Picture Main Street

Picture the Main Street of 2025! Let's redesign Main Street, downtown Northampton, to enhance business vibrancy, with changes in consumer demands, make it safer and serving all populations, and ensure smooth functioning. Do nothing is not an option with infrastructure, above and below ground, that is showing its age.

Signup for Main Street and Planning & Sustainability periodic updates.

Picture Main Street has three core goals:

1. Main Street must be safe and accessible for all for all people who travel along Main Street, regardless of their ability, age, or disability and regardless of their travel mode (walking, biking, transit, and driving). Today, Main Street has one of the highest crash rates in Massachusetts.
2. Main Street must enhance business vibrancy with a streetscape and street trees that makes downtown attractive and an vibrant place for business. Today, Main Street has a deserved reputation as a beautiful Main Street but it is not ready to address changing consumer demands for experiential downtowns.
3. Main Street must function allowing efficient snow removal, deliveries, curb drop off, parking, efficient vehicle flow, and efficient emergency vehicle access and transit.

Picture Main Street is evolving in response to meaningful public engagement. Community public forums (1/13/20 and 11/10/20 with more planned in 2021), community focus groups, community surveys, observations of people using the shared streets (summer and fall 2020), engagement with city and community boards (Transportation, Planning, Tree, Bike/Ped, Disabilities, City Council, Downtown Northampton Association and the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce, and other stakeholder engagement including a project advisory group).

Complete our current Picture Main Street survey (here).

Project Schedule (subject to change)

Picture Main Street project documents (Road Safety Audit, survey, etc)

Precedents- success stories from other communities