Thirty locals (mostly young adults) showed up at Veteran's Park last Wednesday (Oct. 5th) to hear a Grow Bloomfield presentation on the Spring '22 Community Survey. Grow Bloomfield president Paul Hudson shared a slide show on GB mission and goals, and the survey, which tallied 405 replies, about 25% of the town's households.

"It's a coin toss," Hudson said. "Half the people want growth, half don't. But everyone wants lower taxes. The public is not connecting the dots...we need some growth to diminish tax increases. The Grow Bloomfield mission is to achieve modest growth while retaining our special rural character."

Hudson went on to state that East Bloomfield Town taxes are about $2/1000 higher than Canandaigua and Farmington towns. "Not too bad. But we can work on that with some new affordable housing and a handful of new businesses."

Affordable housing for young families and seniors was the pressing need expressed by some of the audience. "I can't afford a $250k house but I need three bedrooms," one mother said. Two retired ladies said that they want to sell their homes but be able to stay in town, and they see no good options. "We need more senior housing. Period."

A shiver went through the audience when Grow Bloomfield co-founder Mark Mansfield (owner of the Irish Mafia) made an impassioned speech supporting more residential housing for young families, in part to help stem BCS student enrollment decline (dropped in half since the mid'70s). "There are 33 kids in this year's kindergarten class," Mark said. "We don't want to lose our school, it's a huge part of the town's identity."

FACT CHECK: The '22-23 Kindergarten class at BCS is closer to 60 students. However, it remains true that the total school enrollment has dropped by 50% from the mid-70s.

Mark and Paul both stressed that BCS may be able to help its own cause by supporting residential development, possibly even on unused property it owns south of the Elementary School. "Those 30 vacant acres past the ball fields are a prime spot for a couple new Village streets," Hudson said. "All the utilities are right there--gas, electric, sewer, water. Very valuable land."

The GB Community Survey asked respondents to articulate their "15 Year Vision" for East Bloomfield. All 217 comments are posted on this website. Just click on the link on or near the Home Page. Overall, people say they want quiet neighborhoods, more quaint shops especially "downtown", continued great school, and (specifically) more dining choices, a pharmacy, a hardware store, and enhanced grocery options.