Easthampton, Massachusetts

6 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 9 EASTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS successful in other areas, as well. She went after trail projects early on. “Mount Tom is one of the biggest environmental resources we have. The view of it just overshadows – in a beautiful way – the whole city.” With increasing traffic, by way of population growth and visitors, there wasn’t one clean access to the state park and the national trail system from Easthampton. So the city bought 11 acres and just finished a fully ADA accessible switchback trail that goes to a vantage point that looks over the whole Connecticut River Valley. Bike trails are another important project. LaChapelle acknowledges, “I think inflation is coming. My term has always been smart growth minded, long term sustainable. And when you look at the ups and downs of the economy, those natural resources that also protect the environment are resilient in a recession or a boom economy. People want to do those things. So it was a natural focus and we are incorporating them into infrastructure projects.” Those projects include securing the sewer and for businesses and rentals. LaChapelle states, “The priority was to stimulate the true local economy with things that were genuine and sustainable that already existed but were in need of help. Then, once that was helped and we had somewhat of a structure, to take a look at municipal operation and efficiency modernization, and then go to housing.” School space has been a priority, too. A new high school opened up in 2013 and a new pre-K through 8th grade was just finished on a 10-acre campus. This means that the three smaller elementary schools are available and open for renovation opportunities. According to LaChapelle, “The schools are basically bookends for our downtown district… if somebody made a bid for all three schools, or just one, we would welcome that.” The other benefit is that all students in Easthampton attend a newer school. That’s also attractive for families looking to locate in the city. LaChapelle’s aggressive approach has been