Left In Lowell

In a previous post, I started a conversation about the news stories about downtown late-night incidents. The latest comment by a woman named Jane on this post ought to give the city and governmental bodies real pause:

I am so sad to read this blog and recent articles about downtown Lowell. My husband and I are getting ready to sell our home in the suburbs west of Boston. We fell in love with some of the lofts we have seen in Lowell, and have been trying to understand the city better, thinking we would enjoy living there. I just had not been able to piece together why downtown condos are not selling and don’t seem to be renting well, either, and at such relatively low prices. Now we are dropping the idea of even renting in downtown Lowell, given the nighttime activities. I don’t understand how it has come to this in a city that has come back in so many ways, has wonderful restaurants, theater, museums, galleries, etc. I hope all of you dedicated people will be able to work effectively with the city to turn this situation around.

Though I think perhaps there might be a mistake in assuming these incidents are the main reason downtown condos aren’t selling (condos, and housing in general, were in trouble long before this increased very-late-night activity, due to the housing bubble aftermath), I do think this comment is a wake-up call for the city to start paying attention to residents and address the issue quickly and firmly.

The fact that the License Commission seems to have taken on the attitude that they work for and with alcoholic establishments only, not abutting residents or other businesses affected by said establishments, is contributing to a fundamental problem for the city - both on a PR level, and on a physical safety and cleanliness level.

There are a lot of residents and other businesses in downtown. This is by design - the creation of downtown condos was the opening salvo in architecting the revival of the area. But revivals need constant maintenance. Self-examination about what sort of downtown we want to have, and by extension what sort of city we want to be, is so important to the process.

And we shouldn’t be making any plans to evict downtown’s residents. We’d be fools to do so, don’t you agree? A vital downtown depends on them. But that is where we are headed if we do not address the concerns of people like Jane, looking to relocate, but becoming uncomfortable about the direction of our fair city. Nor is it a good idea to dismiss the concerns of its existing residents when they say that the actions of this License Commission are not enough to stem the direction in which our downtown is heading. Not if we want to keep them.

We’re in the beginning stages of a bad cycle, and I commend the residents of downtown for not giving up on it, but instead for fighting, publicly when their complaints went unheeded by a dismissive regulatory board.

I still think many residents of downtown do not regret their choice. I know a lot of people downtown love their lifestyle there and are excited about the changes happening around them, for the most part. The tantalizing possibility of a trolley system, the creation of artist live-work studios in the beautiful new Appleton Mill building, the JAM plan. But having a vision of the future is not enough. We need to constantly evaluate and reevaluate the needs of the neighborhoods we already have.

What would you say to Jane? Those of you who live in downtown, what is your response? (And it should go without saying, keep it respectful.)

Outside of LHA appointment manufactured controversies and a vote to violate the flag rules of the United States on behalf of former City Councilors, tonight’s Council packet included a very pretty, and very ambitious Trolley Study report.

It’s better and more extensive a proposal than even I expected! The report proposes (and mind you, it’s an initial proposal, so lots of changes could happen between here and build out, if it happens at all) to have a trolley line from the Gallahger, through Hamilton Canal District to downtown, and using the existing LNHP track (which they use mostly as historic ambiance than moving people from place to place), the trolley would split and a small branch heads to Middlesex College, and the other down Father Morressette Blvd past University Ave Bridge, then down Fletcher to Broadway to UML’s South Campus. Other stops include the Inn & Conference Center, the Tsongas Arena, and LeLacheur Park, as well as existing locations such as Boott Cotton Mills and the Mogan Center. Follow me after the flip: (more…)

The Tanner St meeting last night was well attended with local residents, business owners, and interested Lowellians filling up the conference room and then some (there was a funny moment when Adam Baacke was talking about the elected officials in attendance, and he mentioned Mayor Murphy was there but out in the hallway because it was standing room only). Speaking of official attendance, besides our mayor, notables included Councilors Mendonca, Martin, and Lorry.

I’ll take this rather long post to after the flip: (more…)

My eagle-eyed friend Tim (who does comment here on occasion) spotted this “Communities with the lowest median income” list on Boston.com which I didn’t have time yet to remark on, but thought I would now. Lowell is #17 on the bottom 20 lowest median income list, which given our demographics and history is actually pretty all right, considering.

However, what troubled me was the median income over the decades (one assumes adjusted for inflation).

2009 median income: $56,494
1999 median income: $59,212
1989 median income: $60,789
1979 median income: $53,108
30-year change: 6.4 percent

I was left wondering, how much of the loss of buying power that the median income in Lowell saw since 1989 is part of the overall erosion of the middle class in the entire US during that time, and how much of it is a local phenomenon of job losses, or a shift in of types of jobs offered here, or something else entirely.

I don’t need or want Lowell to be a rich man’s haven (not a big fan of “Mills to Martinis”). I like that our status as a not-so-wealthy small city attracts immigrants and artists, and that it is a place for a business to get its start. But the loss of income over time is a disturbing trend, and one we need to try to understand better as we move into another decade.

I’m in a back and forth on the Lowell Downtown Neighborhood Association’s Facebook page because yet another late-night alcohol-induced incident sent a young man to the hospital with stab wounds this weekend. To quote Kelly F from that conversation:

On Middle Street in the empty bank parking lot, I’ve seen a stabbing, a person being intentionally run over after an argument, a hundred fights, people screaming at the top of their lungs for an hour either fighting or just out of their minds drunk - ALL ALCOHOL FUELED at 2am coming from the same bars we know are problematic and over-serve alcohol to these kids and then I get to see them in this condition get into their CARS and DRIVE!

This doesn’t seem to be an isolated incident, and it appears to be worsening, or at the least, not getting better.

Now, I am all for alcoholic-serving restaurants and (some) bars being downtown. They are a staple of a thriving urban district, and bring money into the area. However, there has got to be a better way to handle this, then sending ambulances to clean up the mess. And by all accounts, the police are doing their jobs as best they can, sending extra patrols and clearing people out after the bars. Costing the city thousands of taxpayer dollars more.

It is plain to see that this is a policy problem, not a policing one.

Meanwhile, we have the goddamned liquor licensing Commission Chairman Walter Bayliss telling us taxpayers and residents are not as important as bar owners despite the fact that a lot of people (particularly residents) are simply asking for after-work-hour meetings, and Commissioner Brian Akashian attacking Mayor Murphy for daring to make a November motion to move the meetings and accomodate residents who actually work for a living and can’t make the 3:30 meeting time. Akashian on Murphy:

This is his history as a city councilor. …He continuously makes motions that are for his own benefit and never takes into account anyone it affects.”

Downtown resident and blogger kad barma has a lot of background on the hapless, tone-deaf License Commission in this excellent post if you have not read it. (He also has another very recent post about the after-Saturday-night carnage. Yum.) Here is the LDNA (Downtown Neighborhood Association) take on it.

kad barma writes:

the license commission has almost always, and i mean almost ALWAYS sided with the liquor stores and bars, and when they did choose to act, only handed out token and wholly ineffective “sanctions” which hardly ever caused these businesses to pause in their profligacy.
…
so where is the license commission on all of this? they are trash talking downtown residents for being complainers without the commitment to show up at their 3:30pm afternoon meetings, and then foot-dragging to the point of obfuscational jawboning about possible legal action to stop their meeting times being directed by the city council to the evenings. (none of which is possible because they have no leg to stand on to resist, so meeting times will indeed be changed). commission chair walter bayliss has tried to blow smokescreens about costs, (the police overtime argument being the funniest–the cops who need to testify are on nights, and actually it potentially costs MORE to send them to afternoon meetings than evening ones, but lets not digress), and gotten on his soapbox to bloviate an incredible quantity of nonsense without substance or point whatsoever. he’s been cornered, FINALLY, to follow open meeting law requirements to post agendas 48 hours in advance as had never been previously done, and he’s finally being shown to be the out-of-touch anachronism and impediment to progress that he so surely is. (the other commission members are better, but not as yet taking action to use their majority to do more right things).

You should also read this comment by kmarcin, which ends:

…Both Mr. Bayliss and Mr. Weiker stated at the last meeting that they work for the businesses because they pay a higher tax rate. If city boards weight who they work for by their tax bill then there is not a single one that is working for me…I do not think the tax bill I pay for my small but opulent 856sf. compares to that being paid by any business.

I am just expecting too much?

Apparently.

So, let’s recap, shall we? We have a burgeoning (and very expensive, in police overtime) problem with lawlessness downtown in the wee sma’s when the bars all let loose their puking and belligerent diehards. We have a police force that, despite the tight city budgets, is now having to send extra people to the streets of downtown to sweep up after the problem…a problem they can mostly only react to, but too hard a problem for them to solve on their own. We have many, many people complaining that the License Commissioners belittle residents at meetings, refuse to accommodate them with a simple meeting change because hey, the bar owners pay a bigger tax rate and are more important, right? They give out meaningless and toothless sanctions to bars which violate some pretty serious ordinances and laws (like underage drinking). Mr. Bayliss considers downtown a “business district” despite the sheer number of residents that call it home.

Do any of us think that weekly news stories of stabbings and injuries and worse is going to do Lowell any goddamned good, businesses or residents??

Does this help Lowell’s delicate reputation as an up-and-coming city with a lot of great venues, art, music, theatre, and food?

Every one of these Commissioners, Bayliss, Weicker, and Akashian, have demonstrated a lack of ability to handle their positions - their statements are so out of touch with not only what the residents of downtown want, but also what this city needs, that every. Single. One of them. Has got TO GO.

Of course, they are appointed for a certain term. I am sure that at least one or two of them are not up for quite a while yet. This poses a problem.

Is there an impeachment process or something similar that we can invoke here?

Or are we waiting for the next stabbing victim to die instead, and watch the entire region rolls its eyes and say, “Well, that’s Lowell for you. Scary place. Wouldn’t want to live, work, or visit there…”?

I think I will preface every single one of my future blog posts with “anyone in a downtown brawl die yet?” until the Commissioners resign, are forced out, or the City Council takes some decisive action.

You think that one of the city’s oldest blogs doing this will help Lowell’s reputation? No? Then to those in power to do something, DO IT. Before something terrible happens.

As mentioned in comments of the previous post on Veterans for Peace staging an “eat-in” at Babylon restaurant, Rachel Maddow of The Rachel Maddow Show signed off tonight with a short piece on the vandalism incident, the yummy “occupation,” the restaurant, and its owner. It was a lovely moment of non-political feel-good news and, as usual, Rachel was up to date on her facts and packed a lot of information into the clip, which you can watch below.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Plus you can play “Where’s Cliff” and spot my fellow blogger in one of the photos flashing by during the story. (The photos are from Babylon’s Facebook page.) I will tell you though that Cliff is NOT wearing a red-and-white stripped hat. (OK, hilarious, after I posted this and viewed the post to be sure the player loaded, the preview image that the player show IS Cliff. See? Told you he was famous now!)

Cliff, you’re famous among liberals now! I know you’ve gotta be really proud of that. Even newly minted Mayor Patrick didn’t make it onto the show despite several photos of him in the FB gallery from last night.

And thanks to Veterans for Peace for leading the way and showing our city in such a great light!

Because they’ll be totally wall-to-wall packed. I must admit, I’m a little miffed at the Veterans for Peace and their “eat-in” at the downtown Iraqi restaurant Babylon, because I had plans to bring friends there for dinner tonight, that will likely have to move to another night. Jerks.

Just kidding, I think it’s an amazing gesture by the veterans and I think we all ought to support this great new addition to our downtown after it was vandalized. The last thing this family needs is to feel unsafe and unwelcome. While it’s not clear that the vandalism from last week was in any way motivated by the owners’ ethnicity, it seems to me that the odds may be that it was.

If you haven’t been to Babylon yet, you are missing a treat, and the community needs to support them right now, so stop by soon! Like that’ll be a huge chore, with its good price points and amazing food. One of my new fave downtown spots for meeting friends and grabbing some lunch. Just you might not get a seat tonight, is all.

Update: Cool review of Babylon by Merrimack Valley Magazine. Says the writer “fatoosh is tossed with plenty of exotic spices — including my new favorite, sumac” - yes yes yes! I never knew sumac was a spice before, but having some at Babylon was akin to my powerful cardamom revelation (another favorite “found” spice). Need to get my hands on some for cooking!

Update II: the Veterans for Peace are there til 8pm, so if you are good with a late dinner…

The Lowell DPD is hosting its first Community Workshop for the Tanner Street District Economic Development Plan on Monday, January 23, 2012 at 6:00PM at the LRTA Building - 100 Hale Street.

A bit from the press release:

The City of Lowell, through the Department of Planning & Development (DPD), scheduled the first in a series of three public meeting for the Tanner Street District Economic Development Planning process for Monday, January 23rd at 6:00pm in the public meeting room at the LRTA facility at 100 Hale Street. The meeting will focus on shaping the vision and plans for the district, primarily the industrial properties abutting Tanner Street, as an economic and job creation center for Lowell.

In November 2010, the City was awarded a $175,000 “Brownfields Area-wide Planning Grant” from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to focus on district-wide planning for the Tanner Street area of Lowell. As directed by the Lowell City Council, DPD is completing this project in an effort to support and enhance existing businesses, attract new development that creates jobs, and to explore the potential for establishing an urban renewal district for the Tanner Street area. The planning effort is designed to capitalize on Tanner Street’s ideal proximity to the Lowell Connector Highway and Gallagher Terminal in order to generate jobs and economic development, while simultaneously addressing real and perceived environmental issues of the district; a likely barrier to its economic success.

[…]

The City secured two consultant teams to inform and manage the Tanner Street planning process. Crosby | Schlessinger | Smallridge (CSS) of Boston is the lead planning consultant for this project. Over the past several months, the CSS team has completed extensive background information gathering and researching of existing conditions for the Tanner Street area. Much of this information will be presented on January 23rd.

A key component of the Tanner Street District planning effort is the completion of a market research study, which will provide a realistic picture of the types of industries and development that can be supported and targeted for the Tanner Street district given existing and future market conditions. Bartram and Cochran (B&C) of Hartford, CT was selected as the market research consultant to complete this study.

This is definitely on my calendar! I’m particularly interested in the Tanner St development, since I am a near neighbor. (My first suggestion: tear the whole damn street up and repave it properly! Man that place is like a roller coaster. Make sure the new street surface is rated for big trucks, since it’s an industrial zone.)

More info is on the DPD’s page for this project. You can find further links and a map there.

“Joe from Lowell” has been cheating on LiL, and posting on Dailykos, and via this front-page Markos diary about municipalities moving from TBTF (Too Big To Fail) banks like B of A, to local ones, I found Joe’s link to his own diary about Lowell doing just that.

Lowell jumped on this bandwagon before there was ever a bandwagon, it seems.

I assume everyone here is familiar with the Move Your Money Project, an effort to convince people to close their accounts with big, national banks and switch their banking to local banks and credit unions. The Move Your Money web site includes a great tool for finding such institutions in your home town. It’s a great idea, which helps to take down the Too Big To Fail banks a notch, and steer funds towards local institutions that are more responsible with their loans and services. But let’s not forget, individuals are not the only ones who use banking services. So does your local government, and chances are, they have a lot more money in the bank than you do.

Below [the fold] find a story about how the City of Lowell, Massachusetts is doing exactly that.

Here’s what the Lowell Sun has to say:

LOWELL — The city is gearing up to launch a program designed to boost the amount of money it places in local banks by millions of dollars in hopes of spurring small-business growth.

Devised by Lowell’s chief financial officer, Tom Moses, the Lowell Economic Advancement Program, or LEAP, would shift up to $2 million in city deposits to each local financial institution headquartered in Lowell that agrees to lend the city money to Lowell-based small businesses. The money would be diverted from funds currently in nonlocal banks.

The initiative is modeled after a similar effort launched by state Treasurer Steve Grossman to transfer $100 million of state deposits in larger banks to local banks, with the goal of boosting small-business lending.

There’s a lot more details in Joe’s post about the program, which has in place ways for the city to entice that small-business loaning. So it’s not just moving the money, but also asking those local banks to use the added revenues to help the local economy. Nice catch, Joe!

Now, the rest of us should consider moving our money! I would, but I already have for the most part.

Note: the whole “cheating on us” thing was totally tongue in cheek!

I went on an adventure yesterday, a journey which started with a thorough “de-cluttering” of our home - which for years has had various computer and electronics parts strewn about waiting for a proper disposal solution. We host Thanksgiving at my house, and I was tired of tucking these old things in little corners or closets temporarily in order to have gatherings.

My batch of undesirables

In desperation over the weekend, I piled up a 10 year old tower computer (the one I started my business with, now two “generations” past) by the front door, along with a batch of CFL light bulbs which need careful disposing, an old motherboard, some cell phones, and a keyboard and mouse with the “old” connectors. I piled them there, and called the Solid Waste & Recycling Office to ask if there was a way to see them recycled.

I got several answers, including that one can bring some of these things to places like Staples, or Lowe’s and Home Depot for CFLs - and then one name was mentioned, but he told me to call first to see what they could take. That name was Northeast Material Handling, which a year ago moved from North Chelmsford into the old Prince Spaghetti factory off of Gorham St. Little did I know pursuing that tidbit would bring me lock, stock and CFL to the imposing building which is the old factory, with everything in my little car. Because when I spoke to Patti, she told me they take all of what I was looking to get rid of - for free! (You can check out their website here.)

The city should have the NMH’s name and phone number and website prominently on the Solid Waste and Recycling’s web page, because after my experience there, I found out that a partnership with NMH would be a win-win-win for residents, the city, and for the company as well. A win for residents who want to get rid of stuff without paying a fee (in some cases, I think there may be a nominal fee, but not usually), for the city, which is struggling with its waste management budget deficit, and which had to impose fees to carry away bulk items, and a win for the company, which tears this stuff apart for the materials, and makes a profit.

Electronics recycling dissembling area

The company gets its profitability from the size of its massive operation, Patti told me. As I took a tour of the place (I came for the recycling, and stayed for the tour!) I can fully believe it! Huge containers of old CRT monitors, a big assembly line of dismantlers to break apart such complex items as computers and cell phones into component parts, a massive store of furniture both home and office (for sale! more on that later). Everything they break down is recycled, said my tour guide, and that means everything. From the “painted aluminum” of computer cases, to the heavy metal of the printed circuit boards, to all the plastic bits that hold it together - and much of this is done on site. (The big thing they don’t do on site, Patti told me, is break down wood, which they send out). All of the materials are reclaimed, recycled, and sold for reuse.

Giant aisles of office furniture

Miles of computer chairs! (It seemed!)

You find the coolest, oddest stuff there

What’s more, she also talked about the security they have, and they even do work for the Department of Defense. For companies or government entities with very sensitive data, they offer specially monitored destruction. For the average cell phone or hard drive, when I expressed that I was concerned about possible data still left on them, she showed me just how thoroughly they take these things apart, degaussing drives, and then breaking them down and melting them, all under the watchful eye of video cameras. When I saw their operation I wasn’t so worried about my cell phones going into the mix. It was a relief, because even if I’d found their proper cords, I wasn’t sure I could boot them up after all this time to wipe all my contacts and info, and even if I did, I didn’t really want to spend the time on it!

They also took my CFLs and will de-mercury them and recycle them properly. It was one stop shopping for all my disposal needs. They will do pick up by arrangement, too, for appliances and items that are too bulky for your vehicle to carry.

The rest of my tour was of their furniture/for sale section. I have never ever seen so many computer chairs in one place! And a huge aisle of file cabinets! I will never go to Staples for office furniture again. They have couches, and tables, and dining room chairs, of every style you could think of. Cubicles and big executive desks. Some were outdated - some were very nice and in good shape. I’d have a hard time working there, seeing the inventory going in and out without buying a lot. The prices are what you expect - a lot lower than for new items, priced based on condition and desirability, but they take the care to clean the factory dust (the place can’t help but get dusty) before you pick them up or they deliver them. If you want to see their current inventory (or part of it at least) they post it on their website - but it changes daily, as things come in and get sold!

If you are interested in going to buy furniture, call Nick at 978-459-9595, he’s the furniture guy.

They also take washers and dryers and fridges and big appliances, again to tear up and recycle every bit of it. You can find a list of things on their website, and I’m sure you can call (978-459-9595, ask for Patti) and find out more details, talk about pick up (for things that you can’t get there yourself) and drop off hours of operation. They are talking about working with the city to arrange hours for resident drop-off on Saturdays, and I really hope that happens.

Northeast Materials Handling also does a lot of fundraising for schools and organizations - the LHS Crew team’s bring-in-your-items day was run by NMH. So if you want to recycle your items for a good cause you can bring them to one of their events, or even create an event of your own for your school or org. The materials, I was told, are also resold right here in New England for use - not only are you recycling locally, but the material stays here to be used!

I found them really friendly as well, and since I am a gregarious girl, I love meeting new people. I never thought I would say this, but I had a hard time tearing myself away from the browsing and the conversations at this recycling and reuse business. There were many fascinating things to be found, like that old-fashioned hot dog/popcorn stand, a castle and glass top side table, and just a ton of other things, artwork and knick knacks and throw pillows and lamps. You really do have to see the place to get the scale. I concluded my adventure by finding a little piece of furniture I’d been looking for for a while and making a purchase. I have the duel contentment that not only did I get a good price, but I am finding a new home for something that could have, in someone else’s hands, taken up space in a landfill.

And that is a feeling worth having!