Maybe we’re going for “shabby chic” or maybe we’re hoping Stephen King will film his next horror series here, but downtown Greenfield has become a wasteland. I’m not even including the Common in this. I’m writing about empty stores full of debris, sidewalks full of trash, and dilapidated buildings.
Who owns these properties, and why are they not responsible for taking care of them?
I’m required to maintain the town property in front of my home, and I do. I recently had to pay a fine for accidentally parking a quarter-inch on the grass, which I mow, rake, shovel, and seed, in front of my own home. I live on a side street, and yet the owners of these properties in our downtown business district are not fined for their ruined properties on our Main Street?
Is it safe to assume they are owned by some out-of-town trust who writes them off on their taxes? Or are they owned by town elite who don’t have to play by the same rules as the rest of us taxpayers? Either way, it is unacceptable.
They should be required to fix them up or tear them down. It’s time we started finding out who owns them and make them do something about them. This town has never looked worse!
Pamela Archer
Greenfield