January 10, 2008
Posted on 01/09/08Yesterday I walked around downtown Springfield for almost four hours. I went up Taylor Street, down Worthington, across Matton (where I saw a beautiful brownstone for sale for $385,000!). I was struck, once again, by the beautiful architecture of those old apartment buildings, the variety of styles. I kept th inking that Springfield is one of the most attractive and foot-friendly cities I have ever walked through.
I had a delicious lunch of Indian food at Sitar on Main Street. I walked to towards the South End and stopped at the cafe in the Sovreign Building where Louisa made me a perfect espresso. Then I headed won to Milano Specialty Food Store to buy a gallon of extra-virgin olive oil ($19.99!) and a half pound of the best proscuitto I have had outside of Italy.
I made my way to the Museum Quadrangle, stopped in at the library to borrow a couple of books. At a store across the street, I watched a young Hispanic man embrace five or six elementary age children as they got off the school bus. A couple of men were working on the roof of an old Victorian house – and blasting classical music into the street below. A group of teenage boys disbanded their circle on a sidewalk on Spring Street to let me pass. It was a warm January day and as I headed down the hill towards Taylor Street and my car, a canopy of pink clouds hung over the city. I was filled with pleasure.
Except for an hour at lunch time, the streets of Springfield were very quiet. It seems to me that the streets of Springfield, like all fully awakened cities, ought to be filled with noise, the chaos of people pushing up and down the streets as they attend to errands. In The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs says that “the activity generated by people on errands or people aiming for food or drink, is itself an attraction to other people…the sight of people attracts still other people, something that city planners seem to find incomprehensible. They operate on the premise that city people seek the sight of emptiness, obvious order and quiet. Nothing could be less true.”
I encourage you to get out of your office buildings, and out of your cars, and walk the streets of Springfield. Get off of Main Street and walk the streets up towards the Quadrangle. Be visible. Wake up the City with the tap of your shoes and boots along its streets…all of them.
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Who We Are
Creative Capital Springfield was organized by a group of people determined to contribute to the revitalization of Springfield. We see in Springfield a sleeping beauty waiting for a kiss – an infusion of energy that will wake up a place that has languished for too long on the banks of the Connecticut River. We are motivated by a love for a City filled with beauty, charm, historical significance and deep potential. We have been studying the ways that other sleeping cities woke themselves up by taking advantage of their strenghts to become vital again. We believe the neighborhoods of downtown Springfield offer great opportunities to attract creative capital – new economy workers and artists who need large, beautiful, affordable living and work spaces.
We invite you to talk with us, share ideas, follow our progress and join the party!
Sincerely, Ann Black, Linda McInerney and Evan Plotkin