Archive
A new chapter: telling the story
Springfield is on the rebound. Like the coming of spring, it is not readily apparent on the surface of things: the built environment does not yet sufficiently capture or express all the positive changes that are taking place here. What is radically, evidently...State Street corridor revisited
State Street Alliance stakeholders met January 25 for a presentation at Classical Condominiums to announce a bid invitation for a $150,000 redevelopment plan for Springfield’s three-plus-mile State Street corridor. At the announcement, consulting firms were...Effective government payday: street resurfacing
Mayor Charles Ryan, right, talks with Republican reporter Peter Goonan If you happened to pass through the intersection of Oakland and Dickinson Streets in Forest Park early this afternoon, you would have seen a curious sight: standing on the littered western corner...Replacing fear with trust
The National Center for Victims of Crime released a study this week called, "Snitches Get Stitches: Youth, Gangs, and Witness Intimidation in Massachusetts" (PDF). According to Stephanie Barry’s article in today’s Republican about the report and...GtC partners up to build a shed
GtC’s site is at the rear of Mitchell Machine in Springfield’s Old Hill Springfield’s youth agriculture project, Gardening the Community, is partnering with the YWCA’s YouthBuild; Albany Street’s ReStore; an unspecified lumber supplier; a...Mayor Ryan announces candidacy
At last night’s event at The Cedars on Island Pond Road, Mayor Charles Ryan announced his candidacy for mayor before an audience of a few hundred people. Some children in attendance gathered at the foot of the podium, just in front of the cluster of media...In the eye of the beholder
An article appeared in yesterday’s Republican, by Stephanie Barry, about a "triple shooting" over the weekend near 37 Longhill Street, not far from the five-building Longhill Gardens Condominiums complex (pictured). The piece located the incident in...Why Worcester Now?
Register online by Monday, April 23 for an evening Urban Land Institute event taking place in Worcester next Wednesday, April 25 called, "Why Worcester Now?" From the ULI’s Web page on the event: The formerly sleepy city of Worcester has recently...Renewing the spirit
Evangelist and perhaps student Jared Flower (pictured) has targeted downtown Springfield for a new ministry. In a recent blog post, he describes finding three available buildings, formerly theaters, which are well-placed for a house of worship. Flower writes that the...Mason Square library celebration
A second annual celebration tomorrow at the Mason Square branch library (pictured) will include an announcement of the results of the "kids’ vote" on the best location for a new branch library in the neighborhood. The gathering is slated for Wednesday,...International festival at AIC
Before you head over to the Mason Square branch library for its second annual celebration tomorrow afternoon, consider dropping in at American International College, starting around noon, for a free, public international festival that sounds enticing indeed. From...At Common Ground Diner
ReStoring the city's image
Springfield Mayor Charles Ryan at ReStore yesterday: "Our city values green spaces" At a press event at ReStore on Albany Street yesterday, a whole new marketing initiative for Springfield was launched: the environmentally-conscious, green, tree-filled,...Flynn o' the Times
Springfield Police Commissioner Edward Flynn was quoted in an article in today’s Financial Times, "Police chief points to risks of US-style focus on terrorism." The comment appears to capture an example of the type of one-liners Flynn produces so...Prepping for code yellow
A friend, Liz in Los Angeles, who used to teach third grade in Compton, reflected in her blog today on the code yellow drills she used to do with her class. Students had to lie on the floor in case a gunman were at the school, and teachers had to shut their doors and...Bring on the beauty
Keep Springfield Beautiful has been ramping up its month-long campaign. Some days into April, I learned that there is a week-by-week strategy for the month, each week with its own theme, and there are associated activities. The week of April 9 focused on graffiti...Earth Day at the Quad
The Springfield Quad hosted an Earth Day celebration on April 22 The weather couldn’t have been better for an Earth Day festival at Springfield’s downtown Quad yesterday afternoon. Several booths were set up in the shining midday sun on the green lawn, and...A trickle of state news
After some months of waiting, I received a call from Governor Deval Patrick’s press contact Cynthia Roy about the Springfield Fiscal Recovery Trust Fund. I had hoped that perhaps the $4.4 million allotted in the governor’s proposed budget with that earmark...A strategy to Keep Springfield Beautiful
This coming Saturday a massive citywide cleanup effort will take place from 8:30 am to 3:00 pm, organized by Keep Springfield Beautiful, with considerable assistance from many groups, institutions and individuals. At last count, senior project manager Ivette Cruz told...Springfield, city of Homer?uh, humor
Postcard on the wall at the Common Ground Diner on Springfield’s Main Street Springfield city officials are collecting ideas on how to pitch the city to 20th Century Fox. The idea is to win a competition among 15 other Springfields nationwide for the honor to...Uniforms, assumptions, and grains of salt
In moving to Hartford later this spring, my kids have been issuing complaints about possibly having to comply with a new citywide public school uniform policy there. The basic standard is set by the city itself, newly in effect for the current school year, and the...Blogs and the civic realm
Christopher Swope of Governing magazine’s blog, 13th Floor, regularly searches for state political bloggers across the country. He found one he recommends, doctoral student Emily Metzgar, and interviewed her. She talks about noticing that the blogosphere tends...New control board membership?
ABC 40 reported tonight a piece of news from an "inside source" that Governor Deval Patrick has told three Springfield Finance Control Board members that "their services will no longer be needed." Replacements, however, were not named. Those...Pearl Street Condo preview
Pearl Street Condos in Springfield. Photos by Brian Connors Brian Connors of Springfield’s Office of Planning and Economic Development paid a visit this week to the Pearl Street Condos under development, and got a sneak peek at the model unit now available for...ULI-Boston surveys South End, public invited 5/2
Led by co-chairman Fred Kramer of ADD Inc., seven members of an eleven-member panel assigned by the ULI-Boston District Council visited Springfield on April 17 for a day-long informal fact-gathering endeavor focusing on the city’s South End. The group is...A cleaner city
The view of Springfield’s Mill River behind 12-14 Noel Street (pictured), along the edge of the Forest Park and Six Corners neighborhoods, was vastly improved today by a cleanup crew from D&R Contractors, with help from the sheriff’s crew. Click on...KSB podcast 1
Mike Cass, who works for the Office of Housing and Neighborhood Services, kindly allowed me to tag along with him during Saturday’s Keep Springfield Beautiful citywide cleanup. I showed up per his instructions at the cold and foggy Duggan Middle School parking...Targeting urban readers and change
The following piece was published in Urban Compass last August on MassLive.com. Recent conversations compel me to run it again as food for thought.A recent Smart City Radio interview (mp3) with Brian Boyle, of Issue Media Group (PDF), was so terribly compelling that I...KSB podcast 2
As Mike Cass and I toured the city’s "dirty dozen" sites last Saturday during Keep Springfield Beautiful’s citywide cleanup, we passed a work crew of inmates from the Hampden County Correctional Center as they purged trash from Rifle Street and...Sarno confirms candidacy
Last night at The Cedars on Island Pond Road, City Councilor Domenic Sarno confirmed his candidacy for mayor, having taken out nomination papers earlier in the day. In contrast to Mayor Charles Ryan’s announcement at the same location a couple weeks earlier,...What is this Springfield?
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...Documenting cleanup efforts: KSB reaches goal
Springfield resident Bob Powell sent along pictures (left, and below) from his vantage point last Saturday at the Duggan Middle School parking lot, where scrap metal, tire and mattress dumpsters were located for collection of junk across the city that day. View them...School boundary plan update
Springfield’s School Committee recently updated its boundary plan, which is part of a phased effort to reduce busing (and its related cost) across the city, generate greater certainty about school assignments, increase parental involvement and student...Tidbits: meetings and Web news
The Springfield Preservation Trust will hold an annual awards program this week on Wednesday, May 9, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm at Tower Square. The public is invited to join in and celebrate individuals and organizations who completed noteworthy restorations and...Competition with Springfield, Missouri
Twentieth Century Fox has apparently announced that it will share details this coming Friday, May 11 of the contest to host "The Simpsons Movie" premiere. Meanwhile, a paper for Drury University in Springfield, Missouri has revealed details as to why that...School uniform policy brewing
A meeting about possible public school uniform policy is apparently taking place tomorrow, Wednesday, May 9, 5:00 pm at the Meline Kasparian Professional Development Center at 60 Alton Street. According to Marla Goldberg’s reporting in today’s Republican,...Old Hill work underway
Two weeks ago, on Monday, April 23, Springfield Mayor Charles Ryan delivered a press conference standing in bright, sunny Barrows Park in the city’s Old Hill neighborhood. The park, which was given a makeover with the installation of a swing set and new water...Eric Nakajima, Part 1
Last year, Eric Nakajima, senior research manager at UMass’s Donahue Institute—one of the state’s preeminent think tanks—contributed to preparations for the visiting Urban Land Institute panel, among other tasks assembling an executive summary of...Live-blogging the control board public speakout
The Springfield Finance Control Board’s meeting this morning once again includes a scintillating 30-minute public speakout period. Watch this space for live updates of the proceedings.In the meantime, stay abreast of the continuing lack of new appointments to...Longhill Gardens Condos owner boots employees, locks up, walks away
Late last week I received news from Springfield resident and Concerned Citizens for Springfield fellow board member Russell Seelig (pictured), one of the subjects of an interview series published here focusing on the five-building complex Longhill Gardens...Ways we terrorize one another
Last week, I told my kids that what I wanted to do on Mother’s Day was spend some time outside, if the weather was good, and maybe plant a few annuals together. We could head out to a local garden center and fill some empty hanging baskets we have with petunias...Quality of life survey report
The results are in, and the report on the quality of life survey launched here last March has been published online today. Find out more about it here.Who audits the auditors?
Massachusetts State Senator Stephen Buoniconti and State Representative Thomas Petrolati have jointly called for an audit of the Springfield Finance Control Board, in response to Friday’s decision by the board to draw down about $22 million from an interest-free...Noise nuisance revisited
Last week’s post about a noise nuisance problem in my back yard received a follow-up from Springfield Police Lieutenant Robert Moynihan, who tracked me down via the offices of the Valley Advocate in Easthampton. At first afraid that I had violated some ordinance...Pearl and Bridge Street developments
The Armoury-Quadrangle Civic Association, which includes residents in a portion of downtown Springfield, held an event on May 17 to honor the opening of their new offices in Kimball Towers on Chestnut Street at Apremont Triangle. Mayor Charles Ryan addressed the...ULI-Boston surveys downtown; public invited 5/30
The ULI-Boston District Council has been at work in Springfield again, this time sending a panel to survey downtown. Led by co-chairs Nancy Springett of ICON Architecture and transit specialist Eric Fellinger of Wilbur Smith Associates, various members of the...Media panel tonight at Springfield library
The public forum and panel discussion about the changing nature of journalism, which I mentioned last month, is taking place tonight, 6:30 to 9:00 pm, at the Springfield City Library downtown. A similar event took place a week ago in Boston, with attendance of about...Reflections on a media panel
Last week, I participated in a panel discussion and public forum (video now available) sponsored by the New England News Forum on the subject of media, journalism and trustworthiness. I was the “citizen journalist” on board. My fellow panelists were...Eric Nakajima, Part 2
Eric Nakajima, senior research manager at UMass’s Donahue Institute, is working on a study of Springfield’s minority-owned business economy, with results pending soon. In part one of a series capturing our recent conversation about his work, Nakajima...3hree Café: a taste of L.A. arrives on Springfield's Belmont Avenue
I dropped by last Friday morning to visit the opening for the new daytime cafe 3hree, at 684 Belmont Avenue in Springfield’s Forest Park. While I couldn’t quite make it for their 7:00 am opening time, I was pleased to find out that this eatery operated by...Can better community access to information drive change?
One reason communities are sometimes slow to grow and progress is because they lack access to information both within their own community as well as from beyond, such as best practices or new techniques that are taking off somewhere else. Monday evening, Sarah...52 Westminster Street For Sale
Robert McCarroll, chairman of Springfield’s Historic Commission, shared news today that 52 Westminster Street (pictured at left; photo by Bill Dusty) in the city’s McKnight neighborhood will be available for viewing during a series of open houses this...Crumbling down, shoring up, pulling out, opting in
One thing is certain in Springfield and Hartford: something is changing, that much is evident. The jury of news anchors and reporters is still out on the subject of whether it’s for the better or for the worse, and frankly, their producers or editors might...(Not) losing face: technical difficulties continued
Springfield resident Greg Metzidakis (pictured, far right, with fellow residents and coincidentally Historic Commissioners Marjorie Guess and Ralph Slate at last September’s Urban Land Institute reception) asked recently about the city’s former Technical...Alex's Market on Springfield City Council agenda
An item related to a matter that surfaced during a June 28 Finance Control Board meeting public comment session—a relatively new element of the three-year-old meetings—is set to appear on the agenda of the Springfield City Council tonight, Monday, August 20,...Our love affair with bureaucracy: rental housing
A letter to the editor in yesterday’s Republican mirrors some sentiments in an article by Maureen Turner in the latest issue of the Valley Advocate. Both address City Councilor Tim Rooke’s proposal to require permits for rental property owners, ensuring...Campaign 2007: Springfield City Council candidate John Lysak
Springfield native John Lysak is running for City Council. Following are his answers to a series of questions I sent him via email. The interview is part of an attempt to reach most, if not all, of the candidates for City Council this year and learn more about their...Kick-starting Springfield's South End coalition
On May 2, a community meeting was held at the Alfred Zanetti Montessori School on Howard Street in Springfield’s South End for a presentation by a Technical Assistance Panel of the Urban Land Institute’s Boston District Council, which had studied the...A bump in the road
Last week, coincidentally on my birthday, I peered out my front door to see an explanation for why orange cones had appeared near the curb a day or two prior. City workers were busy installing a speed bump. Snapping a photo and emailing a family member, I wrote,...E-Edition
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