Letter: Williamstown Must Remain WalkableLetters to the Editor, 07:00PM / Wednesday, January 28, 2015 | |
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To the Editor:
This spring, Williamstown voters will get a chance to vote on increasing the size of its business district to make way for a new hotel. The proposal is a logical choice for a developer but not so for protectors of the town culture.
Several years ago, in the height of the Great Recession, another landowner, Mark Paresky, took a more interesting approach. Instead of maximizing square footage, he chose to use his existing footprint to
create a quaint and walkable cobblestone alley between his new building and the rest of Spring Street. He recycled the space and it is both beautiful and functional.
Tony Hsieh, founder of Zappos, has created a new urban renewal concept that maximizes serendipitous encounters or "collisions" among smart and interesting people. Williamstown has people with great minds and good dispositions but it could use more potential "collision" points.
Mr. Hsieh fights urban sprawl by thinking deeply about walking patterns and cultivating foot traffic and meeting spots. Williamstown residents should do the same. Spring Street is less car friendly and more pedestrian friendly and it should stay that way. As the center of gravity continues to move south and west, walkability becomes more endangered and cars become more prevalent. This may help businesses but the price is too high.
The Smith-Rudnick building at the top of Spring Street [18 Spring] could be moved (it has already been moved twice) and the hotel could be built in its place. A parking garage could replace the current Facilities Building, which could be housed in a less central location. Streetcars or other public transportation could be used to ferry pedestrians from the Clark Art Museum. Bike rental kiosks could be built. Have all ideas been exhausted prior to reverting to urban sprawl?
Build the hotel at the top of Spring Street, keep the town walkable, and go back to the drawing board on how to attract business.
Huff Templeton
Williamstown
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