We’ve had, and continue to have, our share of bad news in Springfield, but now some good news is streaming in seemingly all at once.
On February 12, the presentation of a study (PDF) to the Finance Control Board by consultant Laurie Volk revealed that there really is a target audience for market-rate housing downtown. The next day, resident Mike Tuckey’s memo on neighborhood vision was posted here, hopefully galvanizing some in the Armoury-Quadrangle area. Two days later, the Office of Planning and Economic Development released a statement saying that construction permits in the city were up 43 percent in 2006.
Also this month, Springfield representatives spoke compellingly at a Pioneer Institute panel about the city’s struggles and accomplishments, and the control board received a draft (Word doc) municipal fiscal policy document—apparently the first of its kind for this city. The municipal Web site was successfully revamped and launched.
Yesterday’s news about an agreement between the city and the Springfield Library and Museums Association brought more feelings of accomplishment and triumph.
Now we might brace ourselves for more good news to come, in the form of both 2006 crime data as well as the much-anticipated Urban Land Institute written report.
The crime data is reported to show double-digit decreases in all categories of violent crime, data which, according to Police Commissioner Edward Flynn, are the lowest total crime numbers since 2000. Flynn appeared on last weekend’s "The State We’re In," an episode which is now available for viewing from the show’s podcast page. Charts, graphs and more including a formal press release are anticipated sometime early next week.
If this occurs on the same day as the ULI report release, I imagine there might be some bizarre weather event specific to the city.
Update: And Raymond Asselin, former head of the Springfield Housing Authority, was sentenced to ten years in prison today.
Update: "The State We’re In" with Commissioner Flynn is up for viewing.
