’Hamp gets creative, looks to redesign Main Street

From the moment the commonwealth began to ease COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, Northampton’s response has been simple: bring people back safely to both of its downtowns.

Downtown Northampton has long been a vibrant center of commerce, entertainment and dining in the heart of Western Massachusetts. However, in early 2020 in Northampton, as elsewhere, pressures on local businesses increased as the pandemic caused people to move to remote work, shifted even more shopping habits online, prompted some venerable businesses to choose the moment to retire and close their doors, and generally made people concerned to attend gatherings. This dramatically decreased the number of trips people made to downtown Northampton and Florence, significantly stressed

Northampton’s treasured downtown businesses and reduced the city’s local tax receipts and parking revenue.

The way to bring people back has been to support great outdoor entertainment and experience-based initiatives of all kinds. Northampton’s pandemic recovery has been a model for public and private partnerships. The city and the business community forged a tight relationship to be nimble and responsive to changing circumstances downtown.

In the spring of 2020, thanks to desperately needed infusions of resources from the state and federal government, the city quickly stood up outdoor dining in the public way to define a new way to attract customers to Northampton’s restaurants. The city also offered direct assistance to local businesses struggling to survive in the form of small grants, as well as distributing personal protective equipment, exemptions from fees and regulations, free parking, and other creative initiatives.

By the spring of 2021, the spirit of collaboration deepened as Northampton businesses got creative, and the city continued to prioritize programming downtown events in close partnership with the Northampton Arts & Culture Department and the Downtown Northampton Association. The city supported the innovative Summer on Strong initiative that saw Strong Avenue, home of multiple restaurants, close to vehicular traffic for the season to allow for a pedestrian and outdoor dining promenade with live music several times a week. The installation was a smashing success, with all of Main Street benefiting from the increased traffic generated by the beautiful streetscape and the desire to enjoy the cozy downtown respite.

In 2022, (we) spearheaded the next phase of Northampton’s recovery efforts, financially supporting the city and its downtown partners’ focus on providing exciting entertainment opportunities outside.

Again, with the generous aid of state programs like Regional Economic Development Organization rounds and other state and federal grants, the city of Northampton successfully launched a new outdoor community gathering space on upper Main Street for food and music (Masonic Street Live), added public seating and provided additional tangible support (funding and booking entertainment, planters, flowers and more) to the immensely popular Summer on Strong outdoor dining program, actively programmed