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Signs of Life: Keene, NH; Brattleboro, VT

by Bill Dusty

Last week while up in New Hampshire on vacation, I decided to take the scenic route back home in a drive along that state’s countryside. My journey took me first through Keene, in the southern/central part of the state, and then on to Brattleboro, VT, where I then hooked onto RT91 for the trip back to Springfield.

Downtown Keene, NH.

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Stopping in both villages for some quick photo-taking, one of the first observations I made was just how similar they both are to our Valley’s own Northampton, MA. They both have that “small town” feel, while still exhibiting a vibrant downtown culture. There were downtown art galleries, eateries and small shops open for business, and the streets were alive with folks just wandering about.

Downtown Brattleboro, VT.

Gallery in the Woods – Brattleboro, VT.

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It was a Saturday afternoon when I visited them, and Keene in particular appeared to have a busy schedule planned for the day, with bands setting up and performers getting ready for something going on at the city’s Colonial Theater. (Very many cities and towns in New England, apparently, have a theater called the Colonial.) There was also a downtown farmers market going on, similar to Northampton’s. I took the time to stop in an art supply store while in Keene and spent about twenty minutes just browsing the wares. Later on, in Brattleboro, I browsed through a two-story sporting goods shop.

The Colonial Theater – Keene, NH.

Main Street in Keene.
The “Yield for Crosswalk” signs on the pavement are nice, though many cars seemed to only notice them at the last second – braking quickly as pedestrians walked by.

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Noticeably absent from both Keene and Brattleboro on my short visits to each was the presence of any “street entertainers” of the type that populate Northampton’s downtown. In fact, I didn’t see any sign of homelessness in the streets of either town (though granted, I wasn’t there long enough to get an accurate gauge). Keene, in particular, seemed to be a much more “upscale” version of Northampton.

Main Street – Keene, NH.

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Perhaps predictably, Keene also had anti-war demonstrators in the center of town, with one guy holding up a sign saying Afghanistan would be President Obama’s Vietnam. (I was actually in Keene twice – stopping there for lunch on the way up to vacation, and again on the trip home. The demonstrators were there on both days.)

A pacifist pastime in the center of Keene.

What city or town in New England would be complete without a Civil War monument at its center? (Keene, NH)

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This view from Brattleboro, VT, shows the mountains over on the east side of the Connecticut River.

Main Street – Brattleboro, VT.

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The reason I stopped in both towns was to get a better glimpse of “small city” life in the wilds of Western New England in comparison to Springfield’s own culture. In these parts, most people only have Northampton, Holyoke, and Chicopee to compare to Springfield. Further away, Pittsfield, Greenfield, Worcester, and Hartford, CT, are also available as comparisons. I’ve been to all of them – some many times over – and can tell you from my own observations that the cities that have the longest road to travel are Springfield and Holyoke. The cities of Hartford and Pittsfield appear to be rediscovering themselves and are working in the right direction. Meanwhile Chicopee, unfortunately, appears headed towards Holyoke’s fate. (To be fair, Holyoke is also creeping back from the abyss. But it has a long journey still ahead of it, and its future remains uncertain.)

All of the more successful cities and towns have one thing in common: They have embraced the arts as the centerpiece to their downtown economies, and have opened their doors to young, local talent. Hartford and – more recently – Pittsfield have both been extremely proactive in re-inventing their downtown districts. And it hasn’t exactly been rocket science for these communities, either. It’s just been a matter of focusing on a goal and creating government and private partnerships in order to make it happen.

If Springfield can embrace the ideals of entrepreneurship and use the Valley’s prolific arts community to fuel its own drive to revitalize its downtown economy, then all of its other problems – crime, poverty, and inner-city blight among them – will largely take care of themselves. Only an industrious community can be a successful one. Springfield has the basic building blocks in place to make success an option. It now only needs the leadership and the vision – coupled with the civic will – to make it happen.

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Posted by Bill Dusty on Aug 20th, 2009 and filed under Latest Posts, Society. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.