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Who is Strong Towns Northampton?
Strong Towns Northampton (STN) is a local action and conversation group where residents of Northampton (and sometimes of neighboring cities and towns) come together to share ideas, learn from each other, and take action to support people-centered development. We encourage the development of infrastructure that provides safe, climate-friendly, and community-building alternatives to driving, such as biking, walking, and transit, and the development of housing that serves both renters and owners with a range of incomes.
We believe that compact, incremental development limits the damaging effects of sprawl while supporting the preservation of open space, bolstering our local businesses, broadening our tax base, and expanding access to affordable housing. We challenge the norms of car-centered development that have costs to us individually and to our broader community and environment. We prioritize environmental protection and preservation, the health and wellbeing of both individuals and our communities, and financially resilient development that supports our city’s growth and development, while also ensuring increased affordability and opportunity for the residents and businesses that already call Northampton home.
We seek opportunities to take action as a group and as individuals that will further the goals we share for our town. We believe in the Strong Towns methodology that local action is often the most profound in changing the way cities can serve their people. Whether we’re picking up trash, checking City government’s progress on its stated objectives for safe streets, or participating in Northampton’s dialogue around development, we try to make use of our time, energy, and interest to move Northampton toward a safer, more beautiful, more connected place.
The Strong Towns Movement
We’re a locally-led group that’s registered with Strong Towns as one of their “local conversation groups.” The national Strong Towns non-profit organization provides resources that many of us have found informative and inspiring, such as decades of research on human-centered road design, books, and tools. Being part of a national network of local conversation groups also gives our participants a chance to connect with resident-led groups in other cities and towns, both in Massachusetts and nationally, and attend the Strong Towns annual conference. Policy ideas and discussions to-date have focused on local projects, and our discussions sometimes diverge, and often go beyond, the principles outlined on the national organization's website.