Discuss Zoning Revisions Committee, Northampton Design Forum
The composition and mandate of the Zoning Revisions Committee (aka the Rezoning Committee) is on the agenda for the August 28 meeting of Northampton’s planning board. This is a step in the implementation of the Sustainable Northampton Plan. The upcoming Northampton Design Forum will also be discussed. NORTHAMPTON PUBLIC MEETING/Legal AD FOR Thursday August 28, […]
Design Northampton Week: Preliminary Schedule
We are pleased to share with you the preliminary schedule for Design Northampton Week. This schedule is also posted with additional information at the website of Northampton Design Forum. DESIGN NORTHAMPTON WEEK SCHEDULE (emphasis added) Note: This is a preliminary schedule – times may change. 9/6 (Saturday) 7:00 pm Notre Dame Design Team arrives in […]