Berkshire Benchmarks Releases State of the County Update

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Benchmarks data team recently released a State of the County Update for 2023. 
 
This brief report builds on the Berkshire Benchmarks State of the County Report published in May 2022 and highlights notable changes in regional indicators over the past year. The berkshirebenchmarks.org website has also been updated to reflect the most current available data. 
 
The purpose of the Benchmarks initiative and report is to highlight the region's successes and challenges.
 
The 2022 Berkshire Benchmarks State of the County report provided a comprehensive overview of our region's performance across eight sectors: Economy, Education, Environment, Government, Health, Housing, Social Environment, and Transportation.  
 
In the future, the Berkshire Benchmarks team will continue to monitor these and other indicators to aid with the regional understanding of changes in these sectors and whether the work happening throughout the region is having the intended impact. 
 
Berkshire Benchmarks is a collaborative initiative managed through Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC). Our sources are publicly available data, including the U.S. Census Bureau, the American Community Survey, various Massachusetts data sets, and periodic surveys of Berkshire County residents. 
 
Berkshire Benchmarks aims to work with the community to understand priorities and help inform the region on how we are doing and if we are improving. Berkshire Benchmarks enhances the region's access to quality data and analysis. 

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Letter: Re: Healey Gives Municipalities Say on Data Centers, Pittsfield Eyes Moratorium

Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:

Maura Healey's signing of an executive order which allows municipalities to say no to unwanted and environmentally harmful data centers is a move in the right direction for protecting the environment in Massachusetts. Still, there is more to be done.

With the arrival of fall, the Berkshires will see its peak tourism season. Litter is a huge problem everywhere, but especially in a place that claims to care about our wildlife and beautiful landscape.

There should be stricter enforcement of litter fines and more information about the environmental impact of littering, along with more opportunities for volunteer cleanups. Regions that still provide single-use plastic bags should be encouraged to switch to reusable fabric or paper bags.

We should be following Healey's movement with more action against pollution and waste.

Alexandra Leahey
Pittsfield, Mass. 

 

 

 

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