Center for Rural Massachusetts
Summary of Activities 1996-2001
Prepared by: Jack Ahern, Director
During the 1996-2001 Planning Accreditation Board Review period the Center for Rural Massachusetts (CRM) has supported and coordinated a range of research, outreach , and instructional activities and projects which address planning, design, and management issues facing rural communities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. From 1996 until the fall of 1998 E. Bruce MacDougall directed the CRM. Since the fall of 1998, Jack Ahern has been the Director.
Major CRM Activities and Projects During the Review Period (1996-2001)
Establishment of the Massachusetts Rural Development Council (MRDC)
(1996)
CRM supported the establishment of the Massachusetts Rural Development Council (MRDC). CRM provided space, technical assistance (through graduate students), and bookkeeping support. During the review period, in addition, CRM provided the MRDC with many hours of varied professional, financial, and administrative support for its programs. From simply staffing the office to undertaking short-term one-time projects and providing ongoing research assistance, the level of support made the MRDC more valuable to the constituencies it served(s).
Pathways from Poverty Taskforce (CRM/MRDC) (1997-1998)
Graduate Assistants provided expertise and the conduit to the Transportation Engineering department. CRM was able to "Trans Cad" all fixed bus routes on various overlays of all Regional Transportation Authority jurisdictions. The outcome of this very complicated project depicted that there exists a vast portion of Rural Massachusetts which receives little or no public transportation. The lack of transportation alternatives augments difficulties of the working poor and/or unemployed to find decent paying employment, undertake skills development and take advantage of educational opportunities, receive adequate medical and oral health care, etc. The Pathways committee was able to utilize this information ( along with other pertinent related documentation) in written testimony submitted to the TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) division of the Federal Department of Health and Human Services. Note, Massachusetts was the only Rural Development Council State to respond to the request of HHS and thus had a true impact the TANF portion of the Welfare Reform Act of 1996.
Building Cohesive Working Teams During Changing Times (CRM/MRDC) (1997-1998)
CRM Graduate Student Interns played an integral role in providing logistical support and undertaking some facilitative roles during a 2 day session held in Newton, MA in 1997. With consultative services provided by Yellow Wood Associates of Vermont, the MRDC assisted the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development in training DHCD staff, MRDC members and municipal officials in various methods of team development and outcomes measurement. DHCD was in the process of transforming into a more outwardly reaching organization as opposed to a program administration agency. CRM and the MRDC collated information, provided "first cut" analysis, and offered recommendations for the Department and other teams in attendance.
Analysis of Urban Centers (1997-1998)
One of CRM’s larger projects was an effort to identify, describe and analyze 10 to 12 urban centers in Massachusetts that served a largely rural population. Another was the development of a proposal to study rural telecommunications at first only in Massachusetts, but this expanded to Massachusetts and Vermont, and then to the entire Northeast. (1997-98)
Great Meadows of the Connecticut River (2000-2001)
A planning study for the Great Meadows of the Connecticut River in Hartford, CT., a 4500 acre floodplain landscape, and one of the last vestiges
of farming and rare habitat in the heart of the growing Hartford
metropolitan region. This study for a local land trust looked at land use
changes over the past 30 years that have affected the ecological health of
the Meadows, reviewed current planning proposals by local and regional
governments, and made recommendations to protect and preserve the resources of this fragile landscape. The second project as part of a USDA Experiment Station Hatch Grant and Healey Faculty Endowment Grant is entitled, Preserving New England's Rural Character in the Face of New Residential Growth. This study used scenes of innovative rural cluster subdivisions in western Massachusetts to elicit local residents' perceptions of the type of development that they felt was appropriate in their rural towns. The study has recently been expanded to sample local developers and planners about their perceptions of rural character. (2000-2001)
Berkshire Hills Music Academy (2001)
A planning and design study for a new school campus at the former Skinner
Estate in South Hadley, Massachusetts. The new 40-acre BHMA school campus in South Hadley is slated to open in 2001. The school will serve young adults with Williams Syndrome and similar cognitive disabilities. The BHMA is working with the region's Five Colleges to design and develop
the new school that will feature a nine-month, two-year residential program
centered around a music curriculum. (2001)
West Brookfield Stormwater Management Plan (1998-1999)
A comprehensive inventory of stormwater management issues in a rural central Massachusetts town. The study engaged local and state officials, university faculty and a graduate student assistant in a year-long inventory and planning process with extensive public participation.
Mill River Watershed Study (1998-2000)
A comprehensive watershed management plan with four objectives: water quality/stormwater management, biodiversity protection, growth management, and public participation. The results were useful in the launching of the Mill River Watershed Partnership.
Land Trust and Land management (1999-2000)
Research on issues and strategies for land trusts regarding land management options and alternatives. Conducted in coordination with faculty from the UMass Department of Natural Resource Conservation.
Town of Charlemont: Open Space and Recreation Plan (1998-1999)
A studio-based research and outreach project to inventory open space resources, and draft a preliminary planning strategy. This plan is now being updated expanded in a UMass Regional Planning Studio (fall 2001)
Town of Sturbridge, Park Design (Ahern 2001)
Design and planning assistance to assist a rural town with the establishment of a small historic park with two interpretive themes: mill history, and watershed management.
Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, Community Preservation Institute
Three LARP faculty participated as co-instructors in an innovative training program for public officials. Workshops were conducted on: Creative Land Acquisition, and Historic Preservation (2001)
Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, Watershed Initiative (1998-2001)
Involvement in service-learning-based watershed planning and management research in the French-Quinebaug, Parker Ipswich, and Connecticut River Watersheds.
CRM is focused on the following goals, which individually and collectively support of Departmental Strategic Plan’s focus on “Planning for Growth and Economic Development in Regions”.