Letter to the Editor – Benjamin Spencer
October 24, 2009 | Daily Hampshire Gazette
To the editor:
In every planning document for Village Hill Northampton, we see the intention to create a mixed-use village on the South Campus. The South Campus was to support the residences on the North Campus with a diverse assortment of businesses, including technology, light industry, the arts, education and service.
The plans called for a mixed-use village with a walking-friendly, bustling atmosphere that would draw visitors from across the region.
Now we will have an industrial park. The city’s comprehensive plan, known as “Sustainable Northampton,” seeks to advance environmental, social and economic needs such that future generations will not be compromised. The plan notes “a great advancement in one of these three areas to the detriment of one or two of the others will not be sustainable overall.”
The current site plan for the South Campus is purely economic at the expense of social and environmental concerns. Sustainable Northampton commits the city to becoming a model community for sustainable policies and practices.
It seems to me we have become a bad example instead.
We can do better. This is important. How can we fix this?
Benjamin Spencer
Northampton