Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 6/15/2021
EASTHAMPTON – Updates for the Massachusetts Local Rapid Recovery Program (LRRP) in Easthampton were provided during a community presentation on June 9.
Easthampton is participating in this program to obtain professional consulting services for the purpose of developing a rapid recovery plan specifically tailored to the unique economic challenges and COVID-19 impacts on Easthampton. This statewide program is a $10 million program administered by the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development. The goal is to focus on downtown districts in certain cities across the commonwealth. Out of 351 communities, 125 were selected to be a part of this program.
The first step of this project was to have as many Easthampton businesses as possible complete a survey to help the city understand COVID-19’s impact, potential improvements in infrastructure and input on future policy and investment decisions for the city. The city is partnering with Easthampton Chamber of Commerce to work with a consultant to collect data and develop a plan with action items for the grander recovery plan.
Lomax and Ashley Campbell, two entrepreneurs from New York, worked with the city on gathering this data from the survey, and presented it during the June 9 public presentation as Phase I findings for the LRRP program.
According to Lomax, Mayor Nicole LaChapelle reached out to him back in September to see if he would be willing to work with the city on how to improve outcomes for Easthampton. Both entrepreneurs visited Easthampton for four days in October and developed a 10-page plan for the city’s commercial district based on their own findings and the results from the survey.
“Going back to 2008, that’s been identified in the master plan – is to have someone devoted to economic development,” said Easthampton City Planner Jeff Bagg.
The plan, according to Lomax, includes recommendations on how to jumpstart the economy, creating pathways for the workforce for residents, suggestions around community and police relations and organizational capacity-building within local government and partner organizations.
“After that initial work, we were invited to participate in this Local Rapid Recovery Program with the state,” said Lomax, who added that the Easthampton study specifically focused on Pleasant Street, Main Street, Union Street and Cottage Street.
The findings presented by Lomax included the condition of Easthampton’s public and private realms, as well as visibility within the city. “We had to use a rubric provided by the key organizers, which is Street Sense, to evaluate conditions of things like sidewalks, awnings … the conditions of the streets, and windows and visibility into storefronts, and street furniture,” said Lomax.
The rubric they used found that more than 25 percent of sidewalks in the study area pose challenges to pedestrian experiences. Meanwhile, the Campbells found that 50 percent of lighting in the study area supports pedestrian visibility in safety, while wayfinding and signage was very limited in Easthampton-especially when it came to stop signs or other more specific directional signage.
“One thing we noticed was where the rail trail crosses over Union Street – there’s no signs to indicate ‘slow down,’” said Lomax. “If someone was coming across on a bike, it could be hazardous.”
On the private side of the study area, the consultants gave the storefront windows a grade of “A” because more than 75 percent of storefront windows can be seen inside of. More than 75 percent of the storefronts sufficiently displayed their brand identity.
“You actually know what the business offers when you look in the windows,” said Lomax, who added that many storefronts also feature attractive displays outside. “No one’s confused when you see these places.”
According to Lomax, 87 businesses within Easthampton responded to the LRRP survey that was sent out earlier in the spring. Seventy-three percent of the businesses who responded said that they generated less revenue in 2020 than they did in 2019, mainly due to the pandemic. Fifty-eight percent of the businesses featured less customers in 2020, as well. According to the data, 95 percent of businesses had declines in revenue and had to layoff employees and reduce the hours of operation, while 61 percent of businesses wanted some type of assistance.
“When it came to the regulatory environment, only 24 percent said that the regulatory environment posed business operational challenges,” said Lomax.
Based on the survey, businesses felt that improving the safety and health of the area should be one of the top priorities, as well as the conditions of sidewalks and parking availability. Adding more cultural events and searching for more marketing strategies were also important priorities.
“There’s a lot of different organizations here that have been identified and spoken with since March that said, ‘yes,’ we’re willing to be a part of different projects and ideas,” said Lomax.
“To look at this data and see so much potential makes me excited and makes me feel redeemed on some level in the human race,” said LaChapelle.
Phase II, according to Lomax, is focused on a series of webinars that began back in April that are almost wrapped up. There were 25 subject matter experts who did one-hour long webinars that focused on streetscaping, internet marketing, entrepreneurial ecosystem building and more. Those are available on the LRRP website.
From Phase II, the city and consultants hope to have a running list of possible projects and timelines for Easthampton. “That’s essentially what the next two months are going to be,” said Lomax. “Meeting with experts ... talking with the community and try to develop a list of projects.”
Phase III involves writing the full plan and report based on business suggestions and findings. The hope is to have a final plan by the end of August.