One of the arguments against Picture Main Street is that most city residents oppose the project. However, when Picture Main Street opponents speak of widespread public opposition to the project they are expressing, at best, a half-truth, which can be difficult to distinguish from an out-and-out lie.
I’m certain that disapproval of Picture Main Street is widespread in the “echo chamber” of those who oppose the project. Among other Northampton residents, including myself, I feel there is strong support of the goals of Picture Main Street. The project’s critics ignore this fact in their relentless attempts to poison the waters around it.
I understand that Picture Main Street might be flawed. I also know that downtown Northampton hasn’t been an easy place in which to walk, bike, or drive for years. Flawed or not, Picture Main Street seems to be a good faith effort to make downtown Northampton a better place for everyone. For that reason alone, the project deserves a chance to succeed.
Personally, I wish the mayor and other city leaders would show more courage and resolve in supporting Picture Main Street. For too long, they have allowed the project’s most strident critics to dominate the public debate with finger pointing and griping. It is disingenuous for these critics to speak of “widespread” opposition to Picture Main Street while failing to acknowledge that considerable support for the project exists as well. The project’s opponents do themselves, and all of us, no favors by peddling in such dishonesty.
Scott Norris
Florence