1. Stockbridge Exceptionalism
Some think it’s bunk. They came from outside and sought to change what seemed not exceptional but only exceptionally simple minded and stodgy.
Fact is, Stockbridge had its share of wife-beaters, alcoholics, and embezzlers. We had good cops and bad cops and the requisite number of poor folks. We were ordinary in some ways and below average in others. In the end, however, Stockbridge was exceptional.
Norman Rockwell saw it: Stockbridge was Americana the American character in plain sight. We were not suspicious of one another. Our doors were unlocked. Neighbors drifted in. Never to take but always to give – a homemade pie, a bag of garden tomatoes, an invitation, or a note about village news.
We shared values – we shared values as a village. That is rare today but not in Stockbridge then.
We were not stodgy – we were stiff-backed Yankees who took care of ourselves, didn’t ask, and didn’t whine. We stood tall when we stood alone, but if a neighbor was in trouble, we gathered around and bent to help. We knew how to give, and we knew how to protect.
We weren’t simple minded; we knew what good was and discounted the rest. For example, our word was good even if it hurt to keep it. You could trust Stockbridge and that was exceptional. Yup, it was exceptional that we stood for something and that we stood together for the same things. Until we didn’t.
Change is inevitable. While you cannot always see things change, you can often see the moment it has changed. It was the Pine Street tennis court: Stockbridge broke its word.
By contract, Stockbridge received the use of a plot of land for ninety-nine years. For one year short of a century, townsfolks could use that land to play tennis and shoot hoops. We signed a document that said in return we would maintain it. We didn’t. The people voted in favor of honoring our word and voted the money to do it – money for maintenance. Still the courts were not maintained. There were reasons stated but no work done. Stockbridge exceptionalism never allowed an excuse to break a word. In Stockbridge, the word got kept, the job got done. In old Stockbridge there would have been no choice then – not now. Once the Stockbridge way was simple: do the job; trust the decency of others, honor your word and follow the law. Now, the money voted was spent but in a different way – reflecting different values. It was the leading indicator after which all the dominos began to fall.
Just beyond the tennis and basketball courts, folks expressed fear about the intersection just beyond the tennis and basketball courts. Once a Stockbridge policeman stood at that intersection directing traffic, but he was removed and not replaced. The problem was stated, an expert hired, a recommendation made and accepted by the townsfolk, but the work was never done. Why not? Why weren’t the courts maintained? Private meetings multiplied; public debate and discussion shrank. At one point even public comment was eliminated. Answers were less often answered; so finally, less often asked.
The Berkshire Eagle reported: “Stockbridge restricts Town Offices access…” Was that symbolism or metaphor. Symbolism is a literary device that uses symbols to represent something beyond literal meaning. Metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy.” Whether symbol of metaphor, the headline declares the exact state of affairs.
2. The Times They Are a-Changin’
The current village administration has looked good due to COVID and the resulting astronomical hike in Stockbridge real estate prices. That huge hike in prices caused a concomitant rise in tax income.
Now, the Berkshire County Board of Realtors reports that “Stockbridge saw the largest drop-off in median home sale price, with homes in the town now selling for a median price of $625,000 compared to $1.275 million last year. That’s a 51 percent decrease in one year.”
First, it must be noted that such a drop is rare and often caused by drastic changes – none of which are apparent. Second, whatever the cause, the bill will come due.
There will be a collision at the intersection of crazy spending (a new school, a new firehouse, increased paid staff), the cost of making our village school a town hall and Old Town Hall a private school, and deferred maintenance of everything from bridges to the cupola.
When house prices drop, real estate tax rates will rise. The Town administration will have to bring it – as they say – to continue to look good, and what they do and don’t have the ability to bring will become clear.
The Affordable Housing Trust will be flush with approximately $2.2 million and will have nowhere to spend it. The marketplace that always creates and restricts housing, will do it again. Homelessness was, and always will be, a function of the housing market. There was never and will never be an affordable way for government to create affordable housing. With ease and speed, plummeting prices will create more affordable houses. Sadly, it will do it as rising taxes drive out our senior homeowners.
Some of these predictions may be correct and some may prove incorrect. However, what will be clear is that simple reporting of who said what in a meeting may not be sufficient and a deeper dive may be necessary.
Stockbridge Updates will change with the times. Fewer issues will dive deeper to investigate and report. Experts will report in the news section and truth-tellers in the commentary section. That will take time. Stockbridge Updates 2.0 will be out less often, and less frequent issues will look at what we lost as a town: maybe how we lost it; maybe why, and maybe how to regain it.
It is the same job our country faces. It is the same job the national press has before it. I hope we succeed both here and in Washington D.C.
First, as the editorial proposed: we must accept Stockbridge has a problem, agree on the definition, and hope we share similar values that indicate the path forward and the goals sought.
It is hard in this village and for our nation. These are disheartening, even depressing times, but Stockbridge has done good work in bad times before. This is the village that began Tanglewood during a depression. Yup – we started the Berkshire Symphonic Festival with music under the moon and stars, and culture in the country, during The Great Depression. We can do it. We should preserve as much of what was as we can, because frankly, it was better. We should start now.
