Letter: University Drive Is Well Suited for Housing Expansion. Let’s Do It Well 

The following letter was submitted to the Amherst Planning Board on January 29, 2024. Find a report on their meeting of January 31 here. See also a photo essay in this issue by Janet Keller that addresses similar concerns

Your conversation about University Drive began as an examination of where the town could add density for housing, in exchange for a promise from the University to create additional on-campus housing for students. It is important that this notion of reciprocal town and gown commitments not be forgotten. As you are aware, most of the pressure for adding housing in Amherst comes from the reality that the University of Massachusetts only houses about half of its undergraduates, leaving the others to fend for themselves. As the university’s enrollments have expanded, although the percentage of students living on campus has remained reasonably stable, the number of students in that unhoused half has grown dramatically, causing serious problems for the town.

Student interest in living on campus has risen since the pandemic. Last year students staged protests, demanding that the University increase on-campus housing. With the opening of Fieldstone Slate on Massachusetts Avenue, the number of undergraduate beds on campus increases slightly this semester. However, as you discovered, the University anticipates closing other large dorms for renovation in upcoming seasons, so the demand for on-campus student housing will likely remain unmet for years unless further new building is undertaken. The public-private partnership that created Fieldstone Slate can serve as a model for future campus housing projects that do not require University funds.

How many bedrooms could the University promise to create on the portion of University Drive that it owns, between Amity Street and Massachusetts Avenue? Or is there another nearby location that it could pledge to dedicate to student housing, in exchange for the town permitting greater residential density on the section of University Drive south of Amity Street?

And what should be the town’s vision for University Drive between Northampton Road and Amity Street? University Drive is one of the few areas near downtown Amherst that could provide an opportunity for significant growth. Let’s make it an attractive asset, not set the stage for a faceless wall of bland, unimaginative new construction. This wide, straight avenue will quickly become another major approach route to both the University and the town, creating a first impression by which Amherst will be judged. This is too important an opportunity for the town to muff!

Here are some of my thoughts. It is important to continue to provide for businesses, shops, and professional offices on the ground floor—we don’t want to further erode the availability of the kinds of goods and services that residents depend on. But what Amherst needs on the upper floors is more housing for year-round residents. The town’s non-student population has been declining, leading to dwindling numbers of kids in our schools and fewer people to patronize local businesses during the approximately four months of the year that the colleges are not in session. Why not prioritize the kinds of dwellings that would appeal to employees of the University (and the other Five Colleges) and their families, or workers at the businesses, shops, and professional offices that would remain in this area? Instead of four-bedroom apartments with minimal common space, aimed at students, zone/permit to encourage apartments with two or three bedrooms and real living rooms, family rooms, and kitchens. Condos are a scarce housing type in Amherst; perhaps we can encourage some of those, too. Having appealing residential options near the University will help it hire and retain its faculty and workforce, while also strengthening the town and its economy.

The existing allée of trees should be retained and extended. They are an appealing feature of the street already, providing shade to mitigate summer heat and sequestering CO2 in keeping with climate goals. Modest green spaces—vest-pocket parks—located on the edge of some of the wetland areas would provide amenity for residents and places where visitors and office-workers might find seating at which to consume the lunch they just bought at a restaurant or grocery store nearby. The new buildings should be subject to the design guidelines the town is in the process of developing and should evoke the materials and details of Amherst’s historic architecture, even if their forms are contemporary. Sculpture and wall art by local artists could enhance the area’s appeal, while showcasing the town as an artistic incubator.

Proximity to public transportation and a bike route make University Drive attractive to anyone without a car. It would still be important to provide some parking, however. I suggest one space per residential unit. Even residents who walk or bike to the University for work need a place to keep the car they use on weekends, and those coming from elsewhere to buy groceries or keep a medical appointment will sometimes arrive by car to do so—but parking could be relocated to the rear of the lots and potentially pooled or stacked, to reduce the total acreage covered in asphalt. Eliminating the existing secondary circulation road on the west side of the street would allow for street-facing amenities, deeper front yards, and a variety of front setbacks in the new buildings. Three-story buildings are more in keeping with most of Amherst’s housing stock than taller ones, but an extra story might be granted in acknowledgment of more affordable units or amenities like community space—a meeting room, a playground, a covered patio, etc. 

These are some of my notions, but I urge the Planning Department and Planning Board to convene listening sessions to gather input from residents about what they would like to see on this section of University Drive. Better ideas emerge when more people enter the conversation. Town officials should continue their conversations with University authorities at the same time, to make sure their side of the bargain is kept. This needs to be a two-way commitment. 

Suzannah Muspratt

Suzannah Muspratt is a resident of Amherst’s District 3.