Last Friday, April 8th, 2022, we traveled by bikeshare, bus, and foot and packrafted down the Fort River in Amherst and Hadley, Mass. during high water, and made this video:
Turning subtitles on is recommended. There were some unexpected events! Here’s an interactive map of our journey:
Three years ago I spent a week walking in the Hudson Valley of New York, asking people their thoughts and feelings about climate change, staying with people I’d never met before each night, gaining an understanding of what stops people from taking action, and finding some serendipitous surprises about my influence in the world.
What I didn’t know then was that the biggest challenge would be editing the podcast! There’s just one episode, and it’s finally ready:
Thanks to Barry Febos, John Michelotti, Kristen Wilmer, Kaya Weidman, Ed Baum, Julia Indichova, Connor Stedman, Lori Gross, Fiona Fraser-Gross, Ethan and Dyami Soloviev, AnnMarie Tedeschi, Tom Houghton, Sarah Scott, Petra Aldrich, Air Nonken, Sarah Womer, Sara Katz, Myk Freedman, Julie Rosier and Oliver Brown.
Pictures from the journey:
I am very excited to announce that I am running for Ward 5 City Councilor in Northampton, Massachusetts!
I’m running on a platform of increased affordability, working to address climate change, walkable mixed-use development, safe and sustainable transportation, inclusion and social justice. Here are some quotes from my press release:
“I care about Northampton’s long-term future. I have a vision of a Northampton that is ready for climate change and is a leader in stopping it. Our infrastructure needs to be in good shape, and also our community as we support each other and welcome climate refugees. My vision is of a community that has enough housing stock at an affordable price that people who grew up here can afford to stay, and that lower wage workers aren’t priced out. A community with businesses that understand that respecting and supporting workers is in their long term best interest, and where many of those businesses are owned by the community and/or the workers themselves. And with schools that are well funded, teach students to advocate for change and adapt to a changing world.”
“Everything we do as a city is interconnected. Transportation policy affects development policy and vice versa, and good policy in both of these will improve our community’s health and result in a net increase in the tax base of the city. Inclusion in the process of city government leads to a more just society. Sharing personal and city resources saves money and brings people together.”
“My job is to learn from everyone around me to understand these connections, and find consensus with other leaders. My work over the past 16 years with Pedal People and other cooperatives has built my skills as a listener, a facilitator and as a person who can find common ground across difference, and make changes that work for everyone.”
For more about my campaign, see www.alexjarrett.com
I’ve lived in Northampton for 20 years. Thirteen years ago, I bought a two-family house in Florence with three other people.
We couldn’t afford to buy here without going in on it together, but doing that made it much easier to afford and maintain. If there is a problem, we have four people to think about it together. We live right on the bike path, and together we built a bench and welcomed people to come sit on it, repair their bikes, make a free phone call and lots of other projects that our collective energy made possible.
We were talking recently about that decision, which we entered into with some trepidation, being unsure how it would really play out. We all agreed it was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made, for affordability and for community.
Since I’ve moved here, rents and housing costs have just about doubled, compared to inflation of one and a half times. My current housemates, who we charge rent to based only on what our expenses are rather than market rate, would pay double the rent they pay to us if they move elsewhere in Northampton.
Many of my friends and people I talk to can’t afford to rent or buy here anymore. Many of the fellow worker-owners of my business, Pedal People, choose or have to live in Greenfield or Holyoke and commute in.
There’s great work being done in this area. The Habitat for Humanity housing and the new buildings on Pleasant Street are good, but it’s not enough.
Until we solve the global wealth and income disparity problem, here are some ideas of what we could do locally to change this situation. Some of these ideas are not currently legal under state law, but the Northampton City Council could pass resolutions and we can lobby state lawmakers to change these laws.
Legal structures
Taxes
Sharing
Rents
Zoning
I’ve been walking the sidewalks of Northampton, Mass. lately, and with the recent snow and ice storms it’s been a rough ride. Northampton’s sidewalk clearing laws stipulate that property owners must clear or treat the entire width of the sidewalk within 24 hours of the end of a storm, and keep it clear or treated after that.
Let’s imagine an alternate history where after a storm, each property owner was required to clear the entire road in front of their house, and they had 24 hours to do so, but the sidewalks were cleared by trained professionals. Obviously a disaster, but the current (opposite) situation is unfair and difficult for sidewalk users.
We shouldn’t have to wait 24+ hours to have safe passage, and the inconsistency and lack of enforcement of each property owner’s obligation to keep it clear makes the dangerous even after that.
What’s impacts does the current policy have?
The City of Northampton has a complete streets plan. I couldn’t find mention of keeping the sidewalks clear of snow & ice, so I decided to research how other cities manage.
As a step towards treating sidewalk plowing as we do street plowing, I would like to see us move towards a system similar to Amherst’s, where the city assists residents by plowing the sidewalks during a storm on major thoroughfares (which are especially dangerous to walk in the street), and then property owners must maintain them after that.
Let’s make it so all of us, regardless of how we choose to get around (walking, biking, public transit, driving), have equal access to transportation.
Imagine having access to the most appropriate travel option whenever you need it, and all of the options using the cleanest energy possible. Foot, bicycle, electric bicycle, electric city bus, pedal electric vehicle, or a full size electric car when all the other options won’t do.
One of the problems with owning your own car is that there’s a great incentive to use it more. In general, the more you use it, the lower the per-mile costs, because driving more doesn’t affect the cost of the car or the insurance in most situations. Unless you drive a lot, not owning a car but having access to one when you need it is usually cheaper and uses less energy.
So – let’s create a cooperative where we can rent by the hour or day the electric vehicle that’s most appropriate for our needs!
I propose we start with a regular electric bike, and a PEBL, a pedal electric vehicle made locally.
Cars are complicated, with insurance and licensing to worry about. Once we get a handle on the costs and logistics, perhaps we can get used electric cars, such as the Nissan Leaf, which are about $10,000 these days.
Want to join me? Let’s create a cooperative structure and crowdfunding plan – drop me a line!
For almost twelve years, my house has hosted a weekly potluck on Monday nights. We’ve hosted it every Monday night, without fail, even if it falls on a holiday. Some nights we’ve put a pot of food on the counter and a note on the door, but it’s always happened. The other night I gave this talk to the people who showed up this week:
“You’re part of a movement in creating accepting spaces. It’s not perfect, but we have the intention of welcoming everyone who comes to this space. There are enough of us who live here that some of us can step back and take a break when it becomes too much. There were a few years there where I had to go hide out in my room, and it was important that I gave myself permission to do that, so that when I came back downstairs I could really be present for people.
Many of us are uncomfortable around difference, and it takes work to build skills in acceptance and not rush it. There’s a fear of being stuck talking to a person, and part of the skill is learning how to leave when it becomes too much. Part is in being straightforward when a person does something that doesn’t work, making room for their feelings, and making it clear that they are still welcome. We haven’t had to ask people to leave very often, but if we do, it’s always with a clear option of how they could return (not drinking alcohol, alternating attending with another person who is uncomfortable with them, etc.)
I like to find ways to engage that meet the person where they are at. With children, I like to follow their lead and drop my adult preconceptions about how we should play. Music has been a great way to connect, and I’ll try to learn songs to sing with people, regardless of their ability to hold a tune! And it’s okay to disappoint people by stepping back when you need a break.
How can you create more accepting spaces in your life? Would it be a regular event? Don’t try to take on too much at once: I wouldn’t start a weekly event unless you have a bunch of other people to take turns with you. Or would it be just reaching out to someone with the trust that their presence in your life would give something back to you if you work to build that relationship?”
I’ve started a new series of hikes using public transportation leaving from Northampton, Massachusetts. Our third hike will be Saturday, April 15, 2017 – details below. You can also follow the series on the PVPTH Facebook page.
Meet Saturday 4/15/17 to catch the 10 a.m. bus at the Academy of Music – we’ll take the R41 bus through Easthampton and get off on Rt. 141 at the top of the hill just after passing into Holyoke. We’ll hike north on the New England/M&M Trail, up over Mt. Tom and along the ridge, heading down after Mt. Nonotuck to East St and then Route 5. We’ll catch the B48 bus back into Northampton by late afternoon.
If you’re coming from Williamsburg, Leeds or Florence, you can catch the R42 bus which becomes the R41 at the Academy of Music.
I’ve got a handful of possible co-op projects in the works right now: a housing co-op, a community investment co-op, a bike shop conversion and a camp co-op.
One of my favorite places to visit is Monroe State Forest. There are shelters, old growth forest, and Dunbar Brook has pools and waterfalls, surrounded by fern covered boulders. I would love to have a wild place close to home to visit and camp with friends, but purchasing land on my own would be too difficult. And of course I like to sharett. So why not go in on it?
The Camp Co-op is a wild space shared by 10 to 15 households. Ideally it would be in a forest by water – a river, stream or lake. We would purchase the land together and decide together how it would be used and cared for.
Here are some goals and ideas I have:
And some questions:
Want to join me?
This past weekend I went on a two day walking and camping journey, never leaving the city of Northampton, but feeling miles away.
I started with one destination in mind, about an hour’s walk:
After crossing an abandoned beaver dam, I ate lunch and took a nap under mosquito netting. I had purposefully not set a goal beyond the first stop. I could stay where I was and do nothing, explored the area or continuing walking for the rest of the day. So I asked myself, what do I want to do? And nothing came back. I didn’t know. It was painful to sit there and second guess my desires, and just not feeling like doing anything, but know that that was doing something anyway.
Finally I decided to stash my pack and follow the deer trails. I got turned around a couple of times, found a great spot to camp, and found myself observing more, less concerned with what to do and just doing it.
I found a beautiful spot to set up a hammock on top of a boulder, strung up between two trees that I had to climb high up in to secure the ropes!
I left the next morning more able to pay attention to the forest and follow my interests. On the walk back I stopped in unannounced on two friends and reconnected!