Don’t hold your breath.

Frank, don’t be too cynical, my friend.

It is SO much much better than it was thirty years ago. Remember the 70s and the mill closings? I used to watch the few workers who still had jobs come to do their shift work on Water Street, slogging over through the cold from the parking lot. I couldn’t miss that they were middle aged and older and were called less and less often to work, even as the cost of fuel to heat their houses shot up, along with gasoline and food costs. One of the Williams chefs quietly showed a few of us how destitute a lot of families had become — he cooked Thanksgiving feasts on his own dime and let us ride along on the deliveries to keep the food from spilling over in his truck. Life was pretty grim all around the edges of the Village Beautiful.

There is still much to be done. Williamstown needs affordable housing and to attract and keep younger residents. It has to find a way to get its tax rate down as well. North Adams’s gains remain a bit precarious.

It will not be easy, but there is good reason for hope. Above all, I think that the area’s greatest resource may be that so many love it so deeply. Yes, that can produce paralysis and inertia, but it can also give birth to amazing possilities, as it has with positive changes in North Adams.

It is my distinct impression that over the last 54 years Williamstown’s economy has far underperformed the nation’s economy, the Commonwealth’s economy and most regional economies. Without the bump caused by the College’s doubling of enrollment in that period Williamstown would be economically worse in real terms than it was in 1953, despite the gigantic growth in the U.S. economy since that year.

You are undoubtedly right but that does not mean that there isn’t hope and that things aren’t looking up.

And pure economic growth, which usually doesn’t take into account a lot of quality of life issues, may not tell the whole story. I live in the midst of an “economic boom area” but things decidedly are not getting better on many fronts; I would say that the qualty of life is rapidly diminishing even as per capita disposable income and other indicia of wealth soar. The haves/have nots divide has become a canyon. The air is bad. Traffic is gridlocked and the regional gridlock is even blockading locals from being able to transverse their extended neighborhoods. Childhood asthma is epidemic. The waters are dangerously polluted and the once-thriving regional seafood industry has collapsed. There seems to be a fairly pervasive combination of apathy, “It’s all about how much I can make,” and a feeling that the problems have become intractable.

Yes, I’m idealistic about Williamstown. Yes, things often look much better from far away. Even trying to factor that in, the Williamstown area still seems, both standing alone and by contrast, a place of hope and promise. I sincerely salute and am deeply grateful for the people who have worked and are working to bring it out of the doldrums of the 70s.

Frank, if what you are saying is true, then there is all the more opportunity for well- thought-out growth: clearly, some potential commercial and residential space is underutilized now, especially when you consider all the money that flows into Williamstown between the theater festival (which has grown with the new theater), Clark (which should attract more people as it doubles in size), the college (which has grown in terms of faculty and staff), and the ever-growing alumni base. Improved / expanded athletic facilities may bring in even more people if they can hold more events like Bay State games.

As it happens, there is a very unusual confluence of events on Spring / Water Street that creates a once in a generation opportunity to really improve downtown Williamstown: the Cable Mills project which will bring a lot more activity to lower Water Street (in place of a vacant building) when completed, the prime available land from the former town garage spot, the burned-out space on lower Spring Street, and the college about to embark on planning major construction for the athletic facilities adjacent to Spring and Latham Streets. The key is not to be defeatist or pessimistic but to seize this moment to insure that college, town, and developers are all on the same page and work together to create a coherent master plan to really utilize Latham and Water streets and encourage flow of traffic (both vehicular and pedestrian) and visitors onto Water Street as well. As I noted, I believe the B&L is a perfect realization of that sort of vision: an attractive, unique building, conscious of context and scale (unlike, say, the new theater) without trying too hard to blend (unlike, say, the hideous strip mall building that houses Spice Root), that combines college offices, public restroom facilities, and two very popular and successful commercial ventures. I’d love to see something similar in the former town garage space. It will take that sort of gateway / destination building, along with encouraging parking off Lanham Street and improved pedestrian-friendly sidewalks and lighting, to really integrate Water Street into the downtown commercial district.

I deliberately live in Williamstown and prefer its small town scale and other small town nature. Very much growth of any kind or any poorly conceived, though modest (we now have traffic jams when WTF has 3 venues running concurrently) growth has not been and will not be well received by me. Let the suburbanites stay in suburbia - I do not need a Starbucks - we have Pappa Charlies and a number of other joints, which will serve a reasonably priced, decent cup of coffee (make it black, please! don’t have it contain any of that foreign material! and omit any accompanying French pastry for breakfast!). While you’re at it, please have the courtesy to limit use of cell phones to private places in order to preserve the aural, public peace.

Thank goodness you feel that way, and I hope you are willing to fight for your views without being negative and obstructionist (which would lead to the strong probability of no one listening to you). They don’t have to be incompatible with much of what’s needed and it is vital that somone really push the planners, promoters, enthusiasts, etc. to examine the possible fruits of their labors to make sure that what we have that is good isn’t lost.

Frank, I basically agree, which is why I like the vision that is being advanced … I think there is definitely room to add some downtown housing (especially on Water Street) and introduce 4-5 more bars/restaurants/appealing stores etc., without changing the fundamental character of the town. I don’t see a Starbucks, or for that matter another Subway, holding much appeal for local planners and developers. But I think a few more businesses like Tunnel City on Water Street, which would help integrate Water Street businesses, which currently are fairly isolated, into a two street commercial district rather than, really, a one-street commercial district is a controlled way to grow. Williamstown will need new housing and new tax revenues from somewhere. Repurposing abandoned mill space and vacant town garage space seems a great way to go here, rather than developing Williamstown’s open spaces on the outskirts of town. Only by carefully considered growth of downtown can the rest of Williamstown’s natural beauty be preserved. But no one is talking about building five story buildings or bringing the Gap or Starbucks downtown …

Jeff: a resounding “yes” to your vision.

But, as we’ve found here, the town doesn’t have a lot of control over whether it is a Starbucks, a Subway, or a unique local spot and the same is even more true with retail.

But Williamstown now has a recently constructed municipal-style parking garage and a four story theatre complex with several other potentially monstrous constructions on the way. How about a high rise Holiday Inn and Casino along with an adjacent Berkshireland Theme Park? Whatever happened to a per town limit of one small beer joint back to back with an unassuming bordello?

“Whatever happened to a per town limit of one small beer joint back to back with an unassuming bordello?”

There was no need for that arrangement after the sexual revolution/rise of feminism in the 1960s. (But men still pay, just in other ways.)

Prostitution continues today in no small way.

OK Frank, that comment wins the award for biggest tease of the year . . . you will have to enlighten Ephblog readers regarding the ongoing Village Beautiful prostitution activity.

I think we are getting off the subject.

“Getting off?” Frank, you’re a pistol!

More tales from the naked village beautiful, please.

“I don’t see a Starbucks, or for that matter another Subway, holding much appeal for local planners and developers.”

I have said it before, and I’ll say it again. The 2 local establishments that contributed the most to my quality of life as an undergraduate were Subway and the Images cinema. I have eaten a grand total of 3 times in Papa Charlies: I always found it expensive, unwelcoming, and pretentious. Its target demographics clearly were not the students, but the alums/professors/tourists.
I would not mind a second coffee shop either, even though it could be a Starbucks: as it is now, Tunel city has no competition.

And, btw, I don’t see that there is a demand for more bars. While I was an undergrad, Red Herring was dead empty on most week nights.

PS. Frank, random shit in coffee is awesome. You should try it.

I have enough random shit in my life.

While I am usually in favor of commercializing pristine land, despoiling nature, and putting up parking lots in paradise, I tend to agree with Frank here. Williams students have very little cause to complain, especially since the rise of the new student center. There are a number of excellent local pizza places that deliver, and Dunkin’ Donuts isn’t too far. We had it unbelievably good considering our remote location.

And, even if you are on a limited budget, Subway is inescapably shitty food.

Now Quiznos or Chipotle would be quite a different matter. I’m all in favor of bringing either one of those to Spring St.

And, btw, I don’t see that there is a demand for more bars. While I was an undergrad, Red Herring was dead empty on most week nights.

Most bars are pretty empty on weeknights, even in New York City. I would imagine that many current undergrads are sorely missing the Purple Pub and would appreciate another one or two additional watering holes.

“Subway is inescapably shitty food. [...] Now Quiznos or Chipotle would be quite a different matter.”

Ronit, you are surely jocking. Subway beats Quiznos on any day.

There are a number of excellent local pizza places that deliver

Are you high? I love Williamstown, but the pizza here is horribly disappointing. Colonials’ is terrible, Hot Tomatoes is overpriced, mediocre, and they rarely deliver, and Little Anthony’s is only passable. The best pizza to be had around here is probably the ‘82 grill, and even that is good but certainly not great. There are at least 10 places in my hometown (not a major city) with far superior pizza.

And, even if you are on a limited budget, Subway is inescapably shitty food. Now Quiznos or Chipotle would be quite a different matter.

Quiznos and Chipotle are good, but that’s no reason to hate on Subway. They make some delicious sandwiches.

‘10–I think your comments demonstrate how subjective pizza preferences are. Personally, I think the ‘82 grill pizza is not only the worst pizza in the area, but some of the worst pizza I’ve ever commercially purchased. On the other hand, I’d list Hot Tomatoes among the best pizza places I’ve frequented (with Colonials being average and Little Anthony’s being slightly below average). I will agree that service is somewhat of a problem for all three delivery places.

On the subject of Quiznos, Chipotle, and Subway…who cares? They’re all fairly mediocre, fairly unhealthy, and fairly cheap. Maybe Quiznos and Chipotle are a little better than Subway, but they’re also more expensive and I think the differences are more psychological than anything else. I would wager that many people would struggle to tell the difference between identical Quiznos and Subway sandwiches in a blind taste test (which do now exist that Subway has started toasting its sandwiches).

Subway provided one hell of a toasting in Williamstown last April.

I’d agree that Hot Tomatoes is one of the best pizza places I’ve ever been to outside of New York.