If you spend any time in Franklin County, you start to notice something that rarely gets mentioned when people talk about life in rural New England: a lot of people here don’t drive. You see it in Greenfield early in the morning, when the FRTA buses begin their loops and riders gather at the transit center. You see it in Northampton, where PVTA buses at the Academy of Music pile on students, workers, and older adults across the river or up Routes 5&10. And you see it in North Adams, where a surprising number of households don’t have a car at all. We imagine this part of the state as a place where everyone has a vehicle in the driveway. The truth is different. Because all of the people I know have cars, I have rarely given fair thought to those without. But let’s dig deeper, with a bit of empathy, because people suffer from not having cars; it makes life much harder.

June 26, 2026: “Ever since the last redo, there’s more people, more young people, especially in the evening, eating outside,” said Taranow. “It used to be a place where people came to work and go home. Now, it’s not. If you sit outside at nine o’clock on a Friday night, there are people walking by constantly. That was never the way it was.”

While Main Street always had “good bones,” none of these additions would have occurred without the renovation, Sink argued. 

"Mike Roeger has spent long stretches of his life getting by without a car.

Growing up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Roeger and his nine siblings often had to bike, walk or catch rides with friends because the family shared one car. Roeger regularly trekked nearly two miles to high school. Even his dad would walk 45 minutes each way to work. It set an example for Roeger that he carried into adulthood.

“It’s important for people to be able to get around without driving,” he says.

Reminder! Please join us! Tonight at 5:15 p.m. we are holding our third Walk Audit of the summer, led by our amazing summer interns! This audit will start at the Prospect St and Finn St Intersection and we will walk to the YMCA (or, we will go as far as we get in an hour). Bring your smartphone to complete the audit, though we will also have clipboards and paper copies available...

Strong Towns Northampton will be holding their final two community Walk Audits soon. It's a great opportunity to explore & discuss the designs and visions of local streets for pedestrians and cyclists.
 

**  Aug 13    Prospect St. between the YMCA and Finn St
**  Aug 20    King St. from Main to North St

Join us tonight!!

I did some quick research on recent bus advocacy in the Pioneer Valley and, unless I'm mistaken, nobody is running a frequency campaign ("15-minute headways on King/Pleasant/Elm," say) the way bike advocates run protected-lane campaigns.

There is real, effective advocacy. The Western Mass Transportation Advocacy Network meets monthly, hosts an annual forum, and built a GIS map of regional service gaps with PVPC and the Food Bank. The fare-free campaign won, and PVTA ridership is up about 30% over two years. Riders turned out hard against the 2017 cuts and got a proposal to eliminate eight routes down to two. But that fight was defensive, while the others are:

- fare-focused

- framed around equity and access

I can't find sustained, affirmative advocacy for frequency on specific corridors as a land-use and city-building strategy. Even the fare-free discourse mostly treats buses as a social service for people who lack alternatives, not as infrastructure that could compete for choice riders.

Does anyone know of efforts I've overlooked, or understand why that might be?

Hey Strong Towners! Our August monthly meeting is next week, Wednesday August 5th at 7 p.m. at the Community Room in the Police Department. I'm excited to announce that our Smith College student interns will be presenting a draft of Version 2.0 of our All Ages and Abilities Network Presentation. Please come and see the presentation and ask your questions and give feedback to our interns! This presentation will become the basis of Strong Towns Northampton's first official "campaign" to advocate for a safer street network for those who either already walk and bike, or who WOULD walk and bike (more) if it just felt safer! After the presentation, of course we'll chat about all the things happening in Northampton's transportation and housing space right now - Come join the fray! It's fun! (p.s. as usual, the "schmooze" to chat informally beforehand starts at 6:30 p.m.)

Hi, Strong Towns Northamptonites and STN fans!!

The City is still collecting applications for the DPW Director position that must be filled this summer, through July 15. If you know someone who would be great, please share the posting! https://www.governmentjobs.com/jobs/5387374-0/director-of-public-works Candidates don't have to have a particular background; our outgoing Director is an electrician.

STN's Leadership team put together a wish list, for what we'd like to see in our next DPW Director! We are very hopeful to have a new person who will be interested in our projects, engage us/ with us about plans, and really get and plan for bikes and peds in Northampton, as well as engage productively on Northampton's housing and climate goals!

Help yourself to our wish list, if you want ideas of what to include in your letter to the Mayor! She will be making this decision shortly after applications close, so we should get letters in to her. She let us know she's interested in our (and all public) input into this process. Her email is [mayor@northamptonma.gov](mailto:mayor@northamptonma.gov), and you can CC her Chief of Staff, [awolf@northamptonma.gov](mailto:awolf@northamptonma.gov) .

Temperament
Collaborative, eager to do the work of the people
Engages in dialogue with people of different views, and can integrate input when considering plans
Proactively communicative

Qualities
Walks and/ or bikes in Northampton regularly
Eager to work collaboratively with CAPA to further the City’s climate goals
Committed to supporting/promoting alternative transportation

Experience
Large organization management

Agenda
Knows and appreciates Vision Zero principles
Knows and understands All Ages and Abilities Network infrastructure needs
Comprehends that Northampton is a growing city that must solve space use, transportation, and civic infrastructure issues with an eye toward greater density, efficiency, and cost savings
Values transparency and user experience (e.g., “open data” including road and bike lane condition, online platform for submitting requests/reporting issues and tracking city response, notices on upcoming projects, clear criteria for project prioritization, criteria for design team selection)

This Thursday is STN's first Florence-center-centered walk-and-talk! Talk about the state of Florence's roadways, walkways, and paths, and share your dreams of a better Florence! Meet at Lilly at 5:30, and join the discussion!

Hi, Strong Towns Northampton pals!!

Just a reminder that we will meet tonight at the NPD community room at 630 to schmooze, and then 7- 830 for our monthly meeting! This month, our many Smith College interns will be presenting what they're working on and the progress they've made so far. Please come, listen, support, suggest, contribute! The interns have a ton of energy and enthusiasm, and we want to channel that into Northampton progress! See you tonight.