Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

Glory Days Of Suburbia Are Over, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Most Rhode Islanders would undoubtedly agree with Donald Wyatt's sterling endorsement of suburbia (Commentary Page, Sept. 7) and many would envy the wonderful experience he says he has had living in Warwick these past 40 years. After all, the suburbs are the habitat of most Rhode Islanders as well as most other Americans and, it sis presumed, these folks live there through choice."

Coping With Car Congestion, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Ah, the joy of the automobile! Driving with the windows closed to eliminate outside noise and to get the full effect of the four-speaker stereo while listening to Sibelius, Brooks or Franklin, depending on one's taste; sitting in seats more comfortable than those in the living room at home; and taking in the colorful foliage along this country road in the rural wester part of the state where we are the only car on the road--how could life be any better??

Making American Cities Work, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Visiting a city in a foreign country can be revealing about the culture of that country, can make one realize that cities are places of enjoyment and fulfillment, and that people prize living in them. From such experiences one has to ponder why American cities cannot be viewed in the same manner."

Book Review Of The United States In The Global Economy: Challenges And Policy Choices, John Mullin

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Faculty Publication Series

Academics who teach either economic development or industrial policy courses struggle to find a core text to support their courses. Typically they borrow material from business, economics, political science, or public policy and blend articles into a reader that is rearely comprehensive and often lacks continuity. For this reason alone, these academics will be quite pleased to learn of John Accordino's new text, The United States in the Global Economy: Challenges and Policy Choices.

Providence: Visionary And Bold, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Future historians who examine Rhode Island's capital city will likely single out the last 20 years of this century as the most explosive period of construction and change for the city center that has ever taken place during Providence's long history."

The Mobile Society, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Americans are a highly mobile society: One in six American moves every year. This is nearly twice the rate of Britain and almost three times that of Japan and Ireland."

Providence's Unending Quest For Cash, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"The mayor of Providence has a big problem. How can he balance a budget that addresses the needs of an increasingly large number of people, yet deal with a declining tax base that is less able to pay for theses extra services?"

Why Not 'Soak' The Visitors?, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Providence Mayor Vincent Cianci has a financial problem, which is not uncommon these days for just about any mayor. Center cities are faced with a host of problems that require sizable expenditures to address. And with the downturn in an economy making a feeble effort to recover, available resources are in scarce supply."

What's In Store For Social Security?, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Health-care costs are commanding considerable attention these days. From Washing, D.C., to Providence and state capitals across the nation, the burning questions are, "How much?" and "Who pays?""

Rhode Island Is Bigger Than Nauru, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"It's not easy being the smallest kid on the block. Taunting and joking about ones small physical stature can do an awful job on one's ego and self-esteem. In a sense, the same is true if one is a resident of the smallest state."

The Value Of Home-Grown Companies, John Mullin, Zenia Kotval

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Faculty Publication Series

Over the past decade we have been involved in more than fifty economic development projects in cities and towns across the Pioneer Valley. These have ranged from the revitalization of older industrial areas in Springfield, the development of incubator facilities in Chicopee, the reuse of the Waverly Mill in Adams to the siting of a new industrial park in Deerfield. In each case we are almost always questioned about how a community could encourage the next Pratt and Whitney Digital or BMW plant to come to our region. Upon hearing the question, we point out that there are only 1200 …

The Value Of Home-Grown Companies, John Mullin, Zenia Kotval

John R. Mullin

Over the past decade we have been involved in more than fifty economic development projects in cities and towns across the Pioneer Valley. These have ranged from the revitalization of older industrial areas in Springfield, the development of incubator facilities in Chicopee, the reuse of the Waverly Mill in Adams to the siting of a new industrial park in Deerfield. In each case we are almost always questioned about how a community could encourage the next Pratt and Whitney Digital or BMW plant to come to our region. Upon hearing the question, we point out that there are only 1200 …

How Goes The American Dream?, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Americans are a hard-working lot. The ambitious American worker has fewer holidays, less vacation time and other benefits than Western Europeans. They are well-rewarded for their pursuit of the American dream. Home ownership rates in this country are among the highest rates in the world. The typical American worker has more cars and more kitchen gadgets, electronic hardware, recreational gear and more computers in his home than any other worker in the world."

Impacts Of Growth A Buildout Analysis, Umass Amherst Center Economic Development

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

This study was constructed to develop and submit a build-out analysis report to the town of New Salem, Massachusetts. The town's Planning Board was interested in finding ways to direct the potential development to preserve the town's in inherent character and maximizing revenues. In particular, they wanted to incorporate some of these measures in the subdivision regulations which were being rewritten.

Pelham Organizational Structure Evaluation Of Property Assessment And Tax, Umass Amherst Center Economic Development

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

The goal of this report was to evaluate the governmental structure of the Town of Pelham, Massachusetts. The scope of the project focused on the organizational structure of Pelham’s assessing and collecting offices. A series of strategies were researched and offered as part of the report as a potential alternative to the present system.

Comparative Analysis Of Competitive Advantage For Holyoke Massachusetts, Umass Amherst Center Economic Development

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

This report was made to provide an overview of how Holyoke, Massachusetts compared to the other fifteen towns and cities in Western Massachusetts. A snapshot matrix was developed that compared Holyoke with each of the towns in one matrix. In the snapshot matrix a standard hypothetical comparison was developed and used to compare the towns in each of the separate categories.

Mason Square Revitalization Study Urban Village Potential, Umass Amherst Center Economic Development

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

This report had tried to develop recommendations that would revitalize the Mason Square area, which is located in the geographic center of the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, through the improvement of public space and community development.

Capital Facilities Inventory And Assessment Study Grafton, Massachusetts, Umass Amherst Center Economic Development

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

The reason for this report was to provide a public facilities inventory component for the Grafton Master Plan, assess the existing levels of public services in relation to capital facilities, and research an array of standards and guidelines through which Grafton, Massachusetts could identify excess or deficient capital facilities.

A Methodology For Determining The Local Impacts Of Defense Spending, Umass Amherst Center Economic Development

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

This report was meant to determine what the economic impact of Department of Defense cutbacks would have been on local communities in Western Massachusetts. This project provided a methodology to determine what these local impacts were. The plan was to have policy makers use this data to create strategies which may ease the effects of defense spending cutbacks on their communities.

The Mass Towns Database: Initial Report, Center For Economic Development

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

This report includes a description of approximately 50 variables that are concerned with income, occupation, and land use. These variables are a part of the Mass Towns Database and values for each can be found in a program (Polygon Explorer) that provides a visualization and analysis capability.

Polygon Explorer For Massachusetts Data: Initial Report, Center For Economic Development

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

Polygon Explorer is a program written for Macintosh computers that links data stored in standard spreadsheet formats with a geographic database. It differs from similar programs such as MapInfo and ArcView in that it provides a statistical visualization capability in the form of bar charts, histograms, scatterplots, and other views, and further these views are linked to one another so that any action in one view results highlighting in other views.

Polygon Explorer was initially developed with the support of funding from the Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station, and parts of a donation form the Environmental Systems Research Institute and a …

Overall Economic Development Program For The Milford Labor Market Area Of Massachusetts, Center For Economic Development

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

In the fall of 1992, the Boards of Selectmen of each of the five towns which comprise the Milford Labor Market Area designated economic development representatives to serve as a regional Overall Economic Development Program Committee. This action was the result of an initiative by Massachusetts State Representative Richard T. Moore of Uxbridge, who suggested a renewal of a working relationship between the towns and the Economic Development Administration(EDA), as EDA is viewed as an agency that might complement an array of economic development efforts throughout the state.

Following a preliminary planning meeting in Uxbridge on December 2, 1992, this …

Company-Produced Housing, Center For Economic Development

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

It is getting harder and harder for people working in urbanized areas to find affordable housing near their workplace. As new urbanized office and industrial areas expand and the cost of housing increases, employees are finding themselves having to commute longer distances between work and home. This results in traffic congestion, increased pollution and decreased employee satisfaction. Some companies are finding that the lack of locally available and affordable housing is making it harder to recruit and retain employees.

One solution to this problem is for large corporations to develop housing for their employees within walking distance of the job, …

Overall Economic Development Program For Berkshire County, Massachusetts, Center For Economic Development

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

During the Summer of 1992 an informal group of Berkshire County economic development representatives gathered, at the initiative of the City of Pittsfield. to discuss renewing a working relationship between themselves and the Economic Development Administration (EDA), as EDA is viewed as an agency that might complement an array of economic development efforts throughout the county. This group sought the advice of William Fitzhenry, Economic Development Representative, during August. Based on his advice and with the assistance of the University of Massachusetts. Donahue Institute. this informal group sought out technical assistance from the Center of Economic Development, an EDA sponsored …

Towards Restoration Of The Urban Village: Proposals For Mason Square Springfield, Massachusetts, Center For Economic Development

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

The Mason Square Development Corporation (MSDC), a non-profit group supported by federal block grants has sponsored significant improvements in the economic and social welfare of State Street - the commercial spine of Mason Square. In the past, MSDC has promoted single projects along State Street, but is now seeking a more integrated approach to economic development. Seeing economic vitality as integral to community development, the purpose of this work is twofold. First, we examine Mason Square's rich heritage as a neighborhood system of mixed land uses, taking particular note of the current efforts to try to attract investors, visitors, and …

Marketing Western Massachusetts As A Tourism Destination For International Travelers, Center For Economic Development

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

In the Spring of 1991, a three phase project was begun at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in which the overall goal of the project was to design and implement an economic development program which would assist the information dominated service industries located in Western Massachusetts. The research for the first phase of the project was undertaken by Regional Planning M.A. candidate Maureen Moriarty under the guidance of adjunct Professor Robert Hopley, School of Business Administration, and Professor Meir Gross, Department of Regional Planning. This initial step in the research "entailed the creation of a pilot program in which …

A Community Diagnostic From A Planning Perspective Holyoke, Massachusetts, Center For Economic Development

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

This study seeks to examine and undertake a diagnostic of the City of Holyoke , a community in Western Massachusetts. The research will employ field visits, interviews, report reading, and library research in an attempt to shed light on certain key planning issues such as, planning tools, downtown, industry, affordable housing, community character, fiscal matters, environmental problems, financial control, and political stability. Each issue will be critically examined in order to better assess the strengths and weaknesses of the community, Finally, this study will conclude with a general overview of Holyoke and list some suggestions related to planning professionally in …

Overall Economic Development Program For The Gardner Labor Market Area Of Massachusetts, Center For Economic Development

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

In July of 1992 Mr. Michael D. Gerry, chairman of the Gardner Redevelopment Authority, contacted the Gardner Office of Planning and Community Development about the community's status regarding its eligibility for E.D.A. funding for a proposed industrial park. In follow-up discussion with the planning office and Mr. William Fitzhenry of the regional EDA Office, it was determined that while Gardner was within an approved area, it needed to prepare a current O.E.D.P., as the most recent one had been approved by the E.D.A. in April of 1975. In as much as the last report had been developed under the direction …

Connecticut River 2020 Project: Cost And Economic Impact Analysis, Center For Economic Development

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

This project addresses the following issues:

1) Analysis of the cost of abating water pollution sources contaminating the Lower Connecticut River for the communities of Agawam, Chicopee, Holyoke, Ludlow, South Hadley, Springfield, and West Springfield.

2) Analysis of the impact of water pollution abatement measures on the economy of Hamden and Hampshire Counties.

3) Analysis of the impact of additional economic development on Hamden and Hampshire Counties resulting from an improved river resource.

4) Assessment and analysis of increased recreational activities resulting from a cleaner river resource.

The research was conducted by the Center for Economic Development at the University …

Adaptive Reuse Of Historic Mills In The Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor Uxbridge, Massachusetts, Center For Economic Development

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

This study was made possible by the support of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor Commission. In particular, we would like to thank James R. Pepper, the Executive Director, and Nancy L. Brittain, the community planner for the Corridor. Mr. Pepper's vision and political skills were invaluable for initiating this project. Ms. Brittain provided essential guidance and a much-needed understanding of the local community, economy, and needs. We would also like to thank Professors Jack Ahern, Mark Lindhult, and our department head, John Mullin, for their valuable advice and comments on the study and report.

The Blackstone River Valley …