Letter: North Adams Parking Survey

To the Editor:

I am inviting North Adams residents and visitors to take part in a citizen-developed survey about parking in our city. As a new resident, I was surprised to learn about the winter nighttime parking ban only after receiving a ticket. My appeal was denied, despite the fact that the ban was not proactively communicated. Information online is scattered, and enforcement dates appear inconsistent. In five other Massachusetts communities where I have lived, I never encountered a total winter parking ban.

Conversations with neighbors and local friends suggest that communication failures are a recurring issue for drivers here. From parking meters without posted enforcement hours, to Mass MoCA event parking, to the winter overnight ban, residents and visitors alike are left confused. To encourage better communication, I believe tickets issued without clear notice should be waived. With the city already investing in CodeRed alerts and maintaining a downtown marquee, it should not be difficult to keep drivers informed of parking rules.

I know I'm just one person with a limited view of the bigger picture. That's why I'm hoping this survey will collect a wide range of experiences and ideas. I'll share the results with City Council so we can push for clearer communication and better parking policies. Please take a few minutes to fill it out and make sure your voice is heard.

The parking survey can be found here. 

Elizabeth Neiderman
North Adams, Mass. 

Art Donation Brightens Bracewell Youth Project

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
01:21PM / Monday, April 06, 2026

Above, a watercolor landscape on the second floor.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Residents entering transitional housing at 111 Bracewell Ave. can look to the left to see a light at the end of the tunnel. 

 

The dark painting with its pathway toward lighted element brought to mind the Hoosac Tunnel, said Kathy Keeser, executive director of Louison House, on Friday.

 

"Somebody who was going through something could think, well, this is a way out — or a way in," she said, of why she selected that piece.

 

Plus, she added, the colors really worked in the front hallway of the Bracewell Youth Housing Project. 

 

The work was one of three donated by artist Sarah Sutro, whose paintings also hang in the Flood House and in Terry's House in Adams. A regional and international artist who makes her home in North Adams, her artworks have been in collections and exhibitions in the United States and abroad, including at the State House. 

 

Sutro's recently been going through her works of acrylics, inks and watercolors she's created over her career.  

 

"I just have enjoyed giving some of my paintings that are in storage in my studio, not doing anything with them, and having them out in the community instead, and having other people enjoy them and relate to them," she said.