Archive
Make way for capital projects
At the most recent Springfield Finance Control Board meeting, on Monday, December 18, a host of capital projects funding was approved in the form of a bond totaling nearly $38.5 million. The largest chunk of money in the package is $12 million for the renovation of...Commissioner Flynn reflects on addition of cops
Last month, Springfield Police Commissioner Edward Flynn and his chief of staff, Jennifer Flagg, sat down to meet with attorney Donald Stern, who served as chair of Governor Deval Patrick’s transition working group on public safety. The final report (PDF) of...Zoning revisions gradually take shape
A December 14 press advisory from Springfield’s Office of Planning and Economic Development shed light on a few details emerging from the zoning ordinance (PDF) revision project first presented last April by Lexington-based consultant Chris Eaton and colleagues....Apremont Triangle slowly evolving
Apremont Triangle, a portion of downtown Springfield where Chestnut, Bridge, and Pearl Streets intersect, is undergoing some slow changes. Noting the Urban Land Institute panel’s interest in the triangle, the city is seeking to revitalize the area with a request...Corruption, promises and trust
This week’s Business West includes an editorial making a few rare, striking comments about former Springfield mayor Michael Albano. The comments come on the heels of news of Albano’s testimony in a federal civil court trial related to the protection of an...Truth, justice, and a victualler's license
A public meeting tonight at City Hall will be an opportunity for citizen comment regarding Kennedy Fried Chicken. The owners of the Main Street restaurant are requesting a renewal of their common victualler’s license (PDF), which relates to the sale of food. The...Taking us for a ride
Transportation talk is in the air today. This week’s issue of the Reminder features a front-page piece about regional commuter rail, with a mention of this month’s briefing (PDF) from the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, as well as a few quotes from the...Perceptions of noise nuisance
Springfield resident and sound expert Herb Singleton traveled to Honolulu, Hawaii last month to talk at an international conference about one of our city’s quality-of-life issues: perceptions of noise nuisance. His presentation was captured in a paper (PDF) he...New year's wish: media love for the city
Springfield could use a lot of new year’s wishes. Most on my mind today is a desire for the area’s mainstream, established media outlets to attain a greater vision for the importance of the city’s centrality to the region.Instead of perpetually...Ending homelessness plan unveiled
Following is a transcript of a presentation Wednesday, January 10 at Springfield City Hall unveiling a ten-year plan to end homelessness. Springfield Mayor Charles Ryan: I’m delighted to see so many people here. This is an important day for our city, and for the...Control board loses one, gains one
At a ceremony yesterday in City Council chambers, Councilor Kateri Walsh was sworn in as the body’s new president, becoming the first woman to hold that office since Mary Hurley in 1988. Replacing outgoing council president Jose Tosado, she automatically becomes...City preps plans for progress
On a foggy November morning, a group of regional leaders, known as the trustees for the "Plan for Progress," met in a large circle of tables in a third-floor, glass-walled room at HCC’s Kittredge Center. The trustees are varied: heads of schools,...Why community leaders should blog
In a post today on Governing.com’s 13th Floor blog, Christopher Swope captures the comments of Round Lake, Illinois Mayor Bill Gentes on his daily blogging efforts. From his comments:[Blogging] is the single smartest thing I have ever done as Mayor, it allows me...Local teacher shares aloha spirit with Springfield College students
Sheree Nolley (at right) of Springfield, a writing teacher and mentoring program coordinator at Kensington Avenue Elementary School, is in Honolulu, Hawaii this month leading a group of 13 student teachers, all seniors at Springfield College, in a project called the...Superintendent Burke on new teacher contract
At a Springfield Finance Control Board meeting on Monday, December 18, Springfield Schools Superintendent Joseph Burke presented information about the new Springfield Education Association teacher contract. Following is an excerpt, edited for brevity, of a transcript...City adds 23 new cops
Mayor Charles Ryan and Police Commissioner Edward Flynn are set to hold a joint press conference today at City Hall, Room 220, 3:30 pm. Wouldn’t you love to hear it live? We’ll have to wait until the 5:30 news at best, or maybe a reporter for the...Debriefings on a library for Mason Square
Resulting from Monday night’s public meeting about a search for a new Mason Square branch library, Kat Wright of the Mason Square Library Advisory Committee has made available three documents, and some additional comments, that may be of interest to people...Grace for 31 Elm Street, 1 of 4
Neighbor governors take office
New York Governor Eliot Spitzer delivered a rousing swearing-in inaugural address today, after being sworn in officially earlier this week. Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell delivered her inaugural address earlier this week as well. From Rell’s speech: [T]here is a...City mouse vs. country mouse
While Springfield Mayor Charles Ryan undergoes a battery of mysterious tests today, apparently heart-related, posters on the MassLive.com Springfield forum ponder what will happen if he cannot serve, and the Republican blows out of proportion Lt. Gov. Tim...Learn to blogcast, Springfield style
The Regional Technology Corporation will host a series of five seminars this year on blogs and podcasting. The first seminar is coming up on Friday, January 26, 8:30 to 10:00 am, on the basics of podcasting, and will take place at STCC Technology Park, sponsored by...Grace for 31 Elm Street, 2 of 4
Planners weigh in on property value boost
In a discussion over the past week stemming from a post about regional commuter rail between New Haven and Springfield, commenter "NoPolitician" pointed out what he called a "glaring error" in the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission’s December...“Homes Within Reach”
City official Gerry McCafferty graciously provided a link today to the recently-released ten-year plan to end long-term homelessness in Springfield, "Homes Within Reach" (PDF). It is a well-written plan and one that folks should read for themselves, not...The most American kind of fried chicken
According a Wikipedia entry, Kennedy Fried Chicken is a loosely-affiliated sort of franchise operation typically owned by people from Bihar, a largely Hindi state in the easternmost edge of India near Nepal. An entry on Answers.com describes owners as typically coming...City Council tackles fiscal responsibility
At last night’s Springfield City Council meeting, Councilor Tim Rooke proposed an amendment to Rules and Orders (Rule 10G) that would affect how new spending proposals might emerge. Rooke’s rule suggests that expenditures ought to be tied to the budget....Inaugural coverage
Governor-elect Deval Patrick takes office today, the state’s first black governor, and the nation’s second. The nation’s first, Douglas Wilder of Virginia, is in attendance in Boston today. For video coverage, take a look at what NECN has to offer...Mayor Ryan: health is good
Springfield Mayor Charles Ryan welcomed the press at his home in Forest Park early this afternoon. He looked well and was in good spirits, first sharing the story of what happened on Friday that brought him into a long weekend of hospital overnight stays, including a...Councilor Stebbins breaks down the overlay
Guest-blogging on the stimulating subject of zoning overlay districts (Word doc) is City Councilor Bruce Stebbins, who lives downtown on Mattoon Street and is a senior regional manager for the National Association of Manufacturers. Stebbins serves on the community...Crossing guards are the new police
After another typical berating from our corner crossing guard for walking my kids to school on such a cold day, she and I launched into a relatively long discussion about what problems she is seeing from her twice-daily post at Oakland and Dickinson Streets. Today she...For shame: trash fee delinquency in Braintree
Trash collection services in Braintree used to be covered by property taxes, but for a few years now, residents have had to pay an annual fee for the same services. From a January 6 article in the Boston Globe, by Brian R. Ballou: The town has billed residents...Grace for 31 Elm Street, 3 of 4
“The city looks great tonight”
At Symphony Hall in downtown Springfield Saturday night, Governor Deval Patrick made history, holding an inaugural event there as part of a celebration as he enters office. The crowd was feeling the love, and appeared to savor every little tidbit of healing and...In the morale business: letting citizens set priorities
Since 2003, New York City has had in place a 311 line for citizens to call in with quality of life problems. The line receives 40,000 calls daily, according to an article in today’s New York Times. The article, by Ray Rivera, announces that both 311 and 911 can...Civilian review board update
As news emerges about a city police brutality case, consultants Jack McDevitt and Amy Farrell, based at Boston’s Northeastern University, are preparing a final draft of a study recommending steps to create a police civilian review board. A presentation by the...Grace for 31 Elm Street, 4 of 4
Taking steps in the South End
An article in today’s Republican shares a few details about a building now set for demolition, following a court decision on Friday. The 45-unit building, which is in the Hollywood section of the South End (highlighted in red above), has been vacant for over a...The search for community
Blogger Tom Devine at a Springfield Finance Control Board meeting with his digital camera. Next to him is reporter Mike Plaisance. In contrast to Web sites that strictly provide information, blogs offer opportunities to create and foster community. Seemingly out of...Traffic safety project for the Outer Belt
Some of the Outer Belt with its sidewalks highlighted, from a PVPC traffic study. Springfield Mayor Charles Ryan’s office announced yesterday that the Massachusetts Highway Department awarded $2 million for the design and construction of a traffic safety project...Are you infected?
Business guru and author Guy Kawasaki gives frequent talks introducing ideas such as those from his recent publication, The Art of the Start, what Kawasaki calls a "definitive guide for anyone starting anything." His experience as a venture capitalist...State Street Alliance
According to an article in today’s Republican, a meeting to take place this morning at 10:00 am will gather together a new organization called the State Street Alliance, "a collaboration of business, city, higher education, religious, neighborhood and...Density and social interaction
Late last year, a widely-reported study (PDF) called "Social Interaction and Urban Sprawl" emerged from the University of California at Irvine’s economics department regarding the impact of sprawl vs. density on social interactions. The department...Knowledge corridor blues
The latest issue of CommonWealth magazine includes an article by staff writer Gabrielle Gurley questioning whether Bradley International Airport’s new connection to Amsterdam is going to make much of a difference for the western Massachusetts economy. Starting...Governor launches podcast
Governor Deval Patrick launched his first podcast today. Of the effort, Mark Bail of Granby 01033 cites Craig Sandler of State House News Service:[P]odcasts exploit the exciting, evolving dynamic of New Media, where the go-betweens …are dispensed with, and...272 Worthington: the ultra lounge
All aboard
John McCloskey of the blog More, Better Lies took a bus trip from New York City to Springfield recently. In a post describing the experience, he says that he’s getting good at traveling by bus, which he describes as successfully projecting "enough bad vibes...River's Landing: a little bit of California
"The nice thing is that this is a real project that's going to happen," Bea O'Quinn Dewberry quoted developer Peter Pappas of East Longmeadow in the January 19 Republican. Indeed, it is a nice thing. Is it really going to happen? "We have...First annual Smart Growth Awards offered
While state bureaucrats wonder whether to pressure smart growth from the state level, earlier this month the region’s first annual Smart Growth Awards were presented. Awards were offered in a number of categories to a variety of projects on behalf of the Pioneer...Learning lessons from Springfield: panel 2/8
Do you think Springfield’s gotten so far out of the woods that it’s worthy of teaching a lesson or two? The Pioneer Institute does. On Thursday, February 8, the Boston think tank is hosting "Revitalizing Middle Cities: New Ideas and Policy Tools to...River's Landing: it's on, with muscle
Republican photog Mike Gordon snaps a shot of Peter Pappas and Michael Spagnoli at the Hall of Fame yesterday. At an announcement yesterday morning at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, developers Peter Pappas and Michael Spagnoli rolled out their plan for...Noteworthy media roundup
Here is a small batch of Springfield-related items that have emerged over the wires this week. The front page of my copy of this week’s Reminder features a crazy-enlarged image of a hand firmly grasping an evidently cold, plucked chicken by the neck. The...A reader weighs in
Urban Compass reader and downtown Springfield resident Maggie Tucker sent me her thoughts on recent posts here, and gave me her permission to share it with other readers. Here is an excerpt of what she has to say. I’m glad that you are willing to receive my...Setting an agenda for community relations
In Governor Deval Patrick’s February 2 podcast, he talked about the creation of a public liaison office, as part of the civic engagement arm of the executive office. The public liaison office will be headed by Ron Bell, pictured at left, who served as...Trash fee lawsuit settled
ABC40 reports that a settlement was reached today in the lawsuit against the city regarding the attempted trash fee. From the station: [T]he 2007 trash fee was declared invalid. In fiscal year 2008, which begins on July 1, 2007, Springfield residents will have the...Justice and the mayoral matrix
An article in today’s Republican by Mike Plaisance would appear to remove four mayoral contenders from the scorecards of those following closely the upcoming mayoral race.Out of the running: Melinda Phelps (focusing on her family), Patrick Sullivan (content in...The lobby and the ballroom: Kimball Towers condos on Apremont Triangle
Update: From historic commissioner Ralph Slate, an old photo of a building that used to stand just down the street from Kimball Towers, also linked in his comment below:The city's own media
A post here a couple of weeks ago about a State Street Alliance meeting brought up some issues about how the city reaches its residents with information. What I’d personally like to see is an effort toward accountability, so that when someone asks, "How was...Weak city vitals, on gateways and middles
A MassINC- and Brookings Institution-led group of Massachusetts "gateway cities" met privately yesterday in Westborough at the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. The cities involved are spoken for by Holyoke Mayor Michael Sullivan and Fall River Mayor...Downtown new market-rate housing study on the way
This just in from Ryan McCollum in the Office of Planning and Economic Development: SPRINGFIELD (February 9, 2007) – The City of Springfield is set to announce the results of a major study concerning the financial feasibility of adding additional market-rate...E-Edition
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