It can be hard to find good news in the depths of recession.
But even if it is not abundant, it is there to be found. Here are two examples in Haverhill.
City and state officials, along with business owners and leaders gathered on the banks of the Merrimack River in the downtown this week to celebrate the completion of a 300-foot boardwalk behind The Tap on Washington Street.
The wooden walkway, built with the help of state money, is the first phase of an effort to connect the downtown with the river. The second phase will be the construction of a rail trail on the Bradford side of the river, following the old Boston and Maine Railroad tracks.
The third will extend the boardwalk, so people can walk between the Basiliere and Comeau bridges.
These improvements don't bring any direct financial benefit to the city. But Tap general manager Sharon Cohen believes that, like the boardwalk in Newburyport, it will attract more people to the downtown. Those people will be likely to shop and eat, helping businesses to prosper.
And that, ultimately, will bring more sales and property tax money into the city.
Also this week, Haverhill's Brightside came out of relative hibernation with the announcement that a crew of volunteers will plant 3,500 daffodils in front of the wall at Haverhill Stadium.
The group, which was founded in the 1990s, for a number of years organized citywide cleanups on Earth Day in late April. But it has not held an event for the past four years, partially because funding from the city ended due to financial problems.
That will end on Saturday, with thousands of daffodils donated by Spring Hill Garden Center. Donations also have come from Trinity Ambulance, and a Girl Scout troop from Bradford will participate, according to Douglas Edison, president of Brightside.
These efforts will not end the recession. But they create a sense of community, along with the hope that whatever crisis confronts the city, its citizens will get through it together.
