The decline is steepest among those from 18 to 39 years of age. Also, the population is skewing toward older adults, most of whom are retired or approaching retirement age.
The Edge recently sat down with Hinds in his Pittsfield office to discuss his proudest accomplishments, how to align workforce development needs with the education system, and his hopes and concerns about the rollout of recreational marijuana in the state, among other things.
By bringing back the trains, we could take a huge step in restoring the Berkshires to vibrant economic health, and integrate the best of its industrial past with the best of 21st-century economic development and environmental sustainability.
Skeptics of the Berkshire Flyer weekend-only, tourist-oriented concept support instead a daily passenger rail service from New York's Grand Central Terminal via Connecticut and up through the Housatonic Valley to the Berkshires that would include four stations in Berkshire County: Sheffield; Great Barrington; Lee; and the terminus at the Intermodal Transportation Center in Pittsfield.
Second-home owners have no voting rights in Massachusetts, so their influence in state and local affairs is necessarily limited. They certainly are permitted to attend town meetings and, in most towns, are allowed to speak at the discretion of the moderator.
"[The] announcement, paired with the ongoing efforts to prepare for a pilot season of Berkshire FLYER service shows that we’re positioning the Berkshires and western Mass. for positive economic growth." -- Sen. Adam Hinds, D-Pittsfield
The Massachusetts Senate has adopted Hinds' amendments to the fiscal year 2019 state budget to continue the efforts of the Berkshire FLYER Working Group to ensure a pilot train service connecting New York City to the Berkshires launches no later than 2020.
In their letter to the editor, Cortney Dupont and Sandra Carroll write, "The Berkshire Flyer is nothing less than an investment in our future, as to build an infrastructure for growth is certainly a prerequisite for growth to take hold."
The service would start out as a pilot program. The plan is to run one round-trip train each weekend during summer and fall weekends between New York City and Pittsfield via the Rensselaer Station, just east across the Hudson River from Albany.
Reps. William 'Smitty' Pignatelli and John Barrett worked to lobby Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, who agreed to place a Berkshire County resident on the commission.
Hinds is also interested in pressuring the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to increase education funding, especially for rural schools that face unique fiscal challenges, such as being overly dependent on homeowner property taxes, compared to their urban and suburban counterparts.
In his letter to the editor, Eddie Sporn of West Stockbridge writes: "That train to Danbury, Connecticut, has left the station and it ain’t coming back."
Berkshire County's legislative delegation testified before the Joint Committee on Transportation in favor of a bill that would authorize the study of high-speed rail access between Boston and Springfield.
In a letter to the editor, Mark Shapp writes, "... if the service, should it ever see implementation, starts as small as I think is being indicated, it will in all likelihood not operate at times that meet Berkshire residents' travel needs.'
