Springfield is a city of neighborhoods, of distinct communities with their own histories and cultures. Nowhere, perhaps, is that more evident than in Indian Orchard, a neighborhood so self-defined that it can seem like its own municipality.
From its perch in the northeastern corner of the city, Indian Orchard feels geographically removed from other neighborhoods, and having its own downtown area—albeit one that has seen livelier days—has traditionally made the Orchard less dependent on the city's downtown and core. But while many Indian Orchard residents appreciate the neighborhood's sense of individuality, there's one place it hasn't always serve them well: City Hall.
Indian Orchard has an active Citizens' Council, as well as a Main Street Partnership charged with revitalizing its downtown area. But it's had scant representation within city government; indeed, those who track election history in the city cannot recall one resident of Indian Orchard—home to about 8,500 people—being elected to the City Council since it became an all at-large body almost 50 years ago.
But that's about to change. In November, voters in Indian Orchard—and in seven other wards around the city—will elect their own representative, to serve alongside five councilors elected at-large. And, as in all neighborhoods, there are high hopes about what it will mean for the Indian Orchard community to have its own voice on the Council.
*
On Aug. 13, the Ward 8 Democratic Committee, the Main Street Partnership and the local Knights of Columbus will sponsor a non-partisan forum for the ward candidates. The event, to be moderated by WWLP's Sy Becker, will begin at 6:30, at the K of C hall at 2071 Page Blvd. Residents will have the opportunity to submit questions for the candidates.
Four candidates have collected enough signatures to run for the Ward 8 seat (which, in addition to the Orchard, includes sections of East Springfield, Pine Point and the Boston Road area): Gloria DeFillipo, a board member and longtime activist of the Pine Point Community Council; John Lysak, whose campaign focuses heavily on economic development; Orlando Ramos, a shop steward with the carpenters' union and member of a number of community organizations, including the Indian Orchard Citizens' Council; and Miguel Soto, who also serves on the Indian Orchard Council as well as the city's Community Complaint Review Board. The four will face off in a preliminary election on Sept. 15; the two highest-placed finishers that day will go on to the Nov. 3 election.
The crowded field is a promising sign that interest in the race is high; the diversity of the candidates, meanwhile, is a reflection of the changing demographics in the area, which for generations was primarily a white, working- and middle-class area.
Forum organizer Peter Lyons, a member of the Ward 8 Committee and the Main Street Partnership, is eager to see a lively local race. "The Orchard has a lot going for it," said Lyons, who's also a member of the neighborhood Citizens' Council. The crime rate is comparatively low, and the Main Street area, while struggling, has a lot of potential for development, he said.
"One of the assets here in the Orchard, obviously, is the creative community," Lyons said, pointing to Indian Orchard Mills, a 300,000-square-foot rehabbed mill that's now home to small businesses and artist studios, and Gallery 137, a nonprofit art space started by the Main Street Partnership. He also sees the riverfront along the Chicopee River as ripe for development, building on improvements already made to the area by the city's Parks Department. "I hope to see more when the budget crisis is done," Lyons said.
But for all the Orchard has going for it, "like any other community, it has its challenges and its threats," Lyons added. Crime, while lower than in other parts of the city, remains a source of anxiety in any urban neighborhood. And, like many other neighborhoods, Indian Orchard struggles with the problems caused by negligent, often out-of-town landlords who rent their properties to bad tenants or let their buildings fall apart, to the detriment of all neighbors. "That goes right to the heart of quality-of-life issues," he said.
"If the city is serious about transforming the neighborhoods, or recognizing that neighborhoods are the heartbeat of the city, then they need to do a better job of making it difficult for absentee or delinquent landlords to do business," Lyons said. "I think in that regard the city has been playing catch-up. It has been getting better, but they have a long way to go."
Lyons also hopes to see more attention paid to redevelopment of the Orchard's Main Street, and to other vital properties in the ward, including the site of the old Chapman Valve Foundry, a 13-acre parcel on Goodwin Street. "That will be major," Lyons said. "We want to make sure that we send someone [to the City Council] ready to tackle those issues."
Echoing the sentiments of neighborhood activists around the city, Lyons hopes that the Council's new ward representatives will be more responsive to local concerns on issues such as special permits. "Frankly, we've been tired of seeing the City Council ignore our opinions and rubberstamp the things we've been opposed to," he said. While it's important for all councilors to think about the issues that affect the city as a whole, he said, the neighborhoods are ready to have representatives who are directly accountable to them.
*
Lyons hopes the ward election will have another benefit for his neighborhood: creating a new sense of civic engagement, one that reflects changing times and a changing population.
"It's all about waking this ward up, frankly," said Lyons. The Orchard's demographics are changing, with younger, black and Latino families settling in the neighborhood, but in some ways, Lyons believes, the neighborhood remains focused on the past. "I see the Orchard, in part, as sort of still waking up from the nightmare of 30, 40 years of neglect, decline—factories closing, jobs leaving, neighborhoods changing," he said. "I see that as a bit of hangover that remains with some of my counterparts in the community. They seem to be more focused on how do we get it back to what was before, rather than what's here now."
That, Lyons imagines, is the case in communities all across the country that have seen better days—an understandable, but not helpful, tendency. "You can't really turn things back," he said. "You can recognize what it is for what it is, and try to build on what you have and move forward. …
"I feel that the community itself is somewhat fractured," Lyons continued. "I think the biggest challenge is restoring a sense of community as a whole, and restoring a sense of community to the individual neighborhood."
Ward representation is the result of a lot of hard work by a dedicated group of activists, Lyons said. It's also an invaluable opportunity for his neighborhood. "We get to find out who's ready to lead, who's up for the job," he said. "We want to make sure the people stand up and be counted."
