When I first visited Greenfield as a young man in 2006, I was surprised to find a giant hole on Chapman Street. An unfinished, partially built foundation collecting trash. A literal hole in the middle of Greenfield surrounded by acres of parking lots.
When I moved to Greenfield in 2013 with my young family, lo and behold, the hole was still there.
It’s 2025 and finally, (finally!) the hole on Chapman is filled. It took a generation, but positive change is underway. Unfortunately, if you look around, there are quite a few more “holes” that need to be addressed. Holes on Federal, holes down by the rotary, and yes a big old hole on Hope. An unproductive, unmaintained, dirt-patch “hole,” also known as blight.
I am not a fan of urban blight. I am not a fan of dirt-patch holes in my city. I am appreciative of well thought out opportunities for growth and development. Greenfield will never go back to the way it was 50 years ago. We, its present residents, have an obligation to its future residents to do better, to shepherd Greenfield into a future of prosperity and abundance.
Our city and its hard-working employees have spent hundreds of hours going through years of processes to turn the Hope Street blight into an opportunity for growth and development. There was no bait and switch, there were no shady tactics.
What’s done is done, and the Hope Street weed patch will not be going back to a parking lot. We do not have the money to get it there. And it will never generate the money to make it worth getting it there. The $200,000 number that keeps being used is fantastical. I know this, because I have a calculator, I’ve done the math, and you should too. I also know it will never generate that revenue because there is a partially empty, inexpensive, clean, and well lit four-story parking garage a half a block away.
We have the opportunity to build housing here. With lots of affordable housing in the works on Main Street it seems some market rate housing might be nice, but I don’t really care. Affordable housing would be great, some luxury condos would be fine. Just build some housing. Housing built in that space will bring lots of little economic engines on two legs downtown. Economic engines that will visit our businesses, pay taxes, and help to reinvigorate our urban core. This is not “build anything anywhere.” This is “build something here” and the something we’re building is our city’s vitality.
The options for Hope Street are as clear as they are stark. Vote “Yes” for stasis and blight. Yes to maintain the status quo of ever tightening budgets and shrinking services amidst stagnant growth and an aging population. Or vote “No” and embrace change, embrace a future with new residents, new ideas, new dynamism, and a prosperous Greenfield.
Vote “No” and build hope.
Michael Audet lives in Greenfield.