Occasionally there is an opinion column in the Gazette that, to me, reaches a level of eloquence, thoughtfulness, creativity, honesty, collegiality, resourcefulness, and hope and guidance for a path forward that I must cut it out and hang it in my kitchen, sharing it with anyone who visits. Claudia Lefko’s recent column addressing the issue of what to do with downtown Northampton and the ongoing controversy surrounding it, “Main Street: Place-making or unmaking place?” [Gazette, March 12] is one such column.

In a world that is becoming more authoritarian and oppressive by the minute, it is such relief, almost revolutionary, to hear someone call for pausing, collaboration, reflection, learning more, rethinking, and inclusiveness. It is also compelling to invite us to look at “place” through a different lens, both poetic and scholarly, with the idea of “place-making” that welcomes sharing, imagination, and love from Wendell Berry, as well as what makes a “quality place” such that people want to inhabit it in “sustainable harmony.”

Lefko names local people who know a lot about such issues but have not been heard regarding remaking downtown. She has certainly raised the bar on how to think about our city and those of us who live here, our decision-making process, the opportunity that is presenting itself to re-evaluate, and what might be best for all of us. She has offered a forceful argument for revisiting both the process and the content of what we have been handed about Northampton’s Main Street.

Lorraine Mangione

Florence