In July, Greenfield’s City Council designated the Hope Street lot as surplus, paving the way for its development. As we move forward, it’s important for you to understand my vision for this space and the reasons behind the city’s decision to sell this property.
Here are five key facts to explain why developing this lot is crucial for Greenfield’s future.
- Greenfield needs more housing. A healthy vacancy rate is 2-3% for owner-occupied homes, and 4-5% for rentals. A homeowner vacancy rate of 0.1% and a rental vacancy
rate of 0.0% underscore intense demand for new housing, according to the Franklin
County Regional Housing Plan. We need housing of all types: for the older resident who needs to downsize and would love to live out their golden years in a backyard cottage; for the single nurse who would rather live in Greenfield than commute to Baystate Franklin, but can’t find an apartment; and for the electrician who installs solar panels on houses in Greenfield but can’t find a house for their family to grow into.
2. This development will help lower taxes. Taxes are high. I know it, and I feel it when I open my tax bill. Cities are places where people come together to share the cost of services and infrastructure, and the more people sharing in that cost, the less expensive it is for each of us. Our city generally has ample capacity for more people: our schools, for example, have suffered an 18% decline in enrollment since 2019. New development grows the city’s tax rolls, and helps us deliver good schools, safe and well-maintained streets, and the services that residents expect.
3. We want market rate housing and retail on the Hope Street lot. Affordable housing is important, but my goal is for market-rate housing to be built on the Hope Street parcel. This approach will increase the total supply of housing, which helps lower costs across the board, and will also boost the city’s tax base. In the next step of the development process, the city will create a request for proposals (RFP), which developers will respond to. The RFP will not set any income parameters for the kind of housing that will go on this lot.
4. Downtown Greenfield has more than enough parking. We know this because a contractor studied parking in the downtown in 2023. They found that there is plenty of parking available in the overall system at all times. I have visited the Hope Street area and Olive Street Garage multiple times over the past two weeks and confirmed that there are indeed many spots consistently available. This tells us both that there is not a significant need for parking in the neighborhood, and that building and maintaining a parking lot on Hope Street would not generate new revenue for the city, as that demand is already met by the garage and on-street parking. This isn’t a choice between housing cars and housing people — there is plenty of parking already. But if I am forced to choose between housing cars and housing people, I will always choose people.
5. Housing near downtown supports downtown businesses. It’s common sense that businesses do better when there are people nearby to spend money. I want more stores
downtown and a bigger customer base for the ones there now. To support our downtown businesses, first, continue to shop and dine at our amazing local establishments. Second, support projects like the Hope Street development that will bring new customers and residents right to their doorstep.
Building a stronger, more vibrant Greenfield with more housing, a healthier downtown, and a reduced tax burden for everyone is within our reach. Join me in supporting the development of the Hope Street Lot and creating a more hopeful future for our community by voting “NO” on the ballot question.
If you have more questions about Hope Street, check out the city’s FAQ here and on the city’s website under the mayor’s office.
Virigina “Ginny” Desorgher is the mayor of Greenfield.