I'm away from my couch

I'm out on assignment for most of the day today. A quick check of the online Daily News reaped me nothing to comment on before leaving the house. But upon reading Mary Baker Eaton's blog, I see she is posting about something upon which I can comment.

Hard economic times in Amesbury and Newburyport are pretty much the reason why we still have a lot of historic homes in these 2 communities.

But in good economic times, according to the National Architectural Trust, “…demolition, development and period inappropriate alterations and additions have effectively replaced one third of these (Newburyport) historic properties.” (From Mary's blog.)

We need more local historic districts, and ones with real teeth this time. The Fruit Street LHD was an excellent start but I have not heard anything further about the mayor's plan to create one for the downtown, or anywhere else.

Read this, which I wrote earlier this year for the Current.

I'm still on the fence about Stephen Karp/New England Development. It's a business and a business is going to do whatever it takes to make money. I did not necessarily "buy" his pitch to the public last month; but then, as I've said before, I've heard good things about the man.