About Paola
I first came to the Valley in 2006. At that time, I was teaching at Smith College and living in Northampton. The next year, I purchased a home in Holyoke. Once I got to know my new city, I decided that there was no other place in Western Massachusetts where I wanted to live.
MY HISTORY WITH HOLYOKE
For one thing, Holyoke has a diverse population. As an immigrant from Italy who has lived in many places, among them Central America, I feel comfortable with neighbors of many backgrounds.
Holyoke has beautiful natural resources, including abundant water; fantastic public services, including a superior gas and electric utility; and incomparable architecture. Over the years that followed, all these factors combined to enrich my life in Holyoke.
Financially, Holyoke has been good to me, as it has to so many others. My first house was in the Highlands. In 2008, I purchased another near the hospital. Both properties are two-family. I lived in one, while renting out part of it, and rented the other to an additional two families. The properties provided me with a steady income while also increasing in value. Recently, I profited by selling the two-family that I owned in the Highlands. I then renewed my commitment to Holyoke by purchasing with my wife a new home, a beautiful modernist brick, ca. 1960, near Holyoke Community College.
When I first moved to Holyoke, I used to say, “In ten years everybody is going to want to move here!” I was off by just four years. Right now, in 2021, houses in the Highlands are selling for as much as half a million dollars. The average home priced at $220,000 lasts on the market for just three days.
WHAT’S BEST FOR HOLYOKE
Holyoke has become a chosen destination for people who crave an urban setting with a diverse population that also provides vicinity to nature, quality of life, and affordable services and utilities.
While the promise of Holyoke is undeniable, there are challenges that have not been met and must be met. More than ever, we need good government. We need officials who see clearly what Holyoke is now and what it can attain in the future. This future requires an ability to envision a Holyoke that is different from the glories of the past.
We are no longer an industrial city. Solutions that may have worked in another era are not appropriate for today. Leadership in the city has too long looked to the past for its model of progress and hope. What is needed now is a new vision that includes the whole city and its entire population. Although Holyoke provides comparatively affordable high standards of living for all its residents, we still have work to do to ensure that dignity and safety are available to everyone.
WHY I’M THE CANDIDATE FOR HOLYOKE
If you believe that rational, ecologically sound and fiscally intelligent decisions have been passed over in favor of out-of-date or sentimental solutions, or if you believe that uncompromising ideology has stopped dialogue, then I am the candidate for you.
The seeds for the future are already planted. An increasingly affluent population is moving here. Holyoke is developing a successful agricultural marijuana industry. Holyoke is a city that is starting to attract innovative entrepreneurs who have decided to locate their businesses and buy houses here. Newcomers are settling in our city, just as I did a decade and a half ago.
Yet these new Holyokers, as well as many longtime residents, feel that their voices are not being heard. For this reason, I am presenting myself as a candidate for the Holyoke City Council.
In return, I will work to ensure that the public has valid and accurate information so that all citizens can understand what their government is doing and why, and have the opportunity to take positions of their own. I promise to listen to ALL residents who present informed suggestions.
I promise to make sure that Holyoke continues to be environmentally friendly, energy-efficient, and open to new, innovative businesses, while also preserving its architectural and geographical wonders.
Thank you for reading.
— Paola Ferrario
Curriculum Vitae
After teaching for 25 years, 15 of which were full-time positions that also required administrative and committee work, I decided to shift my focus to real estate. I remain a professional artist to this day.
PROFESSIONAL CAREER
1986
MFA in Art from Yale University, School of Art and Architecture
2004
Recipient of Guggenheim Fellowship in Photography
1997-2005
Associate Professor of Photography Rhode Island College, Providence
2006-11
Harnish Visiting Artist in Photography, Smith College, Northampton, MA
2016-17
Harnish Visiting Artist in Photography, Smith College, Northampton, MA
2019-present
Realtor at Murphy’s Realtors, Northampton MA
PUBLIC SERVICE
2015-present
Holyoke Historical Commission, Currently Vice Chair
2008-18
Volunteer Hunting Instructor for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
2018-21
Founder of Preserve Lynch, a citizen-led group that tried to stop the sale and demolition of John Lynch Middle School in Holyoke, MA
2019-20
Director, “Christmas Requiem: The Destruction of Mater Dolorosa Church,” a full-length documentary on the destruction of Mater Dolorosa Church in Holyoke MA