For what it is
As the school year approached, and summer wound down, I found myself avoiding calls from a particular family. I was wracked with guilt about this. I avoided the calls because I knew what they were...
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A seat at the table
Amherst, Massachusetts is taking a look at its comprehensive master planning process. What can sometimes feel like a dry, drawn-out, no-quick-results experience is being jazzed up by rainbow colors on...
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ULI report: Elizabeth Davison on plans to reality
At last Friday’s Urban Land Institute panel presentation in Springfield, Elizabeth Davison, director of Montgomery County Department of Housing and Community Affairs, capped off the formalities in a...
View ArticleThe weapon is love?
The works of systems-dyamics thinker Dr. Jay W. Forrester recently crossed my path, synchronously with a recent piece by Civic Strategies consultant Otis White about an innovative way to shut down...
View ArticleDevine assessment
Amherst-based blogger Tom Devine has posted his take on the recent Urban Land Institute panel presentation, with some colorful commentary about questions that arose about Springfield’s Union Station.
View ArticleRepresent
At a meeting last night, Springfield City Council approved a measure, by an eight-to-one vote, to "seek approval from the state Legislature" to change the way the council is elected, making "the first...
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ULI report: Barry Elbasani on downtown Springfield
The entire Urban Land Institute presentation about Springfield merits close study and discussion. Of pressing interest is Barry Elbasani’s section on downtown, in which the short- and mid-term...
View ArticleFragile stability: FCB quarterly report
The Springfield Finance Control Board recently released its September 27 quarterly report (PDF). Its next meeting is slated for Friday, October 20, 11:00 am in room 220 at City Hall. So much...
View ArticleULI week follow-up
Springfield City Hall has posted the ULI panel’s final presentation (PDF) online. NPR affiliate station WFCR‘s Tina Antolini covered the ULI panel’s visit all week, collecting hours of audio footage....
View ArticleMore details on State Street progress
George O’Brien wrote an article for the June 12 issue of BusinessWest about developments along Springfield’s State Street corridor. The story is that rare breed of news article that takes a close look...
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Anytown, USA tonight at central library
If you happen to be looking for a "nail-biting drama" tonight, consider dropping by the Springfield central library branch at 6:00 pm for an election-eve showing of the award-winning 2005 documentary,...
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A tree falls in Springfield; does it make a sound?
WFCR‘s Field Notes host/producer Laurie Sanders aired a report this morning about a visit with Springfield’s chief forester, Ed Casey, to discuss the status of the city’s trees. From the piece: Two...
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Mass pike toll-free glee: hold your horses
The Boston Globe‘s Mac Daniel reports today that the state-appointed, 13-member Transportation Finance Commission "urged the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and [Governor Mitt] Romney administration...
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Central library to host used book sale, open house tomorrow
The Springfield central library branch, with the co-sponsorship of Friends of the Springfield Library, is hosting an all-day used book sale tomorrow, Saturday November 4, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, with...
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City fortresses itself in red tape: this trash fee is a complete mess
Receiving my trash fee bill in the mail yesterday was an exciting moment. I cheerfully opened the envelope to discover what awaited, prepared to do my civic duty and just pay the damn thing, tax or no...
View ArticleFriction is part of the job?not just a news hook
The Republican‘s Mike Plaisance published an article today highlighting how Springfield City Council member Kateri Walsh is going to cause heads to roll when (and if) she becomes president of the...
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Urban Compass online store celebrates 31 Elm
Celebrate the Springfield mayor’s recent announcement about Main Street upgrades"landscaping, street furniture, lighting and resurfacing pavement and sidewalks along Main Street from Lyman to Union...
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Next step post-ULI: get the city on the same page
Springfield City Hall will soon be receiving, as early as yesterday afternoon, a DVD of videotaped footage of last month’s Urban Land Institute panel presentation, including both the formal portion as...
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Six downtown restaurants team up
Trying to turn over a new leafwe’re not just about strip clubs, you knowthe new Springfield downtown dining district consists of six restaurants so far. The one-page Web site for the district, which...
View ArticleVisitors
One recent evening, around dinner time, I was putting away warm-weather clothes for storage, taking note of how dark it had gotten outside at an early hour. I head a jiggling of the doorknob at the...
View ArticleTwo valleys
The latest CommonWealth magazine includes an article, "A tale of two Valleys," by Amherst-based writer Melissa DaPonte Katz. From the article: Not surprisingly, many of the area’s cultural and...
View ArticleStill searching for quality renters
On MassLive.com’s Springfield discussion forum, poster "NoPol" initiated a thread (27818) positing that the city ought to "institute a serious crackdown on illegal apartment conversions," and enabling...
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Sprawl and crime: let's all move to the city
An article in yesterday’s New Haven Independent, by Melissa Bailey, chronicles a "confab" yesterday monring at the New Haven Chamber of Commerce about regionalism and "smart growth," joining...
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Best businesses on Boston Road?
The Boston Road Business Association (membership: $75 annually) which links businesses both in Springfield and Wilbraham, with benefits, is inviting the public to nominate the best businesses along...
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Inmates perform at AIC
Northampton-based The Performance Project, which creates and performs "high quality original works of theater and movement with men and women in jail, and those who have been released from jail," is...
View ArticleUrban planning as branding
An article appeared in today’s Springfield Republican, by Azell Murphy Cavaan, about efforts on the part of the city (read: Finance Control Board) to seek proposals from real estate and marketing...
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Bethesda Lutheran Church fire
The Bethesda Lutheran Church on Island Pond Road suffered a horrendous fire in its sanctuary on Sunday afternoon. CBS3 has been all over it, with on-the-scene coverage of the fire as it was being...
View ArticlePublic schools to close on November 22
The Springfield School Committee apparently voted last week to cancel school on Wednesday, November 22, which was previously scheduled to be a half-day. This news comes from a small blurb in today’s...
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Self-contradictory freshness in the Acres
Buzz about the new Fresh Acres store at the intersection of Wilbraham Avenue and Parker Street got me to arrive at the store’s doorstep a day after it opened. The Springfield Republican primed the...
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Act of faith: being a citizen
In a recent article about Springfield Mayor Charles Ryan’s visit to a civic association meeting, The Reminder‘s G. Michael Dobbs quoted Ryan as saying, "by being citizens of the city, ‘we perform an...
View ArticleThe language graveyard
A recent study from the University of California, "Linguistic Life Expectancies: Immigrant Language Retention in Southern California" (PDF), reveals that Spanish-speaking immigrants adopt English very...
View ArticleShow of Hands citizen journalism survey
If you’re a reader of this blogor a creator or consumer of any citizen journalism projectthe J-Lab at the University of Maryland would like to hear from you.
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More ULI follow-up: “The State We're In”
Jim Madigan, host of WGBY‘s "The State We’re In," interviewed Chambers of Commerce President Russell Denver and Springfield’s Chief Development Officer David Panagore for a 30-minute show that aired...
View ArticleDumping in the city
Bill Dusty of The Rogue Review, based in Springfield, posted photos yesterday of symptoms of bulk-trash-dumping in two city spots. The photos were taken at the prominent intersection of Maple and...
View ArticleRoad rant roundup (turnpike tolls turn testy)
No one’s eliminated the Massachusetts Turnpike tolls just yet, but the turnpike authority did vote yesterday to end tolls west of Route 128. According to the report in the Boston Globe late yesterday,...
View ArticleCity farmers host biotechies
When a bunch of biotech executives visited the Pioneer Valley on Tuesday this week, looking into possibly locating some business resources in the area, including Springfield, one of themNina Corcoran...
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Parking…at Museum Park
The view down Springfield’s Harrison Street from Chestnut, standing approximately right in front of the local package store. Looks like the naked tree at center got the memo on looking as bleak as...
View ArticleSpringfield and exit strategies
No, this post isn’t about how people can strategize a means to move out of Springfield. It’s about the idea that Springfield might need (and continue) to strategize ways to get out of its own services...
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Lessons for today's housing crisis
The type of housing crisis Massachusetts may be experiencing right now is distinct from the crisis Springfield is likewise enduring in particular. In most places around the state, affordable housing...
View ArticleTraffic “pseudo-science”: urban crash causation
Reader Tom Eisenman shared with me an article in the September issue of New Urban News, laying out an argument that tall, vertical objects along streets, like trees and buildings, are deterrents for...
View ArticleHow those plea bargains feelin' now?
I admit that my jaw dropped when I read today’s news alert in the Springfield Republican about the dismissal of all charges against racketeering and bribery defendant Peter Davis. Of 13 defendants,...
View ArticleOn futility
A former neighbor of mine moved out of his multi-family house this year, opting to rent it instead. He didn’t move far, and he comes back from time to time to check on the place. The tenants have...
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ULI report: Jeff Kaplan on the “soul of the city”
At last month’s ULI panel presentation, Jeff Kaplan, an associate with Wulfe & Co. in Houston, Texas, addressed the matter of Springfield’s image and potential for reinventionwith focus on its...
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ULI report: Ray Kuniansky on neighborhood strategies
At the ULI panel’s presentation last month, Ray Kuniansky, Chief Operating Officer for the Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership, spoke about how to “strengthen the present” and “plan for the...
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ULI report: Alvin McNeal on “making a visible difference”
At last month’s ULI panel presentation, Alvin McNeal, Senior VP for Planning and Development at Fraser Forbes Company in McLean, Virginia, spoke about adopting new development strategies in...
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ULI report: Patrick Fox on clear goals, accountability and scarce resources
At the ULI panel’s presentation last month, Patrick Fox, president of Saint Consulting Group in Hingham, Massachusetts, offered the shortest segment about establishing accountability in Springfield....
View ArticleWorks of their own
I’ve been working for a few weeks now with a class at a local elementary school, under the tutelage of the school’s writing instructor, to create a published project generated by the students. The form...
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The search for “quality renters”
Springfield resident, registered nurse and real estate broker Mary Ayala attended the Urban Land Institute panel’s presentation on Friday, September 29. She raised an issue during the...
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Where we live
Connecticut public radio station WNPR‘s weekday morning show, “Where We Live,” featured an excellent two-parter about the city of Bridgeport last month. It’s called “A Tale of Two Connecticuts: Part...
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