A few days ago I received an email from a person in an undisclosed location "checking out the city of Springfield on its site." She wanted to know which neighborhoods are represented by each of the photos of the city’s Web site, and added that she has had thoughts of living in an "affordable ‘loft’ type of place, or some other old place with high ceilings and large old windows."
She wrote, "It would seem that this could be a good place for innovative companies—born out of MIT and Harvard—to move their production areas," and mentioned wondering "how the city is doing in meeting its development goals."
Lastly, she wrote, "I did not notice any photos of places such as restaurants [on the city’s site]. What is the cultural scene like in Springfield? Or is it a more ‘conservative’ town."
Regarding the city’s neighborhoods, some of my photos appear on the city’s site, but I don’t know where all the photos were taken. The city’s Web master, Eileen Foley, is always looking for ways to improve the site to help people looking for information about the city. I understand that captions for those photos will likely be included in the future so that site visitors will know more about where all these great locations pictured can be found.
In meeting its development goals, I would say the city is doing a fair job. It has a lot of ambitious plans on its plate at the moment, and is at a critical point moving the train down the tracks, methodically and without delay. An interview with CDO David Panagore in the current Business West captures a sense of the "brain damage" he is incurring working 80 hours per week to do just that, with the knowledge that the Finance Control Board could turn back into a pumpkin and thus, presumably, someone else would be at the helm instead of Panagore to take on the mantle of city development magician pulling rabbits out of hats and turning mice into footmen.
The city employees I am familiar with have rolled up their sleeves in earnest and are determined to do the city right, and they spend their working hours immersed in making plans come to fruition. The results are not yet visible, perhaps, but from my own vantage point the successes we are seeing come in the form of good work now oriented toward public service, rather than what apparently used to characterize the city, or at least is a current reputation we are trying to shake off (deserved or not): people who were corrupt looking to better their own lives, period.
Before long, these changes will be more evident in the fruits they bear, but right now it’s just a lot of rather thankless hard work, much of which likely occurs under the radar of the local press. The private sector has yet to come on board in ways we can measure or observe through their marketing efforts, but it’s a matter of time.
There is a lot of confidence-building work to be done, and beyond that, coalition-building.
There was a meeting just last night about the city’s South End revitalization with a Boston ULI panel. They did a two day study. (I’ll have a detailed report on this later.) One of the major themes was their recommendation that we establish a multi-sector coalition to build a plan for the neighborhood and determine what the strongest interests and projects are. The panelists said, "To make a big splash, you have to throw a big rock. What kind of splash do you want to make?" Then, for the purposes of brainstorming, they tossed out three different ideas for what could be done with the area east of Main Street between Central and Marble Streets—what they called the small rock, the medium rock, and the big rock.
Right now, they said, neighborhood stakeholders at the table number around eight to ten people. This isn’t enough. The ULI panel’s recommendation is that the coalition include representatives from a long list of potential stakeholder types. The more, the better, they said. This vital aspect of stakeholder investment—and laying aside negative emotion while retaining the essence of passion for the city—could not be overemphasized in their presentation last night.
Anyone interested in the South End meeting is invited to contact Ryan McCollum in the Office of Planning and Economic Development for information about ways to get involved.
In my opinion, those same stakeholders may be resistant to opening the process to so many different folks, inviting their input and participation. But this is the process the city is undergoing right now: tremendous "loss" of territory even while we open things up and allow more circulation and breathing room so that the city can return to good health. Thus there is a disintegration of old patterns and ways of doing things, even while we are building something new and hopefully stable—even exceptional—in its place. Feelings of grief are understandable in the midst of all that, especially for people who have been invested, and trying hard to do the community building and maintenance work, for so long. But it cannot stand in the way of what still has to get done, whether we’re old or young, new or long-standing residents.
Innovative companies: yes. Springfield is a great location to move to, in my opinion. It offers a fantastic quality of life even though the city appears to be in the dumps. The work on its infrastructure is heavily underway. This makes it easier for new activity of all kinds to enter the city. My own terribly potholed street will be repaved this season, and I look forward to not being embarrassed anymore by its condition when relatives pay a visit.
There are pleasing spaces here that are eminently affordable and easy to get to. Travel to both New York and Boston is reasonable, and then there are all the beautiful mountains, rivers and lakes close by. Flood plains here also mean superb agriculture and healthy eating. There is much to love about this location and the time is ripe for entrepreneurial types interested in pioneering a bit. There are certainly affordable loft type places here. For example, Stockbridge Court. If I were single and moving from a market like Boston, I could probably retire upon moving to Springfield on the housing market spoils alone.
The cultural scene is pretty happening during the summer season with a series of outdoor concerts at Stearns Square. There are a number of bars and restaurants downtown. (I have my own favorite.) You can read more about them online. I would not necessarily call it a conservative town. People seem to enjoy socializing gregariously and getting out and about in the evenings; one of the problems is that downtown is not enough of a destination right now, especially on the weekends during daytime. But there is plenty to do; you just have to try to find out about it a little harder than you might otherwise, because these things are not effectively marketed right now.
Speaking of marketing, I look forward to seeing if the local and regional private sector steps to the plate to alter its approaches. The public sector (read: planning and development staff and City Hall) is carrying a lot of weight as far as leadership, vision, coalition-building and goal-setting, and this isn’t necessarily sustainable going forward. For new patterns to take root, residents and businesses, and the organizations that represent them, are very much needed at the table to help sort out what else needs to be done in meeting the array of new goals set before us.
