‘Easier said than done’: Former mill cities struggle to rehab vacant, blighted properties in Western Mass.  - CommonWealth Beacon

‘Easier said than done’: Former mill cities struggle to rehab vacant, blighted properties in Western Mass.  - CommonWealth Beacon

WHILE WALKING along Holyoke’s sprawling canals, it’s hard to ignore the former mill city’s industrial past and historic design. Established as a textile and paper manufacturing center, Holyoke became the largest producer of paper goods in the country by 1885. It was also home to some of the largest silk and alpaca wool mills in the world.   Now, dozens of those old mills sit boarded up along the canal system and have been mostly vacant for decad…