Congratulations Hatfield in making the right decisions! Looks like they've finally wisened up to Mr. Smith's crap. ...(full comment)

Well said, Dorrie Brooks. It is too bad that we have to keep digging in to our local pockets to make up for the crazy tax cuts and spending plans in Boston and DC. But what's the alternative to an override? There isn't one, other than to cut the already bleeding school budget yet again, fire more teachers and police, and basically rob from our kids. Our parents paid much higher local taxes than we do, and were happy to do it because they knew that good schools and good government are what this town and this country are all about. ...(full comment)

Funny, there are just as many panhandlers and loiterers in downtown Greenfield yet I spend more time and money there and in Easthampton than I do in Northampton these days. Northampton just isn't very convenient for families. And apart from ordering take-out and buying the occasional high-end gift, it doesn't offer much that I need anymore--at least in the core of the downtown. Given the nature of the remaining shops and the composition of the crowds, Northampton increasingly has the feel of a regional tourist destination with a few (albeit important) remnants of a community center. ...(full comment)

Turn the corner onto Gothic Street and you will discover that there are a dozen (or more) new benches alongside the new parking garage. I was wondering about these... Expensive and unlikely to be used. But there they are. ...(full comment)

I think quality housing is desired by students. However as a community we have to take steps to ensure that we are looking at the health of the entire community. That is what a master plan strives to do; nothing nefarious. In fact, just the opposite. One piece though that often gets waylaid is how to coordinate overall community planning in a fair market economy. That's a stumbling block. I think we should ensure that current rental housing in Amherst is maintained to a standard that enhances our town and neighborhoods while maintaining diversity of town/gown age/youth and household incomes. ....does nobody else see this as similar to the race of the middle class to the "suburbs"? Sounds like "flight" to me. And what happens to the cities, the towns, that are discarded? We throw words around quite eloquently "diversity", "inclusive" "sustainable", "green", talk about "footprints" etc but what does all of that really mean? Why not take care of what we HAVE, improve it, make it desireable; rather than throw it away and build "new and improved"?? I agree that a lot of the off campus housing is not comparable to the standard of living to which many of the students are accustomed nor what their parents want to pay for. It's not what I would choose to live in and most certainly it would be rare to find any of these landlords living in the conditions they "own". We have too many slum lords raking in quite a bit of money from housing that is more convenient to the University....but they've been allowed to own property, profit, and negatively impact entire neighborhoods with student "ghetto" housing. All in the name of "fair market"....one could however liken it to privately-owned company housing. Students are a captive population to some degree. $400-$800 a bedroom for some truly appalling housing and NO money put back into the property. I think as a community we are complicit in this. Our downtown and surrounding neighborhoods are suffering from this. This idea to discard the old, let it deteriorate and build "new" stretching further and further out from towns/cities is a cultural problem. Let's come up with a solution to the problem not just walk away from it and start something new. ...(full comment)

Oh those duplicitous Republicans. I am so glad that Democrats like Anthony Weiner, Eliot Spitzer, the late Ted Kennedy, and of course that paragon of virtue and rolemodel of fidelity President Bill Clinton, were able to take the moral highground, and never succumbed to temptation. It's refreshing to read a letter to the editor composed with supporting facts and figures. ...(full comment)

I agree with the general thrust of Brooks' argument that there seems to be a more direct benefit and satisfaction for most people to paying local taxes compared with federal taxes. But should that argument alone justify the continued reliance of raising of property taxes in Northampton to balance our annual budgets? I also think Brooks minimizes the impact that increases of property taxes are having on the average homeowner's budget. For example, last year, Northampton taxes (not including the car tax, state sales taxes, meals taxes and various city fees) comprised about 22% of my total tax burden, and this rate has gone up year after year significantly higher than the rate of inflation, swallowing greater chunks of my income. Local tax rates might make up a comparatively very low percentage of high-income households' total tax expenditures, but not moderate- and low-income households because property taxes are regressive in nature and hit those who can least afford it hardest. All of us care about Northampton and want to see our money used as wisely as possible and pay for the things we need most. At some point, the city is going to have to make hard choices to control its outlays and find other ways to raise money so we can avoid the damaging effects the override votes have on both our morale and wallets. ...(full comment)

How about those that want the override, pay for the override. Why is it in place? To limit spending. Now is not the time. Let's finish paying for the firehouse, the "new" high shcool AND the police station. Many native people in Northampton are working class and have no way to increase our own income. Please be reasonable. Rachel A. Rice ...(full comment)

Thank you to the presenters for taking the time to educate us, and to the Gazette for this informative article. It is much needed. Here are some other links that might be helpful. If you are bitten by a tick, you can preserve it in alcohol and have its DNA tested at U Mass for the bacteria. They test weekly: http://ag.umass.edu/services/tick-borne-disease-diagnostics (or google U Mass tick testing). If you have questions about the confusing and developing symptoms of Lyme Disease, you can read about them at The Columbia Medical School's webpages on Lyme Disease: http://www.columbia-lyme.org (or google Columbia Medical School Lyme Disease). If you work or spend time outdoors, there is a line of clothing (socks, light weight khaki pants, etc.) manufactured by Insect Shield, with permethrin, an effective deterrent against ticks. http://www.insectshield.com. The treatment lasts through many washes. DEET or Skin So Soft will still be necessary on exposed skin. To reduce the possibility of ticks in your yard, the following has been used effectively in Long Island and elsewhere. Mice, the primary carriers of the Lyme bacteria, love cotton balls, and if you soak the cotton balls in permethrin, they will come in the night and take them to line their nests. The permethrin kills immature ticks on the mice, but is said not to harm the mice. Damminix tubes are available at Amazon and elsewhere online. You can find out much more about ticks here: http://www.ticktubes.com/downloads/deertickmanual.pdfI Here is a recent article about the Lyme Vaccine: http://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/articles/history-lyme-disease-vaccine ...(full comment)

This new zoning may well give flexibility to owners of 1-4 family homes, but it also gives too much latitude to developers of larger projects. Bad infill can permanently disrupt historic neighborhoods and lead to severe parking scarcity. The example of Houston's Cottage Grove is instructive: http://northassoc.org/2009/07/05/houston-chronicle-density-unkind-to-cottage-grove-texas.aspx Jim Nash was a member of the Zoning Revisions Committee. I urge you to read his critique of the current zoning proposals: http://northassoc.org/2013/05/15/urban-density-zoning-concerns.aspx ...(full comment)