Issues & Analyses: Many People in Amherst Would Be Interested in Living Downtown Given the Right Conditions

In 1993 my young family moved from Long Island to Amherst. We raised our 2 children here, and my wife and I would like to spend the upcoming chapters of our lives here as well.

We purposely aimed to live in this college town for all the reasons everyone else cites. And I’m not “anti-student” as is too easy for people to conclude, when kvetching about the downsides. The needs and lifestyles of college students are different from those of families and elders. If that’s not obvious, you’ve never been a college student or an elder. I have had many rewarding associations with students in my work and life, where I have both learned and given back.

However, I am among many in our community who feel the strain of our town and downtown becoming less usable and less pleasant, because of the several five-story private dorms, built for and occupied by students; not to mention our neighborhoods declining, as local and distant real estate investors paying top dollar for single family homes, over-filling them, overcharging for them, not caring for the buildings or residents well; plus attempting to add additional buildings to lots so that an absurd number of occupants and cars are creating what is commonly known as student slums, filled with nuisance houses.

Our town needs more balance, and so I wanted to discover the level of interest in creating downtown developments that might be three or four stories, filled with families, graduate students, 55+, and professionals, built with quality construction, attractive design, ample sidewalks, attainable pricing, sufficient parking, and relevant businesses surrounding them.

I created a survey that so far has 86 responses. See the complete results here and consider if you agree that there is a market demand for such dwellings. By the way, that survey is still active, so if you have not responded to it and would like to you can find it here.

Results From The Survey On Development of Housing Downtown

Many people responded that they are ready for a lifestyle change, are no longer as capable of maintaining a house, and would enjoy being where the action is in Amherst. They’d like to be able to walk to dining, shopping, and entertainment. They’d love to live in a building that had some built-in community, a la a common space. They’d value living in that diverse environment. They’d be open to buy or rent.

They wish that local developers would build such buildings, and think it would make our town stronger, more balanced, more lively, more peaceful. They would not mind living alongside buildings that are designed and marketed to undergraduates if there was enough soundproofing and privacy supplied. They’d be glad to move on from single family houses, so that those houses can be occupied by younger families, not converted to more student housing.

They think that increased balance might also cure what ails us, the intensifying divisiveness coming from opposing views about where Amherst should be heading.

The survey was sent to many in our town, as you can see from the answers. It was not sent to people who might want to move here from Boston, New York, and elsewhere. It was not sent to alumni of Hampshire College, Amherst College, or UMass Amherst, who might love to live where they spent a satisfying few years when they were young. But I maintain it’s enough of an indication that a developer might want to research it more. Or that the town, the Chamber of Commerce, or the Business Improvement District might want take a closer look.

Some of our town leaders subscribe to the “build it and they will come” idea, hence the Drake, the forthcoming bandshell on the common, and the rebuilding of the North Common. I am not asking anyone to take the risk of building without doing their own more extensive market study. But I am asking that they look at these results, to conclude that more and better market research is in order.

Our recently built five-story buildings may face a challenge, when the “demographic cliff” arrives, as UMass President Marty Meehan has predicted. The children of baby boomers are done with college. The low birth rates, in general and around the 2008 recession, will soon be felt in declining college enrollments. Even if UMass Amherst survives that better than the many small private schools facing great threats, I’d rather have a building filled with permanent residents than be trying to find tenants for apartments purpose-built for four unrelated tenants.
 

The Amherst Principles: A New Survey
I am now working on a second survey, looking for community input on how and why our town government should create a set of Amherst Principles, that is, principles that should guide our town leaders in their planning and decision making. Results that I have received so far indicate such principles are desperately wanted and needed. Many towns proudly announce how they follow similar codes – google it! And please fill out that survey here.