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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Pittsfield Projects See $1M in Community One Stop Grants

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — City projects were allocated $1 million through the Community One Stop for Growth portal in fiscal year 2027. 

This includes hundreds of thousands of dollars for the adaptive reuse of two downtown buildings into apartments: the former St. Joseph's High School and Berkshire County Savings Bank. 

Developer David Carver of Scarafoni Associates & CT Management Group plans to convert the former Catholic high school on Maplewood Avenue into 19 units, four of which will be designated affordable. The City of Pittsfield was allocated $500,000 from the Housing Choice Grant Program to support accessibility improvements and elevator installation for the project. 

Allegrone Companies saw $350,000 from the Underutilized Properties Program to support interior demolition and remediation for the adaptive reuse of a long-vacant, historic building overlooking Park Square into housing units and commercial space. 

Since 2021, the Community One Stop for Growth has distributed more than 1,900 awards totaling more than $1 billion in funding for housing and economic development growth goals in Massachusetts communities. 

Pittsfield has received 30 awards, totaling $11.7 million. 

Over the summer, Housing Secretary Juana Matias visited the shuttered St. Joe's school that functioned as a shelter during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The then 120-year-old Catholic high school ceased operations in 2017. 

The City Council approved a 10-year tax increment exemption agreement that freezes the current property value base, starting at 100 percent forgiveness in the first year, decreasing by 10 percent annually; a local incentive is required to submit an application to the EOHLC. 

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