Why Can't We Be More Like... Lawrence

Today's Boston Globe has a story on the downtown housing market in Lawrence. Priced out of other alternatives, homebuyers are looking at condos in the city's downtown.

If Lawrence can do this, why can't Fitchburg? While we haven't been through downtown Lawrence in the last year or two, it certainly isn't better than Fitchburg's central district. It has the same old mill and factory space, the same urban renewal plan projects, and the same ability to reinvent itself as a lively, cheap alternative.

It's a well-known fact -- almost a cliche at this point -- that people are being squeezed out of the market and are looking at alternatives. In many cases, there's a little bit of a pioneer, ground-breaking feel to some of these new markets. For example, the first people who moved into Devens felt like pioneers in a new community. In Lowell, the first group of artists who moved into lofts felt like they were on the cutting edge of a new growth area.

Fitchburg should present itself with that same ground-breaking atmosphere. It should be luring folks who don't mind a bit of risk (in terms of future property values) with the prospect of being the first in a great growth area. The city needs to team with developers and position Fitchburg as a community with a bright, bright outlook.

As potential homeowners scour the region for opportunities, they are more and more open to different ideas. If it can happen in Lawrence, it can certainly happen in Fitchburg. And when it does, Fitchburg needs to tout it to the world, like Lawrence is doing.