Let one hundred flowers bloom: Northampton, Massachusetts flourishes in the new millenium

"Walk into something wonderful".


Here's the deal with Northampton. My guess - from walking the street in the summer of 09 - was that the main street facades; the main retail blocks were 95% leased up. Think about it now, our town, main street, Steinbeck, - almost 100% leased. That my friend is the American dream. We are not talking urban blight here - we are talking property taxes, cash flow, enterprise and a happy land Main Street; the envy of all the townships that are crying the blues from urban sprawl.

Here's the other hook; it's liberal. Ouch! It must be gov't funded! No it isn't, it just happens to foster a community that isn't so narrow.

If today's journalists were educated (they're not!) - it would make a topical story for today's post economic apocalypse - illustrating that the holy grail of a robust Main Street is possible; that is if you work at it and dose it with some culture.


How many towns can live up to that welcome statement?

Real Architecture

Nice details and ornamentation here on Main Street Northampton. The structure on the right could be derivative of H.H. Richardson.

A spiritual kind of Main Street

The Mindshift Institute is adjacent to the bookeeping and tax services business. Hmm.

Beautiful details on the old Memorial Hall,.... just classic.

A mansard roof; nice choice of the brick; great contrast with the white exterior mouldings. Very nice proportionate details for this civic structure. Northampton rocks really. The old and the new work well together.

Hip retailer takes over a bank

Urban Outfitters land in an old bank structure in Northampton. Worth a visit; one of the few national retailers paying rents in the town.

Old Northampton lives on,....

Formerly the Red Lion diner.

Down around the bend, Jack August seafood has vanished.

This black and white photo was taken in 1976 -during the wintertime. It's the same diner. This was before the greening of America.

It's 1975 and two guys from Springfield anticipate hip culture and disposable income among students in the pioneer valley,.....

.....so they graft their food services resume's onto the sleepy conservative town of Northampton, Mass - and Fitzwilly's was born. I remember the names, Fitzwilly,s Gatsby's, Bennigan's, ...theme bars with young staff invoking the post hip beatniks to come to the center of town to drink and run fast. No cigars or stuffed ashtrays next to a package of Kents and VO and soda. No polyester; just denim and a thumbs down on disco attire as well.

But around the corner on Route 5 was Sheehan's Bar; a staple among the hard drinking - world war II set that came back to work in the small factories in Easthampton. Sheehan's was fun given discernable tension on occasion between "longhairs" and regulars. If you closed Sheehans and happen to sport a pony tail; then the regulars knew you were an ex vet from the Vietnam conflict; you weren't harrassed. The fresh faces migrating from U-Mass and Amherst college were another thing. The "girls" - Smith and Holyoke wouldn't venture in: it wasn't a place for females.



Sheehans' has given way to Eileen Fisher - she obviously bested old man Sheehan in the divorce.

"Hello, I'd like to place an order please,....I'd like to have a bottle of Dom Perigon sent to the Unitarian Society of Northampton,....."

.....just a thank you note, please - no signature."



It's the details that matter, and the moment of truth came last Sunday - July 19th. Just the title itself has to be marked in time, "Beyond the nut-jobs". Lisa P's sunday sermon arrests attention. She's on the web of course: a successful children's author working her craft in Northampton, Mass.

For me, it all came together for brief moment; Northampton's celebration of diversity and a broad cultural bandwidth - along with this sunday sermon by Lisa P. entitled "Beyond the nut-jobs" - I fell into the abyss briefly before walking through Look Park.



Nut job Nation - hat's off to Lisa at last Sunday's pulpit chat.

Storefronts, art and cultural consciousness

The cinder block wall near the verizon switching station was adorned with a wide mural heralding the triumphs of women in Northampton and the pioneer valley. I should send this photo to Rush Limbaugh, it'll induce him to eat more pills.














Once upon a time, Packard's was preceded by a tavern named, "Zelda's". Prior to that it was a post war tavern that traded customers with the VFW on route 5. Zelda's was sort of a cultural phenomenon at the time; signaling the post war boomer generation that a hip name depicted a place where Knickabockers were displaced by exotic brews such as Heniken or Beck's beer.












The irony not mistaken, "the old book" store keeps it's lease here on this Northampton sidestreet - enabling strollers to sit and ponder, read, and drink latte's,...like it was the Rue de St. Germain.

Northampton Street fair in progress on friday, July 24th...

If you're looking for Berkeley California, you can find some of it in Northampton. With the street fair in full bloom; there's a pleasant - post apocalypse - cultural fair going on in the streets.

It's got a communtarian flavor; with street people - hair styles reminscent of the 1960's and some slack that would drive the "nut-jobs" into a patriotic rage.

Since Harvard Square is all but sterilized; Northampton has picked up the slack.

But here's the real trophy that Northampton can claim: there's a good mix of national retail and local retail; occupying 98% of the the main street storefronts. By the numbers, friday was crowded with on-lookers and shoppers and people from all over the valley and Berkshires taking in the sites. This was on thriving Main Street; cash registers were singing and people displayed their goods, their arts, and crafts in friendly form.

In your face Berkeley, I mean Weymouth!

July 24, 2009- Detour to Northampton, Mass to see what's going on....

Looking west from downtown Northampton -route 9 - there's a girl's school up this hill but I forget it's name.

MCLA gets a new exhaust fan for its kitchen grill.

Oh,,,.big deal!

The old train depot in Charlemont

Beautiful stone work - a work in progress right off Route 2 - go south on 8A and head for Hawley, Mass.

Don't forget to paint the barn....

Right opposite the Beaver Mill - across from the World Art Center.

North Adams - Eagle Street - Beach Party

Several tons of sand gets dumped on Eagle Street on a Wednesday afternoon - for the beach party of course. In your face Weymouth!

Berkshire sweet gold

Go here for details: http://www.berkshiresweetgold.com/

A gem of a town

Ask Felix Frankfurter about Heath he was a renowned Supreme Court Justice who was dogging out intense economic issues 73 years ago. Escape to Heath for those in authority.

Felix Frankfurter - according to the wiki - summered in Heath. A drive up route 8A through the rolling farmland and hillsides explains why. Not your ordinary tourist destination and far from the commercial side of American life; Heath Massachusetts is a pleasure to see. It rivals the best of Great Britain's countryside with it's rolling stone walls and barns situated right on the road.

Don't tell anyone, but Heath is a well kept secret - there's some fabulous structures back behind the trees and the solitude and peace must be maintained.

Have you seen the newly renovated covered bridge in Heath, Massachusetts?

It's called Bissele Bridge - property of the state - and it was a long process to get consensus for retaining heritage and improving structural loads. Bridge construction matters.

Why the steel arch?

It's either a gas pipe or an electrical conduit going over the Hoosac River - cheaper then going under it - if you were a utility company.

Time out for the tall ships

Huge crowds turn out for the tall ships.

North Adams Teachers College - first generation-post colonial - empire architecture - need we say more.

Neo Grecian - Roman details carefully restored.

Nice Ionic columns crafted in wood. No doubt the carpenters a century ago were taking their cues from William Ware's book (MIT) - the classical "orders". Wasn't the use of gold brick; another first- 100 + years ago- to distinguish it from the pervasive red?

Very clean and well kept,..thanks to the stream of enrollment cycling & annual tuition payments,....and state tax revenues.

The other "limited" (?) Western Mass watershed; revenue streams.

Why did they change the name from North Adams Teachers College to Mass College of Liberal Arts? Dukakis? King? Weld? Romney? Which Governor approved this symbolic makeover?

I left my heart in Miller's Falls and part of it was broken......

.....I haven't recovered from the sliced and diced economic history of the Miller's Falls tool manufacturing Company. Tears of rage, and tears of grief; but it's gone and we're moving on,.so let's take a look at the town: Miller's Falls 2009.

Hmm!

Come'on folks, we've got some work to do. I pulled into the town square at 6 pm and couldn't find the coffee shop - there was none. There was a liquor store - a tavern that didn't exude invitations; a noble structure on the southwest corner that had to be the old dry goods store - but it didn't seem occupied.

There was a marvelous brick mill structure north of the river, probably 20% of the space occupied. There was a very interesting house and barn as you headed toward Amherst - right around the corner of the town intersection. I saw enterprise with this occupant; but it still needs to forge it's presence.

Unlike Turner and Shelburne Falls, Millers Falls is handicapped by the layout of the town. One cannot really access the river because it's 60 feet below the town center. The road that runs through the town bends dramatically and winds it's way up the hill abbreviating any perspective of town panorama that helps anchor and define a sense of civic space.

60 million dollars of new infrastructure and all these blemishes go away. If only. The town of Lenox, Mass was funded last week by the state - to help augment and develop the infrastructure. That's Lenox, Mass, not Colrain, not Mattapan,.....Lenox! Lenox knows how to play the game at Beacon Hill; come on Miller's Falls - step up to the plate and talk it up.

When's the next selectmen's meeting? Let's put architecture and urban planning studies on the agenda. Call me at 617-752-1109.



We did pause to watch some Canadian Pacific freight go by; going north no doubt. Canadian Pacific freight; economic nostalgia stepping in to the new century; rails be praised.

The Trolley museum in Shelburne Falls is hurting

Ok, so it's friday at 6 pm - what do you expect,...crowds?

Yes, but it is July - and revenues for this museum have to be next to nothing during the winter months. So it goes; a good idea - but competing with malls, monitors, television and internet is unfair competition.



Here's my old coach car rusting in the sun. Keep it for nostalgia or melt it down for I beams?



Technology preservationists weigh in please; these assets aren't generating any revenue and are losing value rusting in the sun. Send me a check for it's purchase and preservation and I'll keep it in escrow.

In Pownel VT, near Williamstown Massachusetts is the old racetrack and grandstand; a ghost of its former glory

Driving north on route 7 toward Bennington, you may spot the old racetrack and wonder,.......what happened? So I had to google it and of course the wiki provided:

Pownal was formerly the home of Green Mountain Race Track. Opened in 1963, the track offered both thoroughbred and standardbred horse racing until 1976, when thoroughbred racing ceased, being replaced by greyhound racing. One year later standardbred racing was discontinued, and the track thereafter featured only greyhound racing until closing altogether in 1992 amid increasing pressure from animal rights activists, who object to greyhound racing as cruel (Vermont banned the sport in 1995). Since closing as a racetrack, the site has hosted live events occasionally, including a rock concert in the Lollapalooza series in 1996 and antique car shows from 2005 to 2008. The 144-acre property has been purchased by commercial developers who have plans for it which have not yet been finalized, but are believed to include a mix of energy-efficient companies, a farmers' market facility, and facilities to accommodate large events.

What does the assessor project for this structure? "Won't last at this price?" Is it a fire trap? A code compliant nightmare? Is it structurally safe? How much money do you put into it to keep it going; especially when you fill it up 1% of the year and maybe 20% to 50% a few times in the summer? Is Pownell ready for a booze fest like the Kentucky Derby?

It probably hasn't gone down in price which is a shame; for that's what transformative economics is all about: someone getting it to move again.

The orange tile roof with the blue trim & broad overhangs, large glazed storefronts with vestibule: an identity-brand-name that we moderns can trust.

Urban studies and first generation food service supply chains?

How about useless perserverations number #271: wondering about the rise and fall of the Howard Johnson's restaurant chain and motor lodge puts me in a category I was hoping to avoid. Maybe I should try whittling.

Nevertheless.

It's 1965 and Dad has packed the big Ford Station wagon (the Country Squire)with all the nominal gear: beach chairs, coolers, fishing poles, the large thermos bottle and blue "transistor" radio. (Transistor radio's have to be a real kick for gen x, y & z).

We're off on vacation and this year we're going first class. Never mind Mildred's econo-cabins - the family isn't going to stay in that 100 sq ft. cracker box with the tiny fridge and the mouldy sheets: no we're staying at the Howard Johnson's motor lodge with get this,it has....."a swimming pool!"

Mom is happy because we're dining out at Howard Johnson's every night. What relief; because cooking in Mildred's econo cabins was challenging. She can manage the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches but trying to cook a chicken dinner on the hot plate on the cracked formica wasn't much fun for mom. (Maybe those stinky cabins caused mom's drinking problem.)

Howard Johnson's. Who was Howard and where is his shrine? Did he ever meet up with Ray Kroc? Was he the first to systemitize a menu? He took it right to the details if I recall; even the candy was wrapped in his brand.

What am I thinking? I'd better drop some of this forgotten urban history and volunteer some time at the North Adams, co-op.

"We got twenty eight flavors my friend" said the chipped tooth vendor in the white hat,."hurry up cus I got customer's waiting."

Bennington, Vermont

Last week we crossed the borders and toured the lake region of NH. At 4:45 on thursday afternoon, we shot up route 7 from Williamstown, Mass to visit Bennington VT. Bennington is hosting the moose fest this month. The town was quiet since it's main industry has retired to summer recess. A few college students walked the streets; some tourists were gawking at window displays - not much was stirring on this thursday afternoon - making it all the more pleasant to look at classical architectural details - hand drawn - a century ago. That brick fenestration was build by hand in 1868. Pure charm.














Bennington thrives based on a successful economic driver: higher education.