Hello Mary, I recently found your site and it’s very interesting. I read what you wrote about the Towle development and how it’s good news, but I have to ask, I’m simply curious and there are a lot of things about this issue that I admit I don’t know, but what is the benefit of this development for the citizens of Newburyport?

Increased development is going to strain our city’s resources (such as schools, traffic, road maintenance, etc.) and further it is going to take away from the overall beauty of the waterfront.

It seems to me that the argument for this project is that it creates an additional tax base. But my question is, as we’ve seen over the years, has development ever decreased our taxes? Have we really benefited from those additional revenues? It appears that those additional taxes simply go to cover the additional expenses the city accrues due to the new development.

Again, I’m a little naïve about this particular issue and I am simply curious as to what this additional development is going to mean for the city and how it benefits me and every other average citizen in Newburyport. I can see the downsides but I’m having trouble finding the positives.

Ben Laing, Newburyport