One quarter of Town Gown Steering Committee
The UMass Amherst Town Gown Steering Committee met for the third time yesterday at the UMass Police Station and they are now about 90% done with a Request For Proposals to hire a consultant to help guide growth between the two main Superpowers in our little college town.
Well, except for Amherst College.
2nd table of members Town Gown Steering Committee
DRAFT
Last meeting the friction played out around public safety and how it should be a major concern with any future growth and development, be it economic or housing. This meeting the bone of contention was how to deal with the issue of neighborhoods directly abutting UMass such as Fearing Street, Lincoln Avenue and North Pleasant Streets.
3rd table Town Gown Steering Committee
DRAFT
Most of the Committee wanted the consultant to focus on a broader interpretation of how to maintain safe and healthy neighborhoods. Since the concern is town wide and not just the immediate adjacent streets.
David Webber pointed out he lives in North Amherst where the problem with rowdy students is just as bad as those immediately south of the campus.
The committee will meet once more next week to finalize the RFP, but then will continue to meet afterwards to help focus community discussion on the results of the $60,000 study.
And in Amherst, there's never a shortage of community discussion.
7 comments:
Thank God. I'm sure it won't be a magic pill but I'm sure it will help, and maybe we'll hear a little less "complaining" from certain parties. It sounds like Washington working on the long needed immigration bill, something that will come not a minute too soon.
A half century ago, Amherst went to then-AG Ed Brooke to stop the university's acquisition of land via eminent domain. That's how you wound up with border neighborhoods like Fearing/Sunset/Lincoln Avenue.
Now the same municipality that created the problem is going to again create a solution-worse-the-initial-problem.
Don't worry, this won't happen a third time -- UMass isn't going to be there (like it is now) in 50 years -- I doubt it will be in FIVE.
Dr. Ed, I hate to say this but in your case suicide is a solution.
Blah blah blah, hire consultants, blah blah blah, hire more consultants, blah blah blah, read reports and praise them, blah blah blah blah do little to nothing years later while feeling good about your service to the community. Only in Amherst.
Yeah, there is that.
But THIS time it will be different (or my name isn't Anon).
Larry, but they are trying something. And although success may be limited or none at all, those interested in better results should write our local state representatives. And I hate to state the obvious, but we live right next to the state's flagship university, a lot of the stuff we have to live with are the breaks of living in a college town. The state, right or wrong, prides itself on the school and pumps a huge amount of money into it, which means a lot of students. Young students. If we want things to cool down, the state will have to slow funding. A lot. But that's not going to happen. There are pluses also to living here.
Dr. Ed, I hate to say this but in your case suicide is a solution.
Yes, yours would be.
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