UPDATED Post 9/4/13, see below
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You are going to hear from a lot of folks this election
season in Amesbury about all of the things that they think are wrong with
Amesbury. I won’t be one of them.
Don’t get me wrong. I
think that our community faces plenty of challenges. In fact, I plan on writing a series of blog
posts about them: school funding, taxes and the budget, infrastructure
maintenance, community development and planning our future.
But here at the start of campaign season, I want to focus
first on what makes Amesbury a fantastic place to live.
For starters, our extensive natural resources such as the lakes,
ponds, rivers: Bailey’s, Gardner, Tuxbury, Attitash, Merrimack, and Powow. Our
tremendous open space: Woodsom Farm and Battis Farm. Recreation areas: Town
Park, Collins Street Playground, Camp Kent, and the Riverwalk Bike Trail.
My family loves kayaking on Tuxbury pond, swimming in Lake
Gardner (who else can boast a beach in their downtown). Snowshoeing in
the woods behind Cashman School, over through to Woodsom Farm. Walking
the downtown. I got myself back in shape pulling my son in our ‘bike
taxi’ trailer on our regular commute to and from his day care via the Riverwalk
Trail and then running the trails through Woodsom Farm.
Our many ‘social’ assets, including an extremely active Town
Library, a multitude of sports clubs and recreational opportunities for
children, active communities of faith, lively neighborhoods, several active
farms (such as Heron Pond, Middle Earth, Cider Hill), well-regarded schools and
an artist community.
Our well-preserved downtown, with restaurants, living
spaces, art galleries, bookstores, public library, a wide variety of businesses
and more. Keys to this have been the
renovations of the Upper and Lower Millyards, Cedar Street, and Market Square,
as well as the investment of many small business owners in our community. Ice
cream stands and cider donuts! (This is why I have to pull that bike taxi
around). A variety of historical assets, including Amesbury’s industrial past,
Whittier’s legacy, the famous Lowell’s Boathouse, historical buildings, and old
meeting places.
A well-articulated, thorough, and community-supported Master
Plan. Amesbury developed an extensive Master
Plan document in 2004 (you can find a link to it on the left of this page)
through an engaged public process. As
someone who has been active in the past on the Master Plan Implementation and
Oversight Committee, I can report that Amesbury has done very well to follow
the vision and take the actions laid out in the Plan. A decade on, we can take real pride in the
success we have had in making that plan a reality.
And, yes, Amesbury’s affordability.
I have talked to many residents who have made the move
to Amesbury because, in addition to the assets mentioned above, Amesbury was
the place they could afford to buy a home.
When my wife and I were looking for a place to call home, we found that
Amesbury beat other local cities and towns hands down (including Newburyport,
where we were living in a teeny condo at the time) in terms of delivering a great place to live at an affordable price (at least for living
in one of the most expensive counties and regions in the country).
So, as my business friends might say, what is Amesbury’s value proposition? That is, what is it that would make anyone
want to ‘buy our product’? It is that
Amesbury is a community with lots to offer and at an accessible price.
I will be writing more about the challenges that we face to
maintain our services: the high cost of providing quality public education,
successfully planning economic and community development, preserving and
enhancing natural assets and the tight straights of local and state finances
over the past decade. ‘Change is
inevitable, but progress is optional.’
Only by deliberately and carefully planning our future together as a community
will we make good on the proposition that is the city of Amesbury.
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UPDATE:
Regarding the question of affordability, the Newburyport Daily News reported in this 9/3/13 article ("Newburyport sees sharp increase in home sales") on that area real estate values and the overall housing market continue to improve and that Amesbury continues to be seen as an affordable option in the area. Through the ups and downs of numerous real estate cycles, Amesbury has followed this trend and retained its attractiveness as a good and affordable option for families in this area. A local realtor from an Amesbury firm hit the nail on the head: '"Newburyport is the blue chip, but not everyone can afford the blue chip,” said Lischke. “Amesbury is more affordable than Newburyport.”"
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UPDATE:
Regarding the question of affordability, the Newburyport Daily News reported in this 9/3/13 article ("Newburyport sees sharp increase in home sales") on that area real estate values and the overall housing market continue to improve and that Amesbury continues to be seen as an affordable option in the area. Through the ups and downs of numerous real estate cycles, Amesbury has followed this trend and retained its attractiveness as a good and affordable option for families in this area. A local realtor from an Amesbury firm hit the nail on the head: '"Newburyport is the blue chip, but not everyone can afford the blue chip,” said Lischke. “Amesbury is more affordable than Newburyport.”"
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