This week’s Forecaster has an article on “big box” developments in Falmouth and Cumberland. It reports that the Falmouth Town Council rejected a development recently, and is now considering another.
I think the interest of large developers poses a great opportunity to reduce—and reverse—sprawl in our region. Developing a street-front-and-sidewalk oriented downtown has many economic, climate, and quality of life benefits as developed at sites such as the Congress for New Urbanism, and Dover, Kohl and Partners.
If we draw large developers into Falmouth, rather than rejecting them, and require that they contribute to the reconstruction of the Falmouth Shopping District in a new image, it could be a win-win all around. It seems to me that it is not so much the fact of the big box store itself, as it is the parking lot and automobile orientation of the land-use design that is the problem. Let’s use the big-box interest, and capital, to help rebuild our downtown in a new and vibrant form.
