PUTNEY — What's not to like about downtown Brattleboro having so many renewed and new apartment, commercial, and cultural buildings? Is any other downtown hereabouts as fortunate?
Welcoming the proposed Brattleboro Museum & Art Center expansion beside Whetstone Brook and the Amtrak station, Brattleboro has additional opportunities:
• Transit-oriented development, by extending morning and evening Amtrak Valley Flyer service 24 miles northward from Greenfield via tracks already upgraded for the Amtrak Vermonter, connecting to other Amtrak routes at Springfield (Maine via Boston to Chicago and beyond) and New Haven (Maine via Boston to New York and beyond).
• Connectivity-oriented development, by partnering with Consolidated Communications (as Chesterfield has done) to connect fiber-optic cables and truly broadband Internet to every Brattleboro home and office.
• Workforce-oriented development, by promoting these initiatives to grow middle-class jobs enhancing local prosperity and strengthening local arts, businesses, and services, including health care and schools.
• Carbon-footprint-oriented development decongesting downtown Brattleboro traffic after the new bridge to Hinsdale opens by creating a roundabout at Malfunction Junction (as in Manchester Center) and synchronizing Main and Vernon Street traffic lights.
When aging urban baby boomers' bodies stop skiing, their hearts may still love Vermont, and their minds still enjoy Brattleboro's urban culture.
When urban tech hubs grow even more congested and unaffordable for young tech workers starting families, Brattleboro's all of the above will be uniquely attractive.