This article is unintentionally funny for two reasons. First, there are multiple references to Trump. What does Trump have to do with a town project to redesign downtown? Couldn't tell ya! Something about Northampton citizens being mean to each other, therefore Trump. And that's the second funny thing: all these hippy-dippy tolerance-bumper-sticker types are at each other's throats over parking spaces.
Let me tell you a story about Northampton. Years ago, the wife and I went to Northampton nearly every other weekend. There was an art house theater that showed foreign films and great restaurants all over the place. In the center of town was a quirky T-shirt and novelty shop called "Faces" (never mentioned in the Boston Globe article) that drew in large crowds. The Iron Horse Music Group (venues Iron Horse, Pearl Street, Calvin Theater) regularly bought in major acts. After dinner, we would treat ourselves at a great Italian bakery called La Fiorentina right down the street from the Northampton Brewery or maybe have a cappuccino at the Haymarket Cafe.
All of that is gone.
The theater is gone. A lot of major restaurants like Spoleto closed down or moved. The Northampton Brewery once served full dinners and now they're a burger and nachos joint. La Fiorentina Bakery shut down. Haymarket Cafe is gone. Faces shut down. Thorne's Marketplace across the street is a shadow of its former glory. The Iron Horse Music Group shut down and the town sued the owner to either sell his venues or lose his liquor license. He sold the Iron Horse but all the other venues are vacant and unused.
Northampton isn't dying because of bad traffic patterns. It's dying because the Left does what the Left does: raise taxes on "greedy" businesses, allow vagrants to overrun the sidewalks, and inject politics into every experience. A downtown redesign isn't going to bring back the consumers so they can eat mozzarella sticks and sidestep beggars. Damn you, Trump!