Over the course of my time on the City Council, both as a representative for Ward 4 and in my current position as At-Large City Councilor, I have always been a champion of downtown Northampton and Florence Center.

We need a multi-faceted vision for boosting downtown Northampton. Even before the pandemic hit, downtown Northampton was struggling with a changing brick-and-mortar retail economy. This has been greatly exacerbated by our reliance on online retail during the last year. 

I know the heartache, stress, and loss that these incredibly hard times have brought for retail and our restaurants. But I also see opportunity to creatively reshape our downtowns as we continue to move forward out of this time. I will engage with our business community to address concerns and see how we can work together to respond to changing times. 

We need to reimagine our downtowns as experiential spaces that draw people in and encourage them to spend time, work, walk, socialize, shop, and dine. I am hopeful that we can utilize federal funds in the short-term for some innovative changes. 

In the longer-term, the state and federally-funded Picture Main Street project will make downtown more walkable and accessible to residents and visitors, and will benefit our local businesses as well. The project is working with the community and businesses to meet its core goals of redesigning Main Street in a way that provides safety and equal access, promotes a vibrant and attractive space to be in, updates our underground infrastructure and creates a functional, enduring and sustainable streetscape for us and those that come after us. As a member of the advisory group for the project, I am participating in the public engagement meetings and listening to the feedback and ideas from the community.

Additionally, I would like to work with property owners of vacant storefronts to allow use for pop-ups or window gallery space while trying to find the right long-term tenants, which could be mutually beneficial to all. 

One of the less talked about goals of the Community Resilience Hub is to provide public community space. There will be a community “living room,” as well as a community center and meeting spaces. I hope that the Resilience Hub will be viewed as a community space where all are welcome and respected that further improves downtown Northampton.