Election 2009: Bianchi hosts Coffee Meet & Greet at Capitol Square

03:16PM / Monday, September 14, 2009Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Mayoral candidate Dan Bianchi announces that he will be hosting a Coffee & Conversation meet and greet at Capitol Square located at 379 North St. on Friday, Sept. 18, at 10 a.m.

This meet-and-greet with Bianchi, a current city councilor, will provide residents of Capitol Square as well as all members of the Pittsfield community the chance to come and hear Bianchi's message and have the chance to ask questions. This informal session will provide community members with the opportunity to share their ideas and concerns with Bianchi.

This is the fifth in a series of coffees planned throughout the community in order to introduce Bianchi and gain public input about many of the issues affecting the city of Pittsfield.

Coffee and refreshments will be provided at the Friday morning meet and greet. All members of the community are encouraged to attend. For more information, visit the Bianchi campaign Web site at www.votebianchi.com or by calling the campaign office at 413-442-2555.

The event is sponsored by the Committee to Elect Dan Bianchi.

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Pittsfield Wants People to Know Where Free Public Wifi Is

By Brittany PolitoiBerkhshires Staff
04:46AM / Friday, September 18, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city wants it to be clear where people can connect to free public wifi— which expands beyond downtown.

On Tuesday, the Parks Commission approved "Free Wifi" signage at The Common, Riverway Park, and Durant Park. Community members can access the internet without charge in these locations, as well as in downtown areas.

Two years ago, Pittsfield received a $99,972 Digital Equity Implementation Grant from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. This allowed the city to take a comprehensive look at digital equity and determine where to focus attention.

"That was a lengthy process that we worked on, and there was a lot of public input. We did some surveying. We met with a lot of focus groups; [Berkshire Regional Planning Commission] was the group that spearheaded that for us, and one of the things that came up was the lack of accessible wifi," Director of Community Development Justine Dodds reported. "Particularly in the westside."

Throughout this process, residents also wanted to see connectivity at the nearby Westside Riverway Park.

In 2023, Pittsfield was selected to participate in the Municipal Digital Equity Planning Program launched by the state and MBI, focused on ensuring residents can use the internet to conduct day-to-day activities. A digital equity plan also qualifies Pittsfield for additional grant funding.

Around 16,000 city households qualified for the Federal Communications Commission's affordable internet program that ended in 2024.

Dodds said adding Wi-FI and signage to Durant and Riverway Parks is a small piece of the larger digital equity project. Signage is already downtown, and the city plans to hire the same designer for the expanded wayfinding so it is cohesive.

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