Issues
Public Safety
Since my return to Lowell in 1993, I have seen the peaks and valleys of crime in the city. The very first night I slept in my house on Gates Street in 1994, the brick house directly across the street from me was torched by an arsonist. Over the following weeks, several more buildings in the Lower Highlands were destroyed by arson until the culprit was finally arrested and the fires stopped. It was a very scary start for my first time as a homeowner in Lowell.
Since that time, we have seen a direct improvement in how the city approaches crime. One of the ways they accomplished this was through having much more direct communication with neighbors and other partners throughout the city. I served on the initial Safety First Committee which brought together a multitude of organizations and individuals to ensure that everyone knew what was happening and that a joint effort for crime prevention could be undertaken.
While the positive results of sharing authority in the decision making process are evident over the last decade, much more still needs to be accomplished. Each of us has a responsibility to effect the safety in our city – by working with young people, by creating jobs, and by ensuring crime, fear and disorder are abated.
I support well trained and fully staffed police and fire departments. I also support a city government that is responsive to the disorder and neglect that breeds crime and fire danger. Not all of this has to be paid for by the taxpayers’ dollars – we need to create new initiatives such as encouraging businesses and homeowners to invest in prevention technology in order to limit the opportunity for crime. Safety in our neighborhoods is the responsibility of all – all our citizens, all government services as well as the non profit and business community.
The end goal is a vibrant community where all neighborhoods are safe for everyone – kids and elders – at all times of day in all dwellings. Public safety is one of the key linchpins for Lowell’s economic development – people are only willing to buy homes, to shop, to visit our museums and open up new stores when there is a sense of safety. It is the primary way to keep Lowell viable in the global economy.
Economic Development
Lowell is always climbing the economic hill. We have seen the historic booms and busts in Lowell. Since the 1970s, we have been working together to try to stabilize the economic and set ourselves on a path of steady growth.
Lowell needs more jobs, better paying jobs, growth for current businesses, and new businesses to expand the tax base. Lowell residents should be able to find jobs and run businesses that allow them to enjoy the kind of high quality of life that everyone in Massachusetts expects.
We no longer have all our economic eggs in the same basket, as has happened in the past with over reliance on textile and shoe manufacturing, the electronics industry, or high-tech and computers. We have a more stable and diversified economy now that is less vulnerable to global economic changes. All the same we have to compete in a global economy in today’s world.
Lowell made history as a center for industrial innovation. We must make innovation our future as well. We have a university and community college that are centers of talent in research, teaching, and workforce development. The City must form strong partnerships with UMass Lowell and Middlesex Community College to draw out that talent on behalf of Lowell residents. In today’s economy we must be developing ideas and inventions that can be transformed into new jobs, new products, and new services. That’s how we will compete. Nanotechnology, biomanufacturing, green technology, medical devices, homeland security, the creative economy–these are all areas in which UML and MCC have reputations. We also need to work with the college and university to encourage more of their employees to live in the city.
We must help our small businesses transition to mid-sized and even larger business even as we encourage new small businesses. The City can help with start-up and expansion incentives, technical assistance, marketing help, and more through the Division of Planning and Development and with the help of private sector partners.
We need to make sure more Lowell dollars are spent in Lowell. Too many Lowell dollars flow out to the suburban malls and beyond. We have to make it easier for Lowell residents to spend money in Lowell on the things they need and want, whether that is through improvements in transportation, traffic, parking, commercial promotion, one-stop online purchasing, resident discounts, or other ways. We also need to reach out more effectively to Middlesex Community College, UMass Lowell, the businesses at Cross Point, and other concentrations of employees to tap into the potential spending of people who work in Lowell every day. The Lowell businesses employ thousands of Lowell residents and they will hire more people if their bottom lines improve.
Lowell is a hub for cultural activity–arts and entertainment and sports. This is one of the city’s special strengths. I have seen firsthand how we can bring hundreds of thousands of people to the city with our attractions–museums, concerts, festivals, exhibitions. We need to build on this strength and invest in it. Our culture, our history, our river and forest are all natural resources that will not be moved off-shore. They cannot be outsourced to another state or country. THese activities employ people and cause people to spend money in Lowell. I call it cultural commerce. It is something Lowell has that the suburbs and other cities in the region do not have. We need to increase productivity in the cultural economy. There is great potential for growth and for good publicity about the city through these activities and events.
We must make the new Hamilton Canal District development a reality as quickly as possible, but at the same time we must improve the commercial corridors of Merrimack and Central streets downtown. We cannot neglect the existing business districts downtown and in the Acre while expanding into what is sometimes called Uptown, near Jackson, Appleton, and Middlesex streets. One of the most promising components of the Hamilton project is the plan to connect the core of the city with the Gallagher terminal. That must be a priority. The gateway off the Connector via Thorndike and Gorham streets needs immediate improvement if we expect to showcase the emerging Hamilton project. Better signage, landscape improvements, upgrades to the South Common and nearby buildings, and new lighting must be part of an integrated approach coordinated by the City. All major gateways into the city need to be evaluated and improved as required.