Tuesday, November 25, 2008
New "Save the Schools" Site
Click here. Parents, teachers, residents and anyone and everyone who's interested in our town's budget problems and how we can work together in common cause to save the schools should click that link.
Labels: advocacy, schools, Swampscott
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
A Vision for Swampscott
I never got to posting my notes from this week's Town Meeting, but there's plenty on it here and here. The major piece of news is that Swampscott will allow the sale of the old Temple, old Greenwood Ave school, the old senior center and old fire station. That's a lot of old that's about to get new - or should I say renewed? - potentially bringing in over $5 million to the town, with over $500,000 a year in property taxes when these properties are redeveloped.
All of this is good news. We'll have more resources to deal with our problems, hopefully with several other solutions coming down the line, too. Swampscott is poised to rebound from the past few years of fiscal turmoil. Hopefully, that means we'll rebound from the bad blood and anger that's festered in the town as of late, too. But what's the end goal? What's the long term vision? Coming up with a vision for the town is paramount to improving our community, becoming the kind of place we want to be.
So, what is Swampscott? Whenever people discuss the town, it's usually in comparison to some other town. Marblehead is the usual victim. Lynnfield's been a frequent target too. Wayland's popped up now and then, as well. While some of the demographics of Swampscott are similar to Marblehead, our towns really aren't very similar. Marblehead is closer to Newburyport than it is Swampscott, if we want to talk town character. Marblehead, unlike Swampscott, is a destination town - which isn't anything near as good as it sounds. Why? People have to wake up one day and decide to say to their friends or their spouse, "I want to go to Marblehead," then drive there and find a parking space. In other words, people have to want to go to Marblehead. People just drive through Swampscott, whether they want to or not.
Comparing Swampscott to Lynnfield is even more laughable. The towns couldn't be more different. Sure, there's around the same amount of people living in Lynnfield as Swampscott and, sure, a similar student body. Honestly, the median family incomes aren't too far off either - Swampscott's median family income is $72k, Lynnfield's is $80k. However, aside from that, the two towns are completely different, with Swampscott being an incredibly dense and far more diverse community than our more conservative, wealthier neighbor to the west.
So, what is Swampscott? To have a good vision, we need to focus on and improve our strong suits. First, Swampscott is a nexus that connects several large communities together. Second, we're a densely populated, small town with almost unlimited means for transportation and quick access to Boston and the entire North Shore. Swampscott has buses, the train and is highly walkable. Moreover, most of the town is in walking distance to what is truly our best assets - our beautiful beaches and assortment of restaurants and other small businesses. Third, we're an economically diverse town with some of the wealthiest residents of the state, as well as people who live on fixed incomes or are decidedly working class. As such, we have million dollar houses and affordable houses and everything in between. Wrap that entire package up with our rich history and strong community and there's no doubt that Swampscott's a clearly unique town with many assets and potential to be better.
If Swampscott were to be compared to any other town in Massachusetts, one of the best is honestly Brookline. Like Brookline, we have great public transportation, with walkable neighborhoods and a variety of options for entertainment, restaurants and shopping. We're smaller and less affluent, but we're also far more affordable. Plus, we have the beach. In fact, that's what I like to tell people when they ask me about Swampscott, "it's like Brookline, but with a beach."
In order to become a better town, we need to focus on those assets. We need to continue to foster small businesses across the town, making sure they have the tools they need to compete and thrive. We need to improve our already good transportation options, perhaps even further opening access to our beaches and small businesses by emphasizing biking for those who live just a little too far away to walk downtown. Bike lanes are cheap and help reduce traffic, as Humphrey and other major streets are repaved, bike lanes should be added. The plan for the police station, which would also open up a pathway to the beach, is another high priority in improving our town's natural assets.
Most importantly, though, we need to keep our schools strong, so they don't erode before things get better - even if that means trying to pass an override to hold us over. Otherwise, Swampscott's modus operandi is at risk and this whole vision thing is moot. We're going to be facing more challenges ahead over the next few years, but solutions will be on their way, it's just a matter of making it to the finish line without keeling over. The sale of these buildings in town will soon net us around $500,000 a year in new revenue. Governor Patrick has several proposals that could benefit the town, including a 1% meals tax option that could net the town at least $330,000 a year in new revenue. We're set to receive our fair share of Chapter 70 within 2 years, which will net us another $500,000 or so. Even President Obama and the US Congress could save us funds by taking up health care in 2009. For example, Obama has called for making insurance companies cover autism expenses, instead of schools, which would save this town tens of thousands a year, alone.
Hopefully, that's just the start of it. But if we close Hadley or strip an entire program from our schools - and lose all that institutional memory - it'll take years or decades to recover, even when things get better, if we ever really can. There's too many towns like Swampscott that are struggling to no end for things to remain the same. Too many cities and towns know that their heading in the same direction - and soon. Hopefully the people of Swampscott have the vision to see that.
All of this is good news. We'll have more resources to deal with our problems, hopefully with several other solutions coming down the line, too. Swampscott is poised to rebound from the past few years of fiscal turmoil. Hopefully, that means we'll rebound from the bad blood and anger that's festered in the town as of late, too. But what's the end goal? What's the long term vision? Coming up with a vision for the town is paramount to improving our community, becoming the kind of place we want to be.
So, what is Swampscott? Whenever people discuss the town, it's usually in comparison to some other town. Marblehead is the usual victim. Lynnfield's been a frequent target too. Wayland's popped up now and then, as well. While some of the demographics of Swampscott are similar to Marblehead, our towns really aren't very similar. Marblehead is closer to Newburyport than it is Swampscott, if we want to talk town character. Marblehead, unlike Swampscott, is a destination town - which isn't anything near as good as it sounds. Why? People have to wake up one day and decide to say to their friends or their spouse, "I want to go to Marblehead," then drive there and find a parking space. In other words, people have to want to go to Marblehead. People just drive through Swampscott, whether they want to or not.
Comparing Swampscott to Lynnfield is even more laughable. The towns couldn't be more different. Sure, there's around the same amount of people living in Lynnfield as Swampscott and, sure, a similar student body. Honestly, the median family incomes aren't too far off either - Swampscott's median family income is $72k, Lynnfield's is $80k. However, aside from that, the two towns are completely different, with Swampscott being an incredibly dense and far more diverse community than our more conservative, wealthier neighbor to the west.
So, what is Swampscott? To have a good vision, we need to focus on and improve our strong suits. First, Swampscott is a nexus that connects several large communities together. Second, we're a densely populated, small town with almost unlimited means for transportation and quick access to Boston and the entire North Shore. Swampscott has buses, the train and is highly walkable. Moreover, most of the town is in walking distance to what is truly our best assets - our beautiful beaches and assortment of restaurants and other small businesses. Third, we're an economically diverse town with some of the wealthiest residents of the state, as well as people who live on fixed incomes or are decidedly working class. As such, we have million dollar houses and affordable houses and everything in between. Wrap that entire package up with our rich history and strong community and there's no doubt that Swampscott's a clearly unique town with many assets and potential to be better.
If Swampscott were to be compared to any other town in Massachusetts, one of the best is honestly Brookline. Like Brookline, we have great public transportation, with walkable neighborhoods and a variety of options for entertainment, restaurants and shopping. We're smaller and less affluent, but we're also far more affordable. Plus, we have the beach. In fact, that's what I like to tell people when they ask me about Swampscott, "it's like Brookline, but with a beach."
In order to become a better town, we need to focus on those assets. We need to continue to foster small businesses across the town, making sure they have the tools they need to compete and thrive. We need to improve our already good transportation options, perhaps even further opening access to our beaches and small businesses by emphasizing biking for those who live just a little too far away to walk downtown. Bike lanes are cheap and help reduce traffic, as Humphrey and other major streets are repaved, bike lanes should be added. The plan for the police station, which would also open up a pathway to the beach, is another high priority in improving our town's natural assets.
Most importantly, though, we need to keep our schools strong, so they don't erode before things get better - even if that means trying to pass an override to hold us over. Otherwise, Swampscott's modus operandi is at risk and this whole vision thing is moot. We're going to be facing more challenges ahead over the next few years, but solutions will be on their way, it's just a matter of making it to the finish line without keeling over. The sale of these buildings in town will soon net us around $500,000 a year in new revenue. Governor Patrick has several proposals that could benefit the town, including a 1% meals tax option that could net the town at least $330,000 a year in new revenue. We're set to receive our fair share of Chapter 70 within 2 years, which will net us another $500,000 or so. Even President Obama and the US Congress could save us funds by taking up health care in 2009. For example, Obama has called for making insurance companies cover autism expenses, instead of schools, which would save this town tens of thousands a year, alone.
Hopefully, that's just the start of it. But if we close Hadley or strip an entire program from our schools - and lose all that institutional memory - it'll take years or decades to recover, even when things get better, if we ever really can. There's too many towns like Swampscott that are struggling to no end for things to remain the same. Too many cities and towns know that their heading in the same direction - and soon. Hopefully the people of Swampscott have the vision to see that.
Labels: schools, Swampscott
