Greenfield famously is the “town that said no” to Walmart, which was documented in the film Talking to the Wall by Steve Alves. It was a long-running political divide in the town, between the folks who called themselves “Pro-Growth” and lobbied for a Walmart, and those who called themselves “Smart Growth” and lobbied against it. The “Smart Growth” faction won. What they wanted, and what has largely been preserved, was an existing walkable downtown with active shops and restaurants.
The political divide, and the eventual harmoniousness that comes from residents working together, persists in other aspects of Greenfield’s community. Greenfield is the county seat of the poorest county in Massachusetts. It’s a place with a visible homeless population, where the building of benches in town always comes with a back and forth over how they will get used. There are two Moldovan churches, because Greenfield has become a haven for Moldovan and other eastern European refugees. It’s a place where you can buy fresh vegetables as a Community Supported Agriculture farm stand, and there is a farmer’s market in the center of the city throughout the summer. It’s a city that still has a County Fair and the Fair Parade is one of the biggest events of the year.
Greenfield has grit. And it has long had a tension about it in that it is artsy and inspired, but also very comfortable getting its hands dirty.
Greenfield has been experimenting to enhance the walking experience in the downtown area. It has created bump-outs to narrow main street traffic lanes around crosswalks, and it temporarily (and sometimes seasonally) creates a pedestrian street in front of City Hall. This pedestrian space takes over a stretch of pavement that is otherwise frequently a cut-through for vehicles looking to avoid the traffic light at our main downtown intersection. Similarly, during the warmer months, businesses in town have reclaimed parking spaces to create streetside seating — another visible message that some of the space reserved for automobiles can, in fact, be prioritized for pedestrians to the benefit of small businesses.
More permanently, the city is — in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation — undertaking a redesign of Main Street that will add bike lanes, bump-outs and curb cuts. Pedestrian and bike-friendly infrastructure already exist within the downtown core, with the John Olver Transportation Center located in the heart of the city serving as a hub for buses and a stop on the Amtrak “Valley Flyer” line. As bus and rail service expands, and bike infrastructure is added, the residents can readily envision the downtown as the multimodal heart of not just Greenfield, but all of Franklin County.
Greenfield is fortunate to have, by many standards, relatively progressive zoning that includes no parking minimums within the central commercial district. This zoning choice is already paying dividends: multiple new downtown residential units are about to begin construction, prioritizing living space over parking. In at least one of these developments, space that is currently reserved for parking will be turned into townhouse residential units.
The city undertook a parking study in 2023 which found that downtown has parking that is more than adequate to serve its needs. Rather than look to create additional parking, the city has turned its focus toward making the existing parking system more efficient and better utilized. Examples of these efforts include providing free parking in the municipal parking garage during lunchtime hours to encourage eating lunch downtown and usage of the garage; providing free parking in the lots furthest from Main Street, encouraging people to park and walk; and lowering the price of parking in currently underutilized lots. The city is also taking steps to surplus a municipally-owned former parking lot, to be developed as a multi-unit residential or mixed-use property.
Through both technical means, including modifying zoning rules, as well as more creative solutions, Greenfield’s planners, developers and residents are responding in a multitude of ways to address the housing crisis and promote incremental, bottom-up development.
Throughout 2024, and again in 2025, the Greenfield City Council and the Planning Board and Economic Development Committee have undertaken substantive conversations around modifications to existing zoning laws. The goal of these conversations is to remove barriers and promote thoughtful development that is in keeping with the community’s goals, balancing a love of open space with the recognized need for increased housing. The City Council is now in the midst of additional zoning conversations around increased building height, as well the appropriateness of first floor residential dwellings within the central commercial core, all through a lens of preserving the character of Greenfield’s downtown while allowing flexibility to encourage the additional housing that Greenfield needs.
Communication between elected officials and residents in the community is multi-faceted and ever-evolving, with shared communication efforts that get information out to the community, and deeper, two-way communication that allows for input and collaboration.
City departments all endeavor to engage in effective, proactive communication with Greenfield residents through community-wide planning sessions or information meetings, and presentations of findings at the conclusion of a study. Departments also engage with community organizations, going to non-municipal events and meetings to be accessible and visible within the community. The Community and Economic Development department participates in multiple community groups, including Housing Greenfield (a community-led housing advocacy group) and the Greenfield Business Association.
The Mayor has also prioritized listening and accessibility as hallmarks of her campaign and her administration. She has launched several initiatives that give people face-to-face time directly with her, including Walk with the Mayor and Game Night With the Mayor. Formally, the Mayor has also engaged in listening sessions with the Greenfield business community, sharing a little bit about plans she has, but primarily using these events as a chance for her to listen and gather input on the hopes, needs and concerns held by the business community.
An example of Greenfield’s dedication to preserving its historic character comes from a surprising source: the 9 red clay tennis courts the City has managed to preserve. These historic courts remain public and free of charge to play — an astoundingly rare feat.
Greenfield’s rallying symbol is a tower that sits on a basalt ridge east of town, about 150 feet above the city’s main residential block. It is called the Poet’s Seat Tower because of the 19th-century poet Frederick Goddard Tuckerman. Tuckerman isn’t as famous as his contemporaries like Emily Dickinson or Alfred Lord Tennyson, but he wrote compelling sonnet sequences with detailed observations of the natural world and riven with grief over his late wife.
Greenfield saved the historic Garden Theater, a Main Street theater with an old-fashioned marquee. Previously, Greenfield had a Town Manager/Selectboard form of government, and saving the Garden convinced many people that Greenfield needed a mayor who could make more bold moves like this one. The current owners of the Garden Theater have taken to dynamic programming to help rejuvenate interest in the theater. It’s an example of the city moving to an independent ownership model, allowing the focus to be more local and cooperative. The Garden is now a key player in city events.
