When I bought my house in Greenfield over 10 years ago, I saw a lot of bumper stickers saying: “I Choose Greenfield.” At the time, I didn’t realize the slogan was referring to School Choice but no matter, I did choose Greenfield. And I’m not the only one.
When telecommuting became an option for me, I considered moving to three different Route 2 corridor towns. Let’s just look at how Greenfield stacks up to the other two — Gardner and North Adams. All three small cities (or big towns) are former thriving industrial centers. All three lost their bustling manufacturing base when the need for the products dried up or production was moved to countries with virtually no laws protecting workers’ rights, therefore making it easy to turn a profit at the workers’ expense.
All three have a mayoral form of government.
Here are some of the statistics:
Population in 2010 /2015
Greenfield 17,456/17,386
Gardner 20,228/20,381
North Adams 13,708/13,345
Median Household Income 2015
Greenfield 48,493
Gardner 46,589
North Adams 37,654
Median Home Value
Greenfield 181,800
Gardner 174,400
North Adams 158,400
Average Single Family Tax Bill:
Greenfield 3,934
Gardner 3,360
North Adams 2,339
(All this information was retrieved from the U.S. Census Data or the towns websites.)
There are not huge differences between all three cities. The populations have shifted only a little bit in the past five years. Greenfield residents pay the most in taxes, but have the highest median income and the highest home values.
The biggest difference between these three towns, all seems to lie in the vision residents have for their home town, whether they were born into it or chose it. After looking into each community, Greenfield was the obvious choice. Here’s why:
Greenfield’s collective vision calls for a bustling downtown, civic engagement, quality public services, a master plan with sustainability as its cornerstone, a diversity of recreation opportunities, historic preservation, and most of all — a community where residents take care of each other.
These are our values. This is what sets us apart from other similarly situated cities. In fact, this is why I will vote for a senior center, once the Town Council is presented with the most sustainable plan possible.
This is how we stand for our values, and it’s what makes us special. It’s why so many people have moved here; and it’s why the population remains steady even in the face of a major economic downturn and depression.
I want to affirm that I realize that we all pay a lot toward the town’s revenue. Most cities and towns in the western part of the state face this problem. We have to rely too heavily on property taxes to meet our needs. But I don’t believe we should compromise our values or stop investing in ourselves and each other.
However, there is something we can do to lessen the tax burden on residents. We can reach out and (once again) ask the many nonprofit agencies who operate in Greenfield to contribute revenue to our city. They benefit from our public services just as much as any other resident or business does. They should have to pay their way, just as much as you or I do. And we can continue to work at creating the type of community that would attract major employers who offer good jobs and contribute to our revenue base.
In the meantime, our seniors need a new home. I am going to do my part to make that happen, because I honor our core value of taking care of each other. It’s why we voted overwhelmingly to build a new high school. It’s why I can disagree with someone politically but still call them a friend and trust that we all just want what’s best for our town. It’s why we are all in this together. And it’s why I still want my: “I Choose Greenfield” bumper sticker. Can anyone get me one?
Karen “Rudy” Renaud, an at-large town councilor is treasurer of the Greenfield Town Council.