[squarpeg]

I understand your vision for Springfield. In order to achieve that you have to get people willing to move there and 1st impressions mean a lot. I drove through Springfield last summer and it is sending a loud and clear message that it is a dead town. I am sure it is a complex issue but you need to get something downtown that makes people think something is going on. I understand how complex and difficult that might be, how long it might take. There are lots of other turn around areas to look at. What did they do? North Adams MA comes to mind, even as I mentioned smaller towns like windsor have be able to move the needle. Your going to have to give something away to get the movement going. North Adams gave away free loft space for artists. Think of giving businesses free rent to open a place. It has to start with something like that. If there are a bunch of vacant storefronts the town needs to figure a way to fill them.

[cgregor]

It's mostly the mindset of the older generation. When Springfield supplied one-third of all the machine tools used in America (and was the core of the USSR's five-year industrialization plan in the Thirties), the population got used to three shop owners deciding everything at a weekly meeting. No worker who quit at one of the shops would ever get hired by another; no shop raided other shops for talent; the town manager received his marching orders from the three, and they chose who was going to be the winning candidate in the Vermont House of Representatives (not so much luck with designating the senators, since they were county-wide positions). They determined how the town was going to be electrified, paved, served by the school and medical systems and which businesses were going to be allowed in (Ford was denied because it would have been both unionized and employing female workers).

When the shops were raped (literally, carried off) by Wall Street in the mid-Eighties, middle management left, taking with them the education, attitudes and values that made Springfield a great place. The people who were left were largely the ones who had been quite content to let somebody else do the thinking-- and they are still fairly numerous. A good number of them comment as Anonymous on the Springfield newsblog, sour and passive-aggressive as all get out. The income distribution patten in this town shows how badly the middle class is underrepresented.

But when the right sort of person arrives here, he or she feels like Father Damien arriving at Molokai-- seeing it as a place of great opportunity to build a new community from the ground up rather than as a pit of despair for people at their wits' end. There are a few here, and this place will attract more, just the way Vermont in the Sixties attracted people who wanted to get back to life the way they thought it was meant to be. The new arrivals are telling the grouches, "It's okay to dream."

[Hackopotamus]

cgregor, how long have you lived in Spfld? I lived there in the 70's to early 80's. It was a great place back then. I was in my 20's and it seemed like every one had a hot car, 4x4 truck, sled, bikes, etc. You got out of high school and went to work at J&L, Fellows, or one of other shops and got paid pretty decent money.

As you said, it all died in the 80's and it was very sad. When I drive through town now and see the old J&L building falling apart it really brings a tear to my eye, thinking about what the town once was but also about all my friends and the times we had. Most have left town and like Thomas Wolfe said, "You can't go home again".

The prison was supposed to help the economy but I think it only brought in families of the prisoners that don't exactly help upgrade the town.

[squarpeg]

I don't want to get political but this is essentially what a large part of the country has been dealing with and what the guy who rode into power is saying he is going to bring back. I wish I could believe that, but I am skeptical. Times have changed, Springfield and many towns like it need new ideas and thinking. People need to get off their ass and realize no rescue party is coming. It is up to the town to come together and rise to the difficult task of transition. I do hope Springfield makes a come back.

[cgregor]

Since 1976, Hackopotamus.

I view whatever prisoners' relatives there might be in town (I worked with families like those even before the prison was built) as untapped resources. They want what all families want, but very often they lack the most basic resources-- everything from nutritious food, clothing and shelter to positive reinforcement from their social network. . .

[Hackopotamus]

Originally Posted by cgregor

Since 1976, Hackopotamus.

I view whatever prisoners' relatives there might be in town (I worked with families like those even before the prison was built) as untapped resources. They want what all families want, but very often they lack the most basic resources-- everything from nutritious food, clothing and shelter to positive reinforcement from their social network. . .

1976 like when you were born or moved there? Just trying to see if we are near in age (I'm 60) and if we were running around at the same time frame and if we have any mutual friends (or heck, may even know each other!).

I don't want to make this political or derail the thread. I just don't think the prison is helping the town any.

I have no idea what could be done if anything, to resurrect Springfield. It seems like it is dying a slow death. Such a shame to see a once vibrant town get the rug pulled out from under it.

I'll be making a trip back there this fall though and looking forward to it.

[MassVt]

Springfield's main claim to fame now is that it's the interchange point for many Greyhound buses, headed to either Boston or Montreal. It's in the vicinity of Dartmouth College, too. Other than that, I can't imagine any high school kid wanting to hang around afterward, especially if he/she is college-bound.

[cgregor]

I moved here in '76. We probably know a fair number of people. Kevin Forrest, John Tracy, Pete Cote, Bruce Pirnie were the younger set when I arrived. I was 35 at the time.

MassVt, the interchange point for buses is now White River Junction. We now have only local buses-- to Rutland, Brattleboro or as far north as West Lebanon. To get to the bus interchange by bus from Springfield, you have to get off and walk the last mile.

As for teens wanting to hang around in any small town, it takes adults to provide the structure to do that for most kids. Bigger cities can provide many more options (many of which might be undesirable!), but in small towns, it takes a village to . . .

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by cgregor

I moved here in '76. We probably know a fair number of people. Kevin Forrest, John Tracy, Pete Cote, Bruce Pirnie were the younger set when I arrived. I was 35 at the time.

MassVt, the interchange point for buses is now White River Junction. We now have only local buses-- to Rutland, Brattleboro or as far north as West Lebanon. To get to the bus interchange by bus from Springfield, you have to get off and walk the last mile.

As for teens wanting to hang around in any small town, it takes adults to provide the structure to do that for most kids. Bigger cities can provide many more options (many of which might be undesirable!), but in small towns, it takes a village to . . .

I forgot--it is White River Junction ( not far away). Still, not much incentive to stay around, especially when seeing those buses headed for more interesting environs. The revival of small manufacturing is a slow process,, and for some, it may never come back..

[cgregor]

White River's downtown was even more grismal than Springfield's. Overflow from the Hanover/Dartmouth College population is turning it around, though! It's a hard fight.