The Rural We: Nick Russo
The Pittsfield native explains why he built a temporary "parklet" in a parking space on North Street.
Nick Russo represents what many of our region’s towns are hoping for: young locals who return to their hometown after college. The Pittsfield native has a passion and a background that will help the Berkshires' county seat move forward and, he hopes, attract more people. An engineer with a focus on transportation planning, Russo’s goal, his website, thePittsfielder.org, says is “to begin a paradigm shift in the way Pittsfield views its public amenities, urban fabric and civic assets.” Last fall he started pushing that along with a whimsical approach: the “parklet” he set up right on North Street.
I graduated from Pittsfield High School in 2011 and went to Rochester Institute of Technology, graduating with a bachelor’s in civil engineering technology and a minor in urban studies. I initially got a job in Pittsfield with White Engineering, a civil and environmental engineering firm. After two years, I found a position in planning design in Troy, but I decided I wanted to still live in Pittsfield.
I had a predisposition on how the city works, and what sort of things that planning and engineering focuses on, from my father, who worked in City Hall in the department of community development. After I graduated college (my dad passed away when I was in middle school), I started understanding what his work was about. Maybe in a subtle way I picked up on that career path. Plus, I had an internship in City Hall for a couple of summers. I rode my bike there, which was my introduction to getting around by bike and foot. It left an impression on me.
I enjoyed Rochester, its big pride aspect and its own heritage logo. I thought Pittsfield could use more of that local pride. So I came back to Pittsfield, and I’m staying here even though my job is in Troy because I want to make sure that Pittsfield stays in the forward-thinking mindset. We need to to keep people here and attract them to the city. People used to say Pittsfield was boring, with not much to do. Why did it seem that way? Maybe because it’s kind of spread out. You have to try hard to get a lot of people together at once to make it feel more interesting.
My goal is to get people to see how we can change downtown and the inner neighborhoods of Pittsfield… and how we can do it without bringing in things like casinos.
That’s why I did the parklet project: to get people to hang out and say 'hi.' I did it on PARK(ing) Day, an international movement that takes place on the third week in September. I went to a parking spot on North Street, paid the meter for the whole day (I had the receipt, just in case). I put artificial turf rolls from The Home Depot on the ground, found some wooden pallets, and made a fence to create a barrier around the parking space. I also brought lawn chairs, some folding tables and potted plants.
I made a Facebook page for it, and another Pittsfield Facebook page spread the word. There was activity going on all day. Otto’s Kitchen brought us lunch, and a lot of people stopped by in curiosity and to talk about the parklet. It was a really positive exercise.
I don’t really represent the usual millennial age group, but I’m definitely fulfilled by just living downtown. I used to think I wanted to live in a megalopolis. I’ve come to learn that it’s not necessarily how huge the population is. What’s more important is to enjoy a sense of community and familiarity.
