Manchester Developments

[Patrick]

Fill us in, please, guys.

[Roxxma]

Didn't you hear? Manchester got washed away in the flood.

[Patrick]

so, the city has been trying so hard to clean itself up that it actually washed away, huh...

[Matt]

ok...needed to post something about manchester....i'm nervous that in this new incarnation, and since he is now at the beginning, patrick will make this archportland......................(all jokes, pat)

So....this place...this is on a random side street downtown, and was a gay club for a while...the place is freakin' enormous....very quiet and inconspiculous from the outside....the gay club was one of those that you needed to knock out the secret code on the door and give the secret handshake to get into (very, very weird).

anyway...

--------

As Electra opens, its sale nears
By SCOTT BROOKS
Union Leader Staff
Tuesday, May. 23, 2006


MANCHESTER ? The owner of the Electra nightclub says he is completing a deal to sell the controversial business, which opened just days ago as an alcohol-free dance club.

Jack Franks said he is selling the Fir Street nightspot for an undetermined sum to Electra Nightclubs Vice President Dana Clay and another businessman, whom he declined to name. He said he expects to close a deal within the coming two to three weeks.

Franks said the deal was destined to go forward regardless of the State Liquor Commission's recent decision to deny the club's application for a liquor license. Electra opened for business last Friday as a hangout for the under-21 crowd.

"We obviously didn't anticipate being a teen club," Franks told the New Hampshire Union Leader yesterday, "but the game plan is still the same: that as soon as we're able to set it up, we're going to have these guys take it over."

Franks said he also plans to sell his stake in his other business, the Electra Nightclub in west Lebanon, to current business partner Robert Dorman. That club does serve alcohol.

"The deal is incomplete," he said. "But it's close."

Franks said he is leaving the restaurant and nightclub business after 19 years to pursue a career in real estate. His plan, he said, is to cater to families in Massachusetts and the Mid-Atlantic who are in the market for a secondary home.

Meanwhile, he said, attorneys for Manchester Electra are considering measures to help the club obtain a liquor license. "They're leaving all options on the table at this point," Franks said.

Neighbors and activists who opposed the club's opening knew of no problems this past weekend. Many, however, said they still hope to drive the club away from their neighborhood, even if it never gets a liquor license.

"I don't think we need any more nightclubs in downtown Manchester. I really don't," said John Mango, who owns Ye Olde Cobbler Shop on Elm Street. The shop, he said, has been repeatedly vandalized over the years, both by bar-goers and by wayward teens.

Though glad the club is not serving alcohol, Mango and others in the neighborhood said they worry some of its teenage patrons will drink or do drugs in their cars or on the street.

"When you have a group of children that large, there's no way you're going to be able to control anything that happens," said Paul Searles, who lives in an apartment on Dow Street. Searles said he is trying to organize a neighborhood watch group that can monitor activities around the club.

Franks said he hired a police detail for opening night last Friday. Also, he said, the club has a metal detector and bouncers who check bags and purses.

"We'll be heavily discouraging any negative activity," he said.

Mayor Frank Guinta said his administration would, if necessary, continue its efforts to block Electra from acquiring a liquor license.

In the meantime, he said, he does not foresee any problems with the club.

"The city is certainly aware that it's open," he said, "and the police department is going to make sure that area and every other location in the city is protected."

[Smuttynose]

Gold Street eyed for Home Depot in Manchester

By DENIS PAISTE
Union Leader Staff

MANCHESTER ? City officials and a Boston-based developer are optimistic that a deal will be reached within a month to reroute part of Gold Street and clear the way for a Home Depot on the site of the old Associated Grocers of New England.

The former Associated Grocers warehouse property at 725 Gold St., opposite March Avenue, is owned by GFI Partners and would have to be rezoned from industrial to retail.

"I think that we'd like to begin the process of permitting with the city council within the next 30 days," said Bob LaRochelle of Andover Strategic Alliances, who acts as a spokesman for GFI Partners.

GFI is negotiating with seven or eight Gold Street homeowners to buy their properties and with the Diocese of Manchester to buy an undeveloped parcel near New St. Augustin Cemetery.

Tentative plans call for a bypass turning north near 376 Gold St., then turning east behind existing homes along the north side of Gold Street and running easterly parallel to Gold Street until it reaches Bradley Street, where a new intersection would be built.

Ward 9 Alderman Michael Garrity said he plans to call a neighborhood meeting in mid-June to air the plan.

"At this point, I am very optimistic, yes," Garrity said.

Plans tentatively call for a 60-foot-wide roadway for the reconfigured Gold Street with parking and sidewalks on both sides, he said. The road is currently 20 feet wide.

There would also be traffic lights at South Beech and Gold streets, he said.

Garrity said he has spoken to officials of Home Depot who are seeking a larger footprint than their current 129 March Ave. store has.

City Economic Development Director Paul Borek said the conversion of the Associated Grocers site to retail could yield an estimated $200,000 a year in additional property tax revenues.

"The project is so very important because of the need to improve traffic movement and circulation along Gold Street, but also from the economic development standpoint," Borek said.

Home Depot spokesman Yancey Casey said he could not confirm whether Home Depot was pursuing the option.

However, Borek said, "we're well aware of the retailer's need for additional space within the market."

Diocese of Manchester spokesman Pat McGee said the diocese is in discussions with the city.

The land is owned by St. Anne/St. Augustin Parish, which is being represented by the diocesan real estate office.

Garrity said developers plan to buy six houses on the south side of Gold Street and two on the north. Another house on the south side, whose owner did not want to sell, will be worked around.

"If this Gold Street plan goes through, it will finally solve the issues on Gold Street," Garrity said. "If the issues on Gold Street are resolved, I wouldn't be opposed to rezoning it."

[Patrick]

archPortland is dead! why, matt? why!! now my plans have all fallen through and i have been uncovered as the forum thread stealing crook that i am! ooohhh! ooohh! hahaha. yeah i blasted this forum with like 10 portland threads in about the first hour i signed up. haha. :lol:

electra is the 900 seater right?

[Matt]

Patrick there is no question that the other board crashed because you tried to upload 50 portland articles within seconds....poor little server couldn't handle it. We all saw that one coming (is it a coincidence that this happened mere days after you graduated??? I think not)

Yes...900 people! It's akin to a moderate-sized place in boston....was totally blown away the first time I went in...I can't stress enough how it's on a random side street, at the crook of a 90 degree turn of the street, a block from elm...very hidden and no way can you tell the size....i don't know the history of the place....no recollection of anything there growing up

At the corner is a little superette (North End Superette, M.Brown and the rest who don't know where it is) that a. would take our fake i.d.'s as a kid and b. has a fantastic wine selection now...so i've driven by it a million places...no idea a club was there.

[Patrick]

yea sorry to everyone for crashign the board...but it was only 36 articles, the other 14 i was gonna post the next morning.

anyway, a similar thing exists in portland. off of congress street on a narrow side street are two 1,000 capacity clubs adjacent to one another. the asylum, and what used to be havanas (now just known as the stadium complex). you sure cant tell they are that big, cause they are in those buildings that are so cookie-cutter in donwtown, those buildings which usually have small rooms etc.

[Matt]

right...i remember those in portland. The difference is the signage and the area they're in....The electra space looks like (or did, at least) like a random office space....since it's at the 'elbow' of the street, you have no sense how deep it goes in the back. And, this street, fir, is only a block long before turning 90 to become something else...it's not even a real cross street to anything else. It seems like a sleepy little block...not the area that houses the largest club in manchester. There would be no reason to go down that street, and there isn't signage to even let you know it's a club (that's why it was a classic old time gay club...completely hidden)....it's a few blocks north of the more established downtown, which roughly ends at bridge street to the north (i know, this may mean nothing to you...there's a 10 story brown bank of america building on that corner, if you remember that. you actually have a photo a few months ago driving down bridge street from the highway exit)

sorry...not describing it well....when i have time i'll pull up a map

[Smuttynose]

MANCHESTER: Hope for Pandora hinges on parking
Hotel awaits city?s approval of Granite Street lot sale
By Joe Cox jcox@hippopress.com


According to Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman on Earth.

The gods gave her many charms ? beauty, persuasion. And they gave her a box which they forbade her to open, but yes, she did anyway and all the evils inside escaped into the world. But there was one thing left in Pandora?s Box ? hope.

That?s what some city leaders have on their side when it comes to the redevelopment of the Pandora Mill building at the corner of Granite and Commercial streets. It?s one of the last, and the most visible, targets for redevelopment in the Millyard.

At one time it was a majestic symbol of the industrial revolution. Today it?s a vacant deserted hulk owned by a commercial real estate group led by Dean Kamen, 1848 Associates. Grand plans include conversion of the mammoth brick edifice into a hotel, possibly featuring penthouse condos on the top floor.

As part of the overall plan, the group wants to buy the Granite Street parking lot to the south, the Seal Tanning parking lot to the north, and Phillipe Cote Street to the west, from the city for $635,500. The Seal lot has 142 spaces, the Granite Street lot has 66.

The deal would include the responsibility for the construction of an earth retaining wall as required by the Granite Street road widening project. That?s a good deal, according to proponent George Smith, Ward 10 alderman.

?It would alleviate the parking down there,? he said. ?And it would give us a good tax base, but parking is a prime consideration.? If the city were to hold on to the properties, it would have to pay for the retaining wall and invest in parking lot upgrades.

Even though the Granite Street widening project is reducing the Granite Street lot property size, a newly designed lot would handle more parking than at present. And project planners say a new parking deck at the Seal Tanning lot would be a very significant addition of parking.

The Kamen property group also owns Gateway and other buildings (west of Pandora on the Merrimack River) that house Texas Instruments and Autodesk. Both companies want to hire more workers but the present parking facilities are insufficient. The group wants to accommodate its tenants and it wants to move forward with the Pandora property. There?s a sense of urgency.

1848 Associates is willing to pay for the retaining wall at the Granite Street lot and build a two-level parking deck structure at the Seal Tanning lot to create more parking spaces, though the price they?re willing to pay is far below market value for the lots and the street.

?I think the number is closer to $1.5 million,? Ward 2 Alderman Ted Gatsas said. ?The taxpayers need to be protected.? Last year the city properties were appraised at $1.9 million.

So the deal is hung up on price. The BMA tabled a sale proposal last month and a new city proposal is expected to be before the board again by the middle of this month.

The proposed 1848 Associates price is derived by subtracting future maintenance costs and the Granite Street retaining wall construction cost from the present value of the lots and Cote Street.

?In real estate, you?re buying something on an ?as is? basis, not based on what somebody?s going to do for maintenance,? Gatsas said.

Mayor Frank Guinta is in favor of the sale of city property and the redevelopment of the Pandora building.

Smith believes it will be three or four years before the city would create significant parking expansion at the south end of the Millyard if it were to hold on to the properties rather than sell them.

Gatsas is not convinced.

?When you start selling parking lots, the city no longer has control,? Gatsas said.


-I hate this Gatsas guy, the city is losing a lot more money with this building left vacant and rotting, than it would by giving a slight discount to the developers on the sales price

[TGSwimFly]

Exit 4A: Let the boom begin

By ELISE CASTELLI
Union Leader Correspondent
29 minutes ago

DERRY ? With the Exit 4A project on the horizon, Derry is preparing for a boom in economic development as the project coincides with town efforts to centralize economic development control and sets the stage for new development on Route 28.

"Exit 4A is going to make a huge impact down the road to change the face of Derry," Town Administrator Russell Marcoux said in an interview yesterday.

Derry has been made more attractive to businesses because of the potential Exit 4A, Community Development Director George Sioras said in an interview Thursday.

The town has been approached by "major retailers" who would "prefer a quicker and easier way to get to the highway," said Sioras. "Development will happen even if 4A doesn't, but 4A will make it more attractive."

If Exit 4A's chosen path receives final approval, it would take travelers through Derry along North High Street and Folsom Road, allowing truckers and customers to avoid downtown Derry traffic to get to the stores, he said.

"It's a matter of once one store goes in, it will bring in other types of retailers," said Sioras. Wal-Mart is already in negotiations to build a super center on Sanmina property behind Flagship Cinemas. Several other major retailers interested in the remaining Sanmina properties and other vacant properties on Manchester Road routinely call Sioras to check on the progress of Exit 4A, he said.

"But it's not free of charge, we have to invest in our future," said Marcoux.

Exit 4A will cost approximately $24 million, but road improvements will also be needed along Route 28, Marcoux said. With the potential for development on Route 28, there is also potential for a tax increment finance district in the area similar to the one on Ash Street, he said.

A TIF district would allow the town to fund improvements to the roadway and infrastructure with a bond. The tax revenue from the increased value of the redeveloped properties would be used to pay off the bond. After the bond is paid off, the additional tax revenue will strengthen Derry's tax base, Marcoux said.

There are several other funding options being explored for Route 28 improvements, which will happen regardless of Exit 4A and possibly sooner, he said.

Exit 4A and the potential development along Route 28 coincide with the town's efforts to centralize economic development operations, said Marcoux. The town government, the Derry Economic Development Corporation and the Derry Housing and Redevelopment Authority have been meeting to develop a common vision for the town and the types of development Derry should see.

The Housing Authority recently appointed a new director, Robert Fleig and the DEDC has recently begun advertising for a new, permanent executive director, Marcoux said.

The new DEDC director will also serve as economic development director for the town, which will contribute $60,000 to the development director's salary. The director will focus on bringing business to Derry, said Marcoux.

Downtown revitalization, another major development goal, will also be a part of the plan. One of the purposes of the Exit 4A project when it was conceived more than 20 years ago was to revitalize downtown Derry by alleviating congestion along the roadway, said Town Councilor Jack Dowd, who has worked on the project since 1988.

"The businesses are becoming better and more upscale," Dowd said in an interview yesterday. "If we can remove the commuter traffic from Broadway and Crystal Avenue, we'll see a growth in business coming downtown."

A decrease in congestion will increase pedestrian traffic for business, as shoppers will be able to drive to the downtown and enjoy the thriving businesses that fill the once-empty storefronts, Dowd said.

[TGSwimFly]

300 Bedford St. brings $3.75 million

By BENJAMIN KEPPLE
Union Leader Staff
16 hours, 32 minutes ago

MANCHESTER ? The mill building at 300 Bedford St. has been sold for $3.75 million to a Connecticut-based real-estate firm, the building's former owners have confirmed.

Elbes Associates sold the sprawling building, also known as the Tower Mill Center, to College Street Management LLC, a New Haven-based property management firm. The building is north of the SEE Science Center on the street that runs between Canal and Commercial streets.

"We felt the time was right," said Dahn Cohen, an Elbes Associates principal, about the sale. "In the current climate, we feel it's the right price."

Calls to College Street Management seeking comment weren't returned yesterday. But the company is known for converting office or other commercial buildings to residential use. That's exactly what was discussed for the building back in April, when College Street Management was doing its due diligence on the property.

Cohen, however, said it is unclear whether College Street Management will convert the building into apartments or condominiums, or whether it will keep the structure mixed-use. According to College Street Management's Web site, the company also looks at buying office properties with an eye toward upgrading them.

That's given some tenants in the building, who very much like their space, hope they'll be able to stay there. Karen Silverstein, who owns Dance Studios of Manchester on the lower floor, said she "couldn't be happier." She has spent some 18 years in the building.

"I'm paying month-by-month and, right now, I'm just waiting to see what they do with the building," Silverstein said.

The Tower Mill Center property is five stories tall and has roughly 150,000 square feet of space. It has been associated with the Cohen family since 1940, when Cohen's grandfather Eli founded the Bee Bee Shoe Co.

The building itself is somewhat maze-like inside: There are several different entrances into the structure, and lots of small offices and shops present. Some 31 tenants are listed on the building's main outdoor sign.

Listed tenants include lending firm American Brokers Conduit, public-relations firm Brainium Inc., H&L Distribution Inc. and Mitch Rosen Extraordinary Gunleather LLC, which makes holsters and related products for firearms.

If College Street Management were to convert the building into apartments or condominiums, it would be the first such conversion of former industrial/commercial space to residential space in the Millyard.

[Patrick]

now that the hotel is done, is there anything under construction, major or minor, in manchester?

and what is the population of derry and where is it located? is it a city propper or a burb?

[Smuttynose]

^Derry is about 8 miles southeast of Manchester, right off of I-93. It is definitely Manchester's largest suburb with a population of about 36,000. I personally like Derry because it's one of the few suburbs around here with a real downtown. Their high school, Pinkerton Academy, is easily one of the nicest in the state, and looks a lot more like a college campus than a high school.

Right now there are still those townhouses under construction south of the ballpark and two 6 story condo towers planned bordering the ballpark to the south. All of this is being developed by this guy Eric Chinburg, out of the seacoast, who has a very good reputation in the state. I think he also signed a development deal w/ the city obligating him to build the 2 towers. So, it does look like they will come to fruition, hopefully sooner rather than later. There are also plans for a restaurant on the river just west of the Hilton by another developer.

Other than the riverfront area, there is not a whole lot developing that would interest people here. The Pandora mill hotel, and UNH Manchester expansion look promising but they are a long way from construction. There is a fair amount of condo/retail development going on around, but it's more suburban in layout and design.

I do think the city could be more welcoming to development downtown and in the Millyard. Look at the Pandora mill, the city is holding up that project, rather than expediting it.

[Patrick]

wow, derry sounds like a pretty nice location/size. it is essentially the same size as burlington, vermont. if it has that many people there and has a "downtown" wouldnt that make it not a suburb? we have a town west of us (westbrook) with about 18,000 people, but it is less a suburb than a city proper...at least thats the way i see it. and south portland is its own urban center as designated by the census bureau....is it different for derry? and if so why? we have a 40,000 person town in our metro area but it is 45 mins away (we have a giant metro geographically speaking)....i cant imagine if it were only 8 miles away. manchester needs a new high rise.

[Smuttynose]

Well Derry's downtown isn't exactly much, it just beats the church, town hall, and park that a lot of the suburban centers have. And Derry overall is definitely suburban in layout.

On another note, Manch has a new daily newspaper -The Manchester Daily Express to compete with the Union Leader. It's a free 16 pg tabloid style from the creators of the Hippo.

http://www.manchexpress.com/

[M. Brown]

If Derry were classified as a city, it would be NH's fourth largest.

[Smuttynose]

Salem Exit 2 area booming
By BENJAMIN KEPPLE
Union Leader Staff
Monday, Jun. 12, 2006


SALEM ? When drivers leave the I-93 highway at Exit 2, one of the first sights they see upon exiting is the impressive structure of a four-story office building being built along Pelham Road.

It is perhaps the most visible sign of a building boom in the area, which has several structures now under construction or planned to be built, many of which are destined to become medical offices.

There's so much work being done that some town officials say the last time they saw this level of construction activity was during the heyday of the 1980s.

"It's very, very high compared to previous years; certainly, there's a lot of activity," said Ross Moldoff, Salem's planning director. "There's a lot going on and it's come up over the past year or two."

Projects presently being built or planned include a four-story, 65,400-square-foot office building at 25 Pelham Road; two 36,000-square-foot medical office buildings, at 11 and 23 Keewaydin Drive; and a 30,000-square-foot office building at 29 Stiles Road. Elsewhere in Salem, a retail plaza with nearly 62,000 square feet of space is being built on North Broadway.

The Exit 2 area offers plenty of attractions for businesses.

"It's right on the Massachusetts border, virtually. It's right next to I-93. There are great tax benefits to doing business up here. It's just the right environment at the right time," said Nanci Carney, who chairs the board of directors of the Greater Salem Chamber of Commerce.

http://www.unionleader.com/uploads/media-items/2006/june/612salem5.jpg
Construction is booming around I-93's Exit 2 in Salem, such as at this four-story, 65,400-square-foot office building at 25 Pelham Road. (BENJAMIN KEPPLE)
It's also a friendly location for air travelers, Carney said. Those heading to international locations can get on the freeway and head to Logan International Airport in Boston, and domestic travelers can reach Manchester-Boston Regional Airport in as little as 15 minutes, Carney said.

"We're seeing a lot of companies move into that area," she said.

Synchronized Manufacturing Technologies, which is located at 19 Keewaydin Drive and is right near Exit 2, is one such company which found the location perfect for its needs.

"It's really very convenient for us. We looked at Methuen and Salem (Mass.) and Lawrence, but we just thought we would do better in southern New Hampshire," said Alan Kule, Sychronized Manufacturing's president.

According to Kule, the Exit 2 location offers his 20-employee firm several advantages. Taxes are lower, health insurance and business insurance is cheaper, and it's easy to attract employees and customers from both the Route 128 belt in Massachusetts and Manchester and Concord to the north.

Developers see things the same way.

"Obviously, being across the border is a significant and a real advantage. New Hampshire does have a business advantage and there's just no ifs, ands or buts about it," said Chris Goodnow, owner of Goodnow Real Estate Services, a real estate marketing firm.

Goodnow is marketing the 30,000 square feet planned at 29 Stiles Road. Construction is scheduled to begin this week on the building, the first of two. Salem-based Park Place Realty Trust is the owner behind the project.

According to Goodnow, the developers plan to market the 29 Stiles Road building as office condos to physicians and others in the medical field, available for sale or lease. Most of the interest in the building has come from prospective condo buyers, he said.

Selling the space, as opposed to leasing it, offers advantages for the developers as well as the buyers. Interest rates have made it attractive to buy office condo space, and Goodnow said that, generally speaking, the market for buying office space has been quite strong in southern New Hampshire. The leasing market has been somewhat weaker.

Big supply
Some, however, wonder about all the development taking place. Along Stiles Road, there are several signs advertising available office space, and that has prompted surprise among some that new work would take place nearby.

"You still see a lot of 'vacant' and 'space available' signs, so you kind of scratch your head," Kule said.

However, others point out that the spaces being advertised are generally for smaller blocks of office space, in buildings which are pretty full. Plus, they're different types of buildings than the new construction being built.

"What there are not a lot of are larger blocks of office space. They've been absorbed," Goodnow said. "I think there's clearly some opportunities."

Joe Friedman, president of Brooks Properties, said demand for medical office space in the area is strong. His company is building the two medical office buildings along Keewaydin Drive: one is already under construction. The offices will be available for sale or lease.

Friedman said the population of doctors in the area has increased, and that physicians are willing to update their facilities and move to a new facility in a new location. His company is in the process of talking with tenants, he said.

"There's a lot of demand for medical office space at Exit 2, and we're responding to that demand," said Friedman.

"We're very optimistic about the market."

[Patrick]

ahh, mexico:america :: southern NH:massachusetts

southern NH is to mass what mexico is to america, it would appear. how far from manchester is salem?

[Smuttynose]

I would say Salem is about 20 minutes or so from Manchester. It's probably more a suburb of Boston than Manchester seeing as how it's perched right on the stateline. Even though it's closer to Manchester, there are a ton of Boston commuters living there.

[Patrick]

I would say Salem is about 20 minutes or so from Manchester. It's probably more a suburb of Boston than Manchester seeing as how it's perched right on the stateline. Even though it's closer to Manchester, there are a ton of Boston commuters living there.

ah yes and things like this would explain why manchester has a smaller metro area than portland by a few hundred thousand people, even though there are more people living around manchester thsan there are living around here....many of them are sucked into the boston metro i bet.

[Patrick]

hey guys i am starting to get sick of looking at my own city, where are all of the manchester pictures?!?! seriosuly, if you guys have the time and live nearby the city or in it i would love to see some pix from the perspective of New Hampshirians...

[TGSwimFly]

New Hampshirites...

[M. Brown]

New Hampshirites...

Seconded.

[Smuttynose]

hey guys i am starting to get sick of looking at my own city, where are all of the manchester pictures?!?! seriosuly, if you guys have the time and live nearby the city or in it i would love to see some pix from the perspective of New Hampshirians...

I will take some as soon as i can figure out how to fix my camera...

might be a while

[Smuttynose]

Will condominiums come to Millyard?

By GARRY RAYNO
Union Leader Staff

Manchester ? Is it time for residential condominiums in the city's historic Millyard?

Speculation is rampant that the recently purchased Tower Mill Center building at 300 Bedford St. could be converted to condominiums by its new owner College Street Management LLC.

The New Haven-based company is known for converting office or commercial buildings to residential uses, but declined comment yesterday on its plans.

Although no condominiums or residential units have been developed in the many Millyard buildings, they are not forbidden under the city zoning ordinance for the Amoskeag Millyard Mixed Use District.

Permit needed
Residential is not a permitted use in the Millyard, but it is allowed if a developer obtains a conditional use permit from the city planning board.

Because the Amoskeag Millyard district is also a historic district, any major change to a building is likely to need approval of the Millyard Design Review Committee and the Manchester Heritage Committee.

Several people associated with development in the Millyard say no condominiums were built because it costs a lot more money to create condominiums than office space in the old mill buildings.

Condominiums have always been one of the potential uses of Millyard buildings, said Don Clark, director of property management and development for Millyard businessman and property owner Dean Kamen.

About the money
"But it's got to make economic sense," Clark said. It would depend on how much it costs to purchase a building and renovate it, compared to what the condos would sell for, Clark said.

"I don't think it's a bad idea if you could make money at it and it would be a good use of some of these buildings," he said. But he said at what point do you saturate the market with condos.

Arthur Sullivan, of Brady Sullivan Properties, said until recently the cost would have prohibited converting the buildings to residential condos rather than office space on a cost-per-square-foot basis.

But Sullivan believes there is an opportunity now for condominiums in the Millyard. "Residential with mixed used would make a lot of sense," he said, and could help ease some of the parking crunch.

The Millyard was not as active in 1995 when his company bought the Waumbec building on the south end of North Commercial Street and began renovating it, he said.

Timing matters
"The time is ripe now where it wasn't four or five years ago. There's a lot more activity now," Sullivan said.

Former Manchester Economic Development Director Jay Taylor said the rents and sale prices in the Manchester market have never been sufficient to warrant the kind of investment someone would have to make in a mill building to convert it to condominiums.

But he said with the development of Manchester Place and the new condominiums by the baseball park and along the Merrimack River, the numbers may be a little closer to working.
Phased in

Taylor said condominiums in a mill building would probably need to be built in phases so the market isn't saturated.

Pat Long, Ward 3 alderman whose district includes the Millyard, said he was in favor of condominiums in the Millyard.

"The idea is to get more residents in the downtown area so why not," he said.

The big problem in the Millyard is parking, Long said, so a developer would have to do something to take care of parking.

[Patrick]

in between manchesters two tall buildings I remember seeing either an open space or a very low rise building, like two floors or something. Is there any possibility that this land will be developed?

[Smuttynose]

^I don't think there are any completely open lots, but there are one and two story buildings that should be developed. Unfortunately, there are too many of those around downtown Manch. There's a one story building on Elm just north of the Verizon, which I find particularly annoying, seeing as how it's such a high traffic area.

[Patrick]

I cant make out anything much between these two buildings...what is there and why is it not developed? is it a park or open space or something? and why isnt there more high rise on the opposite side of elm street? i always found that strange.
http://www.berardmartel.com/NH_Plaza_Exterior_Full_Shot.jpg

[Smuttynose]

Right next to the Hampshire Plaza tower is an open courtyard kind of area that leads to the Hampshire Plaza Mall - a very poorly designed one story indoor mall with a parking garage below. That particular building is really crying out for redevelopment seeing as how it has never really worked and is a pretty depressing sight.

[Patrick]

Right next to the Hampshire Plaza tower is an open courtyard kind of area that leads to the Hampshire Plaza Mall - a very poorly designed one story indoor mall with a parking garage below. That particular building is really crying out for redevelopment seeing as how it has never really worked and is a pretty depressing sight.

yeah. i was really stumped as to why there were these two high rise buildings with a (very) low rise in between them. I would have expected to see a ten story or something like that..but a one story mall? any chance that will be torn down and replaced? my real concern, however, is the other side of the street. if i recall correctly there is at least one high rise over there (13-stories) but it doesnt fit in well because it looks like it is only 5 stories in comparison to its giant neighbors across the street. a nice high rise would go well on that side i think.

[Smuttynose]

^I think you're probably refering to this building on the left - The Citizens Bank building - one of the nicer buildings downtown in my opinion. It is 10 stories.

http://jamesedcookphotography.com/portfolioimages//manchester/12-elm-street.jpg

That side of Elm Street is a little more "together" in my opinion, because the buildings are more consistent in height. Very few 1 or 2 stories, though I would certainly welcome a highrise there too. I'd also like to see the parking lot behind City Hall Plaza developed as well to kind of help bridge the gap you see here between the Elm St. corridor and the millyard.

http://jamesedcookphotography.com/imagedata//manchester/640/09-900-293-river.jpg

Not my photos! Photos are from Jamesedcookphotography.com

[Smuttynose]

The Riverwalk Place developers had a 'sneak peak' at the tower floorplans back in April, which is a good sign. There will be 132 units ranging in size from 800 square feet to 2200 sf. If you're patient enough to sit through this short flash intro on the project, there's a rendering of the towers at the end.

http://www.riverwalkmanchester.com/intro.htm

[Patrick]

wow! those are excellent photos thanks for sharing them. Im assuming they were taken from the top floor of hampshire plaza? observation deck by any chance?

The thing i find weird about manch is that it has two really tall towers and then, like you said, a parking lot behind one of them, an open space in between them, and then an opposite side of elm street that looks like a city should: compact. I just dont get it, but i think when the city becomes more developed things will fall more into place....and with manch's reputation growing, i dont think you guys will have to worry about future development. I never really realized how close the "millyard" was to elm street....thought it was a diff section of town.

and lastly, it is extremely odd that manchester has a 6-story development that looks like those towers, because portland has one on the horizon that looks almost identical, same height too i think, and it is also called riverwalk, although the official name has changed to the longfellow. it was called "{riverwalk for the longest time).

portlands riverwalk: http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/4341/z3ho.jpg

source:
http://www.thelongfellow.com/pdf/renderings.pdf

but i think manchesters looks like it will be a taller 6-stories than portlands. both nice projects that i like a lot.

[grittys457]

The whole project is called Riverwalk. The condos closest to the water are called The Longfellow.

Patrick, you gotta take a pic of the new Merrill Auditorium signage(marquis?) at night. Saw it for the first time tonight and it looked very "city" like. Too bad you only see it going down that side street or real quick driving down Congress.

[Smuttynose]

Manchester pedestrian bridge project has funds

By RILEY YATES
Union Leader Staff

Manchester ? Don?t tell Helen Closson her longtime pet project is a bridge to nowhere.

Next week, the Hands Across the Merrimack Bridge reaches its fifth anniversary of planning. And money is there to go ahead with construction.

Aldermen approved $250,000 for the bridge in the community improvement budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The funds would allow the project to go out to bid ? though in an abridged form due to rising construction costs.

?It?s been a long, difficult process, but it?s worth it,? said Closson, who has headed fundraising efforts.

That is not the view of two aldermen who have consistently fought the project. Bill Shea of Ward 7 and Ted Gatsas of Ward 2 labeled it a ?bridge to nowhere? during budget fights this month, questioning its cost and whether people will use it in seasons other than summer.

?I?ll call it pork because that?s what they call it in Washington,? Gatsas said during debates at City Hall.

The project will rehab the abandoned railroad trestle that spans Interstate 293, constructing a pedestrian and bike path that will connect an area near the ballpark with the West Side by Second Street.

Already, the city has secured $1.9 million in federal, state and local funds, on top of the $250,000 that was approved. Private fundrasing has reached about $300,000, Closson said.

Rising costs have led to construction officials scrapping a plan to build an archway for the bridge, and a needed $500,000 paint job will be delayed in order to allow the project to go forward.

Deputy Public Works Director Kevin Sheppard said a meeting is planned this week to discuss a timeline for the project. Final designs are being worked on, and officials hope to have the project out to bid in time for this construction season, he said.

Mayor Frank Guinta said the bridge is one of the first things drivers see when coming into the city.

?There?s always been this historical debate in the city about the divide between the east and the west,? Guinta said. ?This is a bridge that provides this connectivity.?

[Patrick]

What are the respective populations of east and west manchester, does anyone know? Is it evenly split? Is the city cohesive or are there local centers on each side?

also, i was on myspace.com this morning and i got a bulletin from one of my "buddies" that read:

NH GET READY FOR THE BADDEST PARTY SOUTH OF BOSTON!!!


STARTN' JULY 7TH COME JOIN US AS WE INVADE N.H @ CLUB ENVY FOR "FIRE FRIDAYZ!!"FT THE 45 CREW MEMEBERZ DJ SAM SMOOVE PLAYN REGGATONE WITH A TOUCH OF HIPHOP AND R&B and RENEGADE SOUNDSTATION BLAZN' THE DANCEHALL, ROOTS, SOCA, CALYPSO n everything reggae. ALSO HOSTED BY JAMN 94.5's CRAZY KULO!!

"FIRE FRIDAYZ!!!"CLUB ENVY (ENVYNIGHTLIFE.COM)
"SOMEBODY SAY FIIIIIIIIIIIIIRE!!!!"

my question is since when was NH south of boston?

[M. Brown]

What are the respective populations of east and west manchester, does anyone know? Is it evenly split? Is the city cohesive or are there local centers on each side?

also, i was on myspace.com this morning and i got a bulletin from one of my "buddies" that read:

NH GET READY FOR THE BADDEST PARTY SOUTH OF BOSTON!!!


STARTN' JULY 7TH COME JOIN US AS WE INVADE N.H @ CLUB ENVY FOR "FIRE FRIDAYZ!!"FT THE 45 CREW MEMEBERZ DJ SAM SMOOVE PLAYN REGGATONE WITH A TOUCH OF HIPHOP AND R&B and RENEGADE SOUNDSTATION BLAZN' THE DANCEHALL, ROOTS, SOCA, CALYPSO n everything reggae. ALSO HOSTED BY JAMN 94.5's CRAZY KULO!!

"FIRE FRIDAYZ!!!"CLUB ENVY (ENVYNIGHTLIFE.COM)
"SOMEBODY SAY FIIIIIIIIIIIIIRE!!!!"

my question is since when was NH south of boston?

Since umm....since umm....thats a hard one. I'll have to do some research.

East Manchester is bigger than West Manchester in population and land area. Unlike Portland and So. Portland, E and W Manch are the same city.

[M. Brown]

Manchester pedestrian bridge project has funds

By RILEY YATES
Union Leader Staff

Manchester ? Don?t tell Helen Closson her longtime pet project is a bridge to nowhere.

Next week, the Hands Across the Merrimack Bridge reaches its fifth anniversary of planning. And money is there to go ahead with construction.

Aldermen approved $250,000 for the bridge in the community improvement budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The funds would allow the project to go out to bid ? though in an abridged form due to rising construction costs.

?It?s been a long, difficult process, but it?s worth it,? said Closson, who has headed fundraising efforts.

That is not the view of two aldermen who have consistently fought the project. Bill Shea of Ward 7 and Ted Gatsas of Ward 2 labeled it a ?bridge to nowhere? during budget fights this month, questioning its cost and whether people will use it in seasons other than summer.

?I?ll call it pork because that?s what they call it in Washington,? Gatsas said during debates at City Hall.

The project will rehab the abandoned railroad trestle that spans Interstate 293, constructing a pedestrian and bike path that will connect an area near the ballpark with the West Side by Second Street.

Already, the city has secured $1.9 million in federal, state and local funds, on top of the $250,000 that was approved. Private fundrasing has reached about $300,000, Closson said.

Rising costs have led to construction officials scrapping a plan to build an archway for the bridge, and a needed $500,000 paint job will be delayed in order to allow the project to go forward.

Deputy Public Works Director Kevin Sheppard said a meeting is planned this week to discuss a timeline for the project. Final designs are being worked on, and officials hope to have the project out to bid in time for this construction season, he said.

Mayor Frank Guinta said the bridge is one of the first things drivers see when coming into the city.

?There?s always been this historical debate in the city about the divide between the east and the west,? Guinta said. ?This is a bridge that provides this connectivity.?
I must say this is great news. I've been wanting this thing to get built for a while.

[Patrick]

East Manchester is bigger than West Manchester in population and land area. Unlike Portland and So. Portland, E and W Manch are the same city.

but how do they "feel." do they feel like the same city, or is the river a boundary of sorts?

[M. Brown]

East Manchester is bigger than West Manchester in population and land area. Unlike Portland and So. Portland, E and W Manch are the same city.

but how do they "feel." do they feel like the same city, or is the river a boundary of sorts?
Yep.

[Smuttynose]

School goes on a buying spree

By DALE VINCENT
Union Leader Staff

Manchester ? After buying two downtown buildings in a month this spring, the New Hampshire Institute of Art is taking an acquisition breather, according to its development director Jessica Kinsey.

The buying spree, totaling nearly a million dollars, gives the growing school new office space at 153 Concord St. and a new three-unit apartment building at 90 Harrison St. to house upperclassmen.

Those purchases followed by a year the acquisition of the former Stan?s Masury Paint Store at 77 Amherst St., which was remodeled and expanded for academic use, and The Hampshire, 11 Walnut St., for dormitory space for female students.

The school now owns six downtown buildings, plus holds a lease on the third and fourth floors of the Mechanic Street Manchester YMCA building, which is used for dorm rooms.

The school was founded in 1898, offering courses in physical sciences, entomology, botany, ornithology, mineralogy and fine arts, and later, zoology, as the Manchester Institute of Arts and Sciences. But it has shifted its focus several times.

The latest shift began in 1996 when it became the New Hampshire Institute of Art, a four-year degree-granting school. Then-president Andrew Svedlow predicted the BFA program would remain small, about 100 students, with 25 students enrolled each year starting in fall 1997.

This fall, the school is looking at an incoming class of 120 degree-seeking students, Kinsey said. In 1999, she said, there were six students in the degree program. Last year, there were 238.

In addition, she said, some 1,500 people a year, ages 15 and up, take non-credit courses at the school, which now offers ceramics, illustration, photography, painting, interdisciplinary and art education programs.

As the school has grown, Kinsey said, ?The demographic is shifting in the BFA program.?

When it began, there were more non-traditional or older students. Now, she said, most are fresh out of high school and they want a traditional college campus experience.

That put the school in the housing business two years ago. The school has 91 beds in its dormitories.

It offers male and female students housing at the YMCA and the Harrison Street apartment building, and female students housing at The Hampshire on Walnut Street, formerly operated by the Settlement Association of New Hampshire as a rooming house for single working women.

What hasn?t changed, Kinsey said, is that the student body continues to skew female, which could be considered appropriate, given the critical support prominent Manchester women have given the institute over the years.

Emma Blood French donated the first institute building at 148 Concord St., and her granddaughter, Mary Fuller Russell, left the school $24 million at her death in 1995.

Margaret and Mary Fuller Hall at 156 Hanover St., named for Russell and her mother, was purchased for a half-million dollars in 1998 and renovated at a cost of $2 million. It houses the institute?s administration, photography program and library.

[Smuttynose]

UNH expands in Manchester

By JOHN WHITSON
Union Leader Staff


Manchester ? The University of New Hampshire at Manchester is feeling some growing pains.

In a good way.

The university?s Center for Graduate and Professional Studies, jockeying for classroom space after growing from 100 to 360 students over its five years, is moving down the street.

As of July 17, the graduate program will move south from the university center and call 286 Commercial St. home. The building already houses the administrative offices of the Manchester School District on the second floor.

?For us, it?s a major change,? said Kate Ferreira, the graduate center?s director. ?This really is going to create the concept of campus.?

Students will be able to park throughout the Millyard, she said, and remain within easy walking distance to either university center.

The Manchester campus offers eight master?s degree programs. Some courses may still be held at one of 400 Commercial St.?s 28 classrooms, said Ferreira, but the bulk of graduate-level teaching will take place down the street, starting next month.

The seven classrooms with office space for three employees is being leased.

?This is probably going to be a temporary move until something gets finalized with the city,? said Ferreira, referring to Manchester?s ongoing efforts to develop a mixed-use facility in the Millyard that would include a UNH at Manchester science and technology center.

?We?ve been looking at different options over there for a couple of years,? said Harry Richards, dean of UNH?s graduate school on the main campus in Durham. ?The growth of the center has been phenomenal.?

Ferreira said the graduate center, which includes about 50 continuing education students who aren?t in a degree program, has proved popular in part because it knows its audience.

?Our target is really the working professional, for students to come to school at night,? she said. Courses are structured in a variety of ways to accommodate older students with families and other commitments.

UNH at Manchester bills itself as the urban arm of the Durham campus. As such, said Ferreira, undergraduate programs are also often structured to fit nontraditional students.

?We?re competing for space to accommodate that population,? she said, ?so (the move) really works out well.

?It?s a wonderful opportunity to expand, and it can be used during the day for professional development and training seminars. It will really lend itself to being a (university) center,? she said.

Richards said professional workshops will help to solidify UNH at Manchester?s connection to the city itself. To host such seminars in the past, he said, the university often had to borrow space from Springfield College at 500 Commercial St.

He said separating the undergraduate and graduate programs will allow the university to stop being a victim of its own success.

?Once we opened the graduate center and started offering these programs, we created a real space crunch in that building in the evenings,? Richards said. ?We couldn?t expand. We couldn?t grow.?

[Smuttynose]

Why the hell aren't they building this in Manch? Who wants to live in Raymond?

More details on Exit 4 project
By TOBY HENRY
Union Leader Correspondent

Raymond ? The ambitious $60 million Granite Meadows development plan debuted before an inquisitive Planning Board last night as town officials queried the proposal's effect on the region.

The five-member board seemed particularly concerned about traffic and wetlands impact. In opening discussions on the project, Auburn developer Elmer Pease, mastermind of the long-awaited project near Exit 4, said that at least one new entrance near Scribner Road has been added and that a traffic signal might also ease traffic buildup.

Later, board member Frank Bourque returned to the traffic-light issue, stating that the light might become a necessity at the Manchester Road intersection as development continues at Exit 4. The move is also likely to please potential retailers, Bourque said.

"It just makes a lot of sense "? because the next guy (developer) who comes along may be putting a signal at Scribner Road," Bourque said.

Although the 40-acre Granite Meadows project has been the subject of much discussion and at least two public presentations during the past year, last night's hearing was the first official presentation of the plan before town officials. The Granite Meadows plan involves two, seven-story condominium buildings of 96 units each, a 7,500-square-foot restaurant, a 200-room hotel and almost 150,000 feet of retail space.

Bourque pointed out that the Exit 4 area's sewer overlay district, approved by voters in March, specified that "no more than 25 percent" of the lot was intended for use as residential space.

Bourque asked Pease if his plan took this into account, and Pease responded that the residential variance he was granted specifically mentions the approval of the 192 residential units he intends for that lot.

Later, Pease's engineer Matt Peterson said that some nine areas of wetlands, comprising almost 150,000 square feet, have been identified at the site. But he noted that much of that area may be due to recent rains; in the months before the heavy downpours in May, only about 105,000 square feet of wetlands had been identified at the site.

If approved, Peterson said that an upgrade to Scribner Road is also likely to be part of the project.

[M. Brown]

Why the hell aren't they building this in Manch? Who wants to live in Raymond?

More details on Exit 4 project
By TOBY HENRY
Union Leader Correspondent

Raymond ? The ambitious $60 million Granite Meadows development plan debuted before an inquisitive Planning Board last night as town officials queried the proposal's effect on the region.

The five-member board seemed particularly concerned about traffic and wetlands impact. In opening discussions on the project, Auburn developer Elmer Pease, mastermind of the long-awaited project near Exit 4, said that at least one new entrance near Scribner Road has been added and that a traffic signal might also ease traffic buildup.

Later, board member Frank Bourque returned to the traffic-light issue, stating that the light might become a necessity at the Manchester Road intersection as development continues at Exit 4. The move is also likely to please potential retailers, Bourque said.

"It just makes a lot of sense "? because the next guy (developer) who comes along may be putting a signal at Scribner Road," Bourque said.

Although the 40-acre Granite Meadows project has been the subject of much discussion and at least two public presentations during the past year, last night's hearing was the first official presentation of the plan before town officials. The Granite Meadows plan involves two, seven-story condominium buildings of 96 units each, a 7,500-square-foot restaurant, a 200-room hotel and almost 150,000 feet of retail space.

Bourque pointed out that the Exit 4 area's sewer overlay district, approved by voters in March, specified that "no more than 25 percent" of the lot was intended for use as residential space.

Bourque asked Pease if his plan took this into account, and Pease responded that the residential variance he was granted specifically mentions the approval of the 192 residential units he intends for that lot.

Later, Pease's engineer Matt Peterson said that some nine areas of wetlands, comprising almost 150,000 square feet, have been identified at the site. But he noted that much of that area may be due to recent rains; in the months before the heavy downpours in May, only about 105,000 square feet of wetlands had been identified at the site.

If approved, Peterson said that an upgrade to Scribner Road is also likely to be part of the project.
:shock:

[Smuttynose]

Build this downtown, not on Hackett Hill :x

Jobs Corps center proposed

By JOHN WHITSON AND RILEY YATES
Union Leader Staff

Manchester ? A proposal to build a $30 million Jobs Corps center in Manchester will be submitted to the U.S. Labor Department next month.

Economic Development Director Paul Borek said the city learned yesterday it was selected among possible New Hampshire communities to host what would be the state's first Job Corps center.

The center could be situated next to the city's Hackett Hill commercial park, though other sites would need to be investigated and brought before aldermen, Borek said.

A no-cost education and vocational training program, Job Corps serves disadvantaged youth ages 16 to 24, partnering with local business to offer alternative education.

The program, which lasts from eight months to two years and is largely residential, has a long history of success. More than 60,000 young people participate at 122 sites each year, and about 90 percent of graduates go on to jobs, higher education or the military.

The federally funded project would create up to 120 jobs and serve about 300 people at any given time, said Michael Power, Workforce Opportunity Council president.

"A Job Corps would be a major benefit to New Hampshire in several areas," said Power. "First, it would provide a truly outstanding educational opportunity for kids where high school is not the answer. It would also provide a tremendous pipeline for New Hampshire employers ?? who have been shortchanged."

New Hampshire and Wyoming are the only states in the nation without a Job Corps center.

There are expected to be 25 to 30 proposals submitted by this year's Sept. 30 deadline, and one of those will come from Wyoming. The Labor Department is expected to approve just one or two of the plans.

A press conference announcing the application will be held Tuesday at 2 p.m. at City Hall. It will include Sen. Judd Gregg, Rep. Jeb Bradley, Gov. John Lynch and Manchester Mayor Frank Guinta.

"Our state's employers need educated and skilled workers to compete in today's global and fast-changing marketplace," said Gregg in a statement.

"The Job Corps center will provide the opportunity for those who wish to enter the work force to acquire the skills needed for tomorrow's jobs."

Lynch said the proposal deserves unequivocal support.

"In order to have a successful proposal, we have to work together to present the most comprehensive job training proposal possible," he said, "and that is why I am urging everyone at the state and local level to fully support this project."

New Hampshire has never submitted a Job Corps center proposal before, but the state task force has been at work for about three years.

"We stand a good shot this year, but we need to be competitive," said Dick Anagnost, chairman of the Workforce Opportunity Council.

He added without elaboration that New Hampshire's proposal will include "curriculum that no one else has."

Anagnost said Gregg's clout as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee won't come into play at that point, but will have already been felt.

He said Gregg was able to get appropriations language approved two years ago that gives preferential treatment to states without Job Corps centers.

Borek said Job Corps centers typically lead to school dropout rates falling in the communities they are in. They offer unique and specialized training that can be attractive for students, the business community and investors, he said.

Power said it's vital that the state get its own Job Corps center.

"There are New Hampshire kids who attend Job Corps, but they have to travel hundreds of miles away," he said. "And because it's successful, these kids often are hired by the local employers and don't come back to New Hampshire. So we're losing some of the best opportunities we have for a skilled work force."

[Smuttynose]

i'd like to see west remain a high school, it's got great character

West's future debated

http://www.unionleader.com/uploads/media-items/2006/august/830a14west.jpg
By RILEY YATES
Union Leader Staff

Manchester ? A committee will within a month recommend two options for addressing West High School's future as Bedford students leave, a key step toward a makeover that could vastly change the school.

A myriad of proposals remains on the table, including plans to redistrict, expand programs such as performing arts or engineering, or add seventh and eight graders now attending the Middle School at Parkside.

Several members of the Committee to Study West's Future said no consensus has been reached over which plans will make it to Superintendent Michael Ludwell's desk, despite an October deadline for submitting a report.

"There's a number of scenarios that are still out there," said Assistant Superintendent Frank Bass, the co-chairman of the 19-member committee. "There have been no conclusions."

Two final meetings of the committee are scheduled next month on Sept. 13 and Sept. 27. The Manchester school board will have final say over the two recommendations, once they are reviewed by Ludwell.

At the most recent panel on West, four subcommittees presented different plans for the future of the school, which is losing nearly 40 percent of its students with Bedford's decision to build its own high school.

One proposal calls for a shift across West Side schools in Manchester, with West High including seventh and eighth graders and Parkside operating as an upper elementary school serving grades four through six.

Gossler Park School would become a lower elementary school that houses kindergarten through third grade.

The shuffling would ease overcrowding at Northwest Elementary School and allow the three schools to take on Manchester Development Preschool, which is eventually losing the lease for its home on Auburn Street, Bass said.

Redistricting could include shifting Hooksett children now at Central High School over to West. But it also might involve plucking Central students regardless of town, or moving students from both Central and Memorial, said Joanne McHugh, the chairman of the Hooksett school board and a member of the committee.

McHugh said it isn't clear what the options are.

"I'm not a big fan of redistricting, but I'm certainly willing to see how this plan would play out," she said.

Other proposals include expanding specialized offerings such as ROTC, the performing arts and engineering programs, Bass said, pulling interested students from Central and Memorial.

The fledging gifted and talented program might also be housed at the school, as could school district headquarters.

Bass said he expects a "hodgepodge and blending" of options.

"What the committee is really wrestling with is trying to take the best ideas of each proposals," Bass said. "There might be some redistricting. The Parkside shift might only include eighth grade. I'm just throwing ideas out here."

Finances will also play a part, Bass said, as do tuition agreements that slate slots at each school for students from surrounding communities.

The school district estimates it will lose a net of $2 million next school year when 450 Bedford freshmen and sophomores stop attending West.

The year after, 225 Bedford juniors quit the school, a loss of $1 million in revenue, Bass said. In June 2009, the final senior class graduates, a loss of 250 students and another $1 million.

The projected financial hit comes despite an expected winnowing of staff: 15 to 20 employees next year, and eight to 10 in each of the two following years, Bass said. It may also limit the ideas Manchester can pursue, he said.

State Sen. Lou D'Allesandro, a member of the committee, said he hopes final proposals end up being a combination of different plans.

But D'Allesandro said he wants West to remain a high school, given its history.

"I'm a West Sider," said D'Allesandro. "All of my children went to West. My wife went to West."

"Does that mean redistricting?" he added. "I think that needs to be discussed."

[Smuttynose]

SNHU opens 2 new dorms
Union Leader Staff

HOOKSETT ? It's not just Southern New Hampshire University's student population that continues to grow.

The campus itself, which straddles the Manchester-Hooksett municipal line, is expanding. Two gleaming residence halls opened their doors for the first time this week in advance of the start of fall classes tomorrow.

"The fact that we're getting more and more students from outside the state necessitates the need for additional housing," said Gregg Mazzola, university spokesman, during a tour of the new dorms Friday.

SNHU has accepted 569 freshmen for the fall semester. That's up 19 percent from last year's class of 479.

This year's freshmen hail from 26 different states, and 30 of the students are coming from outside the country.

They all need a place to sleep, and the lucky ones will call Hampton Hall and Windsor Hall home.

The three-story brick buildings cost about $11 million and are perched atop a hill overlooking the Merrimack River on the Hooksett side of campus.

At 43,100 square feet each, the nearly identical structures took about 13 months to build and will each house 130 students, mostly sophomores.

The air-conditioned dorms are just up the hill from Lincoln Hall and Conway Hall, residence halls that will begin their third year of use this fall.

Bob Schiavoni, SNHU's director of residence life, said the school now has 18 dormitories housing from 60 to 240 students.

"I think they turned out very, very well," said Schiavoni, looking around the interior of Windsor Hall.

The design, which features 22 suites, private baths, large common areas, study and game rooms, a 130-seat meeting room, a kitchen and a laundry room, is the result of studying recent construction at other universities and listening to what the students wanted.

"I'm presuming they're going to be pleasantly pleased when they arrive," said Schiavoni.

There are no plans on the table for more residence halls in the near future, said Mazzola, but the university continues to change and evolve:

*A ground-breaking ceremony will take place soon on a new dining hall expected to be ready for use in September 2008.

*There is an ongoing fundraising campaign for a new School of Community Economic Development building.

*The online learning program offices moved to Manchester's Millyard this summer after outgrowing on-campus space.

*A master of science in justice studies will be offered online, starting in March 2007.

*A bachelor's program in justice studies will be available on campus, starting in September 2007.

"We have a tremendous amount going on," said Mazzola.

[TimmyG]

I know this is the Manchester thread, but there was an article about this a page or two back.

Job-growth potential spurs Granite Meadows
By TOBY HENRY
Union Leader Correspondent
10 hours, 48 minutes ago

Raymond ? Economic consultants and town officials say the proposed Granite Meadows development for Exit 4 could help boost job prospects and offset losses to a local employment market that has been dwindling during the first years of the 21st Century.

According to data from the New Hampshire Employment Security Commission, Raymond has seen its job market shrink from a peak of 2,775 jobs in the year 2000 to 2,582 jobs in 2004, the last year for which statistics are available. The data indicate a 7.2 percent loss to the total number of jobs available in Raymond, where many local businesses focus on construction and contracting work.

Russ Thibeault, an economic consultant hired by the town, said the current job market is a far cry from the late 1990s, when the massive Wal-Mart Distribution Center project revitalized the local employment market by offering more than 600 new jobs. Thibeault presented this data at last week's public hearing on a proposed water treatment plant that would serve the Exit 4 project.

Town officials say the recent ongoing job losses are likely a combination of downsizing and business closure.

"It's surprising that it's that high, but we have had some businesses losing jobs, and it wouldn't take much to have a negative impact," Town Manager Rick Bates said.

But Granite Meadows -- a development proposing to build two seven-story 96-unit condominium buildings, a 7,500-square-foot restaurant, a 200-room hotel and almost 150,000 feet of retail space -- could more than offset recent losses by bringing as many as 300 new jobs to town, said Thibeault. He said the plan could put Raymond in situations similar to those seen in Hooksett and Tilton, where recent developments near highway exits have brought in hundreds of jobs, mostly in retail.

According to Granite Meadows developer Elmer Pease, the complex, if approved, would concentrate most of its job offerings in its retail stores and the hotel, which are expected to create more than 100 jobs. Although the possibility exists for some career-oriented jobs, Pease said, he expects the new businesses would largely answer the long-standing question of where Raymond's teens would work during their high school years.

As it now stands, many working teenagers -- much like the 85 percent of all working adults in town -- must travel outside of Raymond to find jobs.

"And this is something that I've talked to parents about, and they have mentioned that it's discouraging for (their children) to have to go to, say, Manchester or Exeter to get a job," he said.

While many job offerings from Granite Meadows might favor teenagers, Thibeault said future development at Exit 4's 300 total acres -- which could bring in more than 600,000 square feet of development in the next 20 years -- has the potential to bring in hundreds of large-scale light-industry and office jobs during the next generation.

"Office space will definitely help (the local job market), and by my analysis, it can generate up to 3 employees for every 100 square feet of space," Thibeault said. "Nobody knows exactly what is going to happen, and there are no guarantees, but I've seen development like this pay off for towns all around the interstate (Interstate 93)."

[Patrick]

ive got a friend who lived in manchester for a few months, and she is from portland. says manchester has a lot more going on down there than we have up here. I will eed to investigate :wink:

[grittys457]

But Patrick, we have the westin...I mean Waterview, I mean Lincoln....nevermind.

[Patrick]

custom house square, todays press herald. walker terrace. graves hill. kimbal court. the longfellow. ocean properties ltd proposal. ocean gateway...etc. intermed. AAA expansion. Mercy. maine med.

Speaking of projects, what is the latest and greatest down in Manchester these days? anything of height in the talks or drawing board stages?

[TimmyG]

If there is anything big being planned in Manchester, I haven't heard of it.

[TGSwimFly]

Hey, I certainly have been out of the archboston 'loop' for quite some time. Junior year of high school is kicking my ass, so I have literally minutes of free time a day. It's nice to be commenting after such a long time of withdrawal. Anyways, I haven't heard of any recent big plans for Manchester as far as office or residential development goes. I have noticed some pretty substantial real estate juggling going on though, as the New Hampshire Plaza Tower recently switched hands, as did the TD Bank North Building. Brady Sullivan is tightening its grips in the area, so I wonder if the next big development will be their doings (?). The new ballpark is finished, as is the Hilton, and I must say that those add a lot to the city's core. Game nights funnel everyone into downtown and the new hotel sure is classy! The Granite Street widening is also continuing, and that should make a much more stately entrance to the city. I believe they are adding a bike lane and park as part of that plan, so that should be nice. The Manchester Place Apartments are also finished now, adding a good chunk of residential to the downtown. So it's obvious that development is tediously slow, but appreciated nonetheless. Every time I go into downtown I am more and more pleased with what I see. If only Guinta could get the crime taken care of! All these knife-wielding idiots don't realize what they do to their very own city.

[Smuttynose]

Silly Patrick, we'd rather close down businesses than open up any new ones :roll:

City sets sights on Club Envy

http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=City+sets+sights+on+Club+Env y&articleId=7001276e-ec34-44bc-8883-6e414877e1f5

Another Manchester club loses liquor license
http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=5407117&nav=menu183_2

[Smuttynose]

I have heard that the Tower Mill, recently bought by a New Haven company, will almost certainly be redeveloped into condos. Right now they're negotiating with the city over several issues. The mill will likely see significant improvements, since its not in great shape now. The building itself is really enormous (picture doesn't do justice). Right now they're trying to come up w/ some kind of parking solution (trying to get city help), also the city is adament that the mill have some ground floor retail/restaurant space.

http://static.flickr.com/78/184415846_b721f86f05.jpg

[Patrick]

Silly Patrick, we'd rather close down businesses than open up any new ones :roll:

City sets sights on Club Envy

http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=City+sets+sights+on+Club+Env y&articleId=7001276e-ec34-44bc-8883-6e414877e1f5

Another Manchester club loses liquor license
http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=5407117&nav=menu183_2


Don't worry..portland is the same exact way. our club district has essentially evaporated into thin air. Well, actually it has been replaced by a "pub district" which is sorta more upscale, and more restaurants and stuff...but you gotta have the clubs close before anything else moves in. If envy was in a good location, than i bet a restaurant will fill the shell it leaves behind, and that will be good for the city.

[Patrick]

I have heard that the Tower Mill, recently bought by a New Haven company, will almost certainly be redeveloped into condos. Right now they're negotiating with the city over several issues. The mill will likely see significant improvements, since its not in great shape now. The building itself is really enormous (picture doesn't do justice). Right now they're trying to come up w/ some kind of parking solution (trying to get city help), also the city is adament that the mill have some ground floor retail/restaurant space.

http://static.flickr.com/78/184415846_b721f86f05.jpg

thats cool. if they could change the look of the buildings so they weren't so obviously former "mills" then i would like these types of projects a lot more. I like the density a mill building offers, but i think they would need some new (slanted?) roofs or something..just to clarify that there IS something going on in there other than manufacturing. its great if people live in them, but even better if outsider can perceive their presence. think the mills are the single most detrimental factor to a town's image when they remain mill-looking. because we all know what type of reputation most other mill towns have. providence and manchester (lowell too?) are and have shed theirs...but it must have been difficult).

[TGSwimFly]

It would be great if this mill turned into condos. The Millyard, and really just downtown in general, could use more residents. It would definitely provide the area with a more 24/7 feel. And renovated mills always have that hip connotation of real urban living. Speaking of residents in downtown, does anyone have an idea of how sales are at Manchester Place? I don't know what the vacancy (if any) is like there...

[Smuttynose]

I caught an article in the Manch Express paper that the ZBA has granted 3 variances for two 3 story buildings housing 32 condos with underground parking on Elm Street for the lot across from Brady Sullivan Tower (the tall white building, formerly the NH Insurance building). The lot is currently just a surface parking lot. Obviously I'd like to see taller buildings, but it should be a vast improvement from whats there.

Also, the ZBA denied Brady Sullivan's application to place 4 large gold-lettered "Brady Sullivan Plaza" signs on top of each side of the 20 story high rise they recently bought. I'm guessing this has less to do with the signs themselves, and more to do with unease about the city becoming Brady Sullivan land.

[M. Brown]

there is so much development in Manch right now. Its crazy. HEY...did anybody try out the new overpass over granite street on 293? It opened up Friday morning.

[Patrick]

there is so much development in Manch right now. Its crazy.

Like what? howabout a list for us non NH-ites?

[Smuttynose]

City planners to hear condominium proposal

By RILEY YATES
Union Leader Staff

Manchester ? A proposal to build luxury condominiums on the northeast and southeast sides of the intersection of Elm and Salmon streets goes before the Planning Board on Thursday.

Trident Properties of Salem is proposing two three-story developments at 1725 and 1687 Elm St. The parcel on the northern side of Salmon Street calls for 10 units, while the southern would have 22.

The proposal is on a site that has been closely watched by North End neighbors since a local dentist in 2000 proposed the "pink building," a futuristic dental office that was rejected by the Planning Board in a decision later upheld in court.

Last week, the zoning board of adjustment waived density requirements for the project, but only after stipulating that developers promise to use high-quality materials for the outer facade.

Designs calls for a layout that project architects say matches the surrounding area.

"This very much replicates the old Victorians in the neighborhood," said Lee Berard of Berard Martel Architecture in Bedford.

Two neighborhood meetings have been held over the project, Berard said. Designers believe they have crafted a proposal that will be found acceptable, he said.

"It's all been about making very sure they match what the neighborhood wants," Berard said.

Dick Duckoff, vice president of the North End Neighborhood Association, said he expects the buildings will meet little opposition. He said concerns he has heard focused mainly on whether the project would have a stucco facade, instead of brick.

"I think it's going to fly," Duckoff said. "It sailed through the zoning board."

The units, which haven't been priced, would be two and three bedrooms with between 1,400 and 1,900 square feet of space.

Penthouses would be placed on the roofs of both buildings, making up as many as five of the 32 units, Berard said.

The buildings would face Elm Street and have 64 units of parking underneath.

Among other plans before the board's public hearing:

"? Testimony will continue on a proposal to demolish the former Sully's supermarket and build a 19,200-square-foot CVS at the corner of South Main and Woodbury streets.

The proposal was praised by the neighborhood when it went before the zoning board last year. Planning regulators have asked about a truck entrance on South Main Street.

"Other than that, the thing looks really nice actually," said Peter Capano, a member of the board.

Developers will address questions over a proposal to build a Dunkin' Donuts at 180 Eddy Road in northwest Manchester, including whether to draw a left turn lane to accommodate traffic heading to the franchise.

[Smuttynose]

Stalled condos put developer on spot

By RILEY YATES

MANCHESTER ? Two condominium towers at the city's $27.5 million riverfront development continue to face delays due to difficulties securing investors, the developer said last week.

The lack of construction should leave Durham developer Eric Chinburg on the hook for some of the city's debt payments this fiscal year, which were supposed to be partially covered by taxes from his housing developments next to the Manchester-owned minor league baseball stadium.

The baseball project has brought the stadium, a new hotel and 18 townhouses to the Manchester riverfront. But the condo towers and a small commercial parcel floated as a restaurant haven't been developed.

A retired city assessor calculates the missing construction will leave the city about $600,000 short of its debt payments this year if development continues to stall -- a burden Chinburg would mostly have to shoulder.

That's because plans for the baseball development called for Manchester's debt to be covered by rent the New Hampshire Fisher Cats pay each year, plus added tax base by the Merrimack River.

To secure Manchester's investment, the city also obtained letters of credit from developers that can be tapped should the projected taxes fail to materialize. A city finance official said Chinburg will owe payments until his project brings in the tax revenue it needs.

Manchester Downtown Visions, the owner of the retail parcel, would also be liable for a small portion of this year's potential shortfall, if no development occurs.

Chinburg said last week he expects Manchester will tap some of the letters of credit, as part of the deal he agreed to. The towers need equity before they can go forward, he said.

Chinburg's work calls for 45 townhouses and the two towers. So far, the 18 townhouses have been built and another six are nearing construction, Chinburg said.

Chinburg said he believes the economy is better than many people think. Already three of the six planned townhouses have commitments, he said.

But Chinburg said it is clear the perception is that the market is slacking, making it more difficult for him to find the investors he needs to push forward his condominiums.

"Obviously the market is slower than we'd all like it to be," Chinburg said. "This is not the best time to be trying to find equity investors."

Chinburg's letters of credit stand at $1.17 million, Deputy Finance Officer Randy Sherman said. But the developer is required to keep $1 million of that set aside until the two towers are built, Sherman said.

That means Chinburg will likely have to "open his checkbook" to cover this year's payment, Sherman said.

In effect, a payment in lieu of taxes, the financial strain could work as an incentive to go forward with construction, Sherman said.

This fiscal year, Manchester's debt on its bonds is $1.78 million, $750,000 of which is paid for by Fisher Cats rent.

Paul Porter, a retired city assessor, calculates that the tax base for the project will likely yield only about $350,000 in taxes, though the number is based on rough calculations of the upcoming tax rate.

City assessors have charted more than $22 million in value at the riverfront development. Porter said the city needs about $60 million -- or a nearly three fold increase -- to cover the debt this year.

Porter charged that tapping letters of credit shows the development is failing to meet the promise city officials charted when it was sold.

"It means a project isn't living up to what it's supposed to do," said Porter, who is also a former alderman. "What my concern is, was and will be is that this was a project that wasn't supposed to impact the tax rate."

Finance Officer Kevin Clougherty said the development was bound to see differences from what was originally tabbed, given that Manchester is making a 20-year, long-term investment.

"That's how these run," Clougherty said. "That's why you put in those safeguards. That's why you have letters of credit."

Alderman At-large Mike Lopez, the chairman of the committee that oversees the development, said he is aware of Porter's concerns, and has asked city officials for financial assurances.

Lopez said there is no reason to believe Manchester's investment is in trouble.

"I think we're pretty well covered at this stage in the game," Lopez said.

"I wish they'd go up," he added of Chinburg's towers. "But I can understand it's a financial thing."


- This Chinburg guy is very well known in the state and has a very solid reputation. I just don't think charging the guy $600,000 if he's having financing issues is particularly constructive. Why not help him out with the financing instead.

[Smuttynose]

Plan calls for bold new West

Union Leader Staff

Manchester ? West High School would be reborn as a specialized "magnet" school under a recommendation going before the superintendent tonight.

Committee members charged with studying West High School's future say they've aligned behind a proposal to offer rigorous programs in specific academic disciplines, all yet to be determined. Members hope the programs would draw students from throughout Manchester and from several surrounding towns.

►West High student injured when bike struck by a car
►Bedford school panel looks at extracurriculars
►High school curriculum options aired
►Public to have say on school bus cameras

The committee also is recommending a partnership with the University of New Hampshire on a research-oriented laboratory for training current and future teachers.

"What we want to do, and my goal, is to get kids interested in coming to West," said Russell Ouellette, who sits on the West High School study committee and on the city school board.

West High School is due to lose nearly 40 percent of its student body as Bedford builds a high school of its own. Committee members have considered several alternative uses for the building. Among them:


Housing preschool or administrative offices at the school.
Adding seventh and eighth graders.
Making West High School the default school for students from Hooksett.

Many parents in Hooksett objected to the latter proposal. Hooksett currently offers parents a choice between Manchester West and Central high schools.

"Parents have had that choice for so many years," said committee member Joanne McHugh, who chairs the Hooksett School Board. "If it were no longer a choice, some parents might not be pleased about it."


http://www.unionleader.com/uploads/media-items/2006/october/1012west.jpg
Students enter West High School yesterday (DICK MORIN)
Though many were at first surprised, committee members said they began to see Bedford's withdrawal from the Manchester schools as an opportunity to do something bold and creative.

Redistricting, said Fred Bramante, a member of the state Board of Education, "was looked upon as not very exciting."

"We've got in Manchester a substantial proportion of our kids dropping out of school," he said. "Why do the same thing if we're going to end up with the same results?"

Manchester West has had some success with magnet programs. The school already draws students from throughout the city to its ROTC program for students eyeing a future in the military.

As a magnet school, West High School could offer one or more programs in specialized disciplines, such as the arts, technology, music or math and science. Teachers could work as teams, helping each other track the students' progress.

McHugh said the school could also host an academy of "small learning communities" where students would learn as a team.

Several parents attending parent-teacher conferences at the school yesterday said the committee's ideas sound promising.

"Something more creative would be good for these kids," said Karen Boelzner, a parent from Manchester. Currently, she said, "It's too military-like. They don't give kids a chance to be individuals."

A few parents were somewhat wary. Mike Orr, whose son is a senior, said he would prefer a more traditional school.

"It's the norm," said Orr, who lives in Manchester. "That's what we all grew up with."

Ultimately, the school's future rests with the school board.

[Patrick]

Manchester ? Community leaders and city planners prepared last night to meet at Wilson Street School with residents of The Hollow -- a section on the city's east side once known as Hallsville -- to plan a renaissance, much like the successful downtown revitalization.

Timing is everything, though.

Because while a few local business owners filtered in and looked at posters detailing the possibilities -- brick sidewalks, lush park areas and quaint street lights -- about 100 residents were lighting candles a few blocks away for Officer Michael Briggs.

Director of planning and community development Robert MacKenzie is hoping for a better turnout next month, when he returns for round two.

"The timing of this was really tough," MacKenzie said. "But we would like to see the neighborhood supporting this effort."

Staff from his office will try direct mailing and work with community leaders, including activist Tracy Degges and Robert Tarr, of the neighborhood watch group, to get more residents out and involved in sprucing up effort.

"One of the first things we did during the city's 'dark years,' back in 1991 and 1992, was to refurbish storefronts. Right now we have about nine businesses interested in our facade program," MacKenzie said.

As a member of Neighbors for a Better Manchester, Degges has been doing everything she can think of to rally residents to action.

She is running out of ideas, but not momentum.

"This is it. This is the bottom. We've hit the bottom," said Degges. "People have to come out."

She recalled how it was a decade ago, before the civic center or the housing projects, when she joined with a group of militant moms who circled the city, babies in strollers and signs in hand, to send a message to anyone willing to listen.

"People have to get involved. We aren't asking people to stop living their lives. But they have to stop closing their eyes and ears to the problems," Degges said.

[Smuttynose]

Boston's Channel 4 sets up shop in N.H.

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MANCHESTER ? Boston-based Channel 4 is setting up a television news bureau in Manchester, New Hampshire.

WBZ-TV is a CBS affiliate. The station recently signed a five-year-lease for office space in a city office tower and plans to base a reporter and videographer in the state full-time.

The reporter, Karen Anderson, worked for Manchester-based Channel 9, ABC-affiliate WMUR-TV, for several years before going to WBZ two years ago.

WBZ's President Ed Piette said 20 percent of the station's viewers now live in southern New Hampshire. Piette said he wants to serve those viewers by offering them more news from their home state.

[M. Brown]

Do you have a link to that story? ^^

[Smuttynose]

That's a wire story - I'm not exactly sure where I found it.
But this is the same story, just longer, from the Telegraph

Boston TV station goes where the viewers are: New Hampshire
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061022/NEWS01/110220310/-1/news

I've long felt that the Boston stations took all their NH viewers for granted. Southern NH is an extremely under-represented news market w/ only one network affiliate.

[M. Brown]

That's a wire story - I'm not exactly sure where I found it.
But this is the same story, just longer, from the Telegraph

Boston TV station goes where the viewers are: New Hampshire
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061022/NEWS01/110220310/-1/news

I've long felt that the Boston stations took all their NH viewers for granted. Southern NH is an extremely under-represented news market w/ only one network affiliate.
Looks to me like its still the same channel, just a wider area.

[Smuttynose]

^ Sure, it's just an extra studio to cover NH-based stories out of

[Smuttynose]

City considers tax breaks to spur development

MANCHESTER ? City Hall is considering offering tax breaks to help spur redevelopment in the downtown and depressed neighborhoods.

The move would allow developers a window of time in which the value of their renovations would not be added to their tax bills, offering an incentive to do construction they might shy from otherwise.

The State House enacted enabling legislation for the special districts this year. The law allows the city to accept proposals on a case-by-case basis, offering as much as a 13-year window.

"If development is not happening in an area, in fact it's declining, this could be very useful,'' said Planning Director Bob MacKenzie.

Last night, the Committee on Community Improvement endorsed the proposal, though they asked city officials to identify neighborhoods in which the incentives might be offered.

Aldermen and city officials suggested locations such as the Hollow, the Wilson Street area and Granite Square, on top of the downtown.

Some proposed allowing developers to submit requests regardless of neighborhood.

Developer Dick Anagnost said the incentives will help developers during the lease-up period of their renovations, when they don't have tenants to shoulder the added tax base.

Alderman Mike Garrity of Ward 9 said the city should move quickly to enact the breaks.

"It's an important economic development tool that we really need,'' Garrity said.

Also last night, the mayor's office said it is nearing an agreement with two Millyard developers to more than double the number of parking spaces near Granite Street.

For months, a Dean Kamen company has sought to purchase the Granite Street and Seal Tanning parking lots, as well as Phillippe Cote Street.

But Brady-Sullivan Properties also expressed interest in the properties, which both companies want to use to add parking for their Millyard tenants.

Sean Thomas, Mayor Frank Guinta's senior aide, said the city is working on a memorandum of understanding with the two companies that would lead to at least 400 spaces being built at the Seal Tanning lot.

The lot now has 150 spaces, Thomas said. City funds would not be used for the expansion.

"This would take care of both abutters to the property," said Thomas. "This takes care of the southern end of the Millyard.''

Also, a city attorney said Manchester is nearing a marketing agreement for the former school administration building at Bridge and Ash streets, which officials hope to sell as office space.

Under a historic agreement, Amoskeag Industries retained reverter rights on the building if it is not used as a school.

Deputy City Solicitor Tom Arnold said Amoskeag Industries plans to handle marketing of the property. Negotiations are ongoing over how the company and city will split any future sales price, he said.

[Patrick]

With todays economy, office vacancy rates, and demand for concrete pushing expenses ever higher, this tax break idea doesnt sound so bad. I know in Maine it is the only way developers are agreeing to build anything at all. Several projects are controversial because of their TIF financing. But I think it is a good idea nonetheless and one that NH should surely follow.


Also, impressive that 20% of the viewers of chan 4 live in southern NH. Just goes to show you that whatever number of people that adds up to probably work in or very near to massachusetts and Boston. Imagine the potential that could be unlocked if NH developed a scheme to lure these people out of massachusetts as commuters and found them jobs in their backyard. Salaries would increase in both locatrions (because of competition) and traffic jams would be reduced. also, NH might (definitely!) would see some new high rise development, im sure.

[TimmyG]

From The Union Leader

Airport to offer free bus service to Mass. points
By STAFF REPORTS
9 hours, 4 minutes ago

Manchester ? Manchester-Boston Regional Airport said yesterday it would soon provide air travelers with free bus service between the airport and points in Woburn and Charlestown, Mass.

The six-month pilot program, which is set to start Monday, Nov. 13, will be available to any air traveler with a same-day airline ticket, boarding pass or travel itinerary for a flight arriving at or departing from the airport. Airport officials said the "Manchester Shuttle" service would go hand-in-hand with marketing efforts promoting Manchester as a low-cost alternative to Logan International Airport in Boston.

"It's a real need we feel exists ... we need to have better ground transportation options into Boston," said Airport Director Kevin Dillon. "We have to ensure those transportation options exist."

According to a preliminary timetable the airport released, buses will run every two hours, 24 hours a day, between the airport, the Anderson Regional Transportation Center in Woburn, Mass., and the Sullivan Square MBTA Station in Charlestown, Mass. The Sullivan Square stop is located on the Orange Line and is just north of Boston.

According to the timetable, it will take about 45 minutes for the buses to travel between Manchester and Woburn, and about 30 minutes to travel between Woburn and Sullivan Square.

The airport plans to advertise the bus service's availability through a variety of media, ranging from its own Web site to 30-second radio spots in the Boston market. It may also pursue advertising the service through online travel agencies such as Expedia or Orbitz.

For now, the shuttle service will be available only to air travelers. However, Dillon said the airport would also look at the idea of opening the service up to commuters, who would be charged a nominal fee. That's something that could happen after the service finishes its six-month trial run.

For more information, visit the airport's Web site, at www.flymanchester.com.

[Patrick]

I dont understand how manchester is promoting itself as a low cost alternative. I am flying in a few days and I checked logan, manchester and portland for price comparisons and the difference was to the magnitude of about $3-$4. I dont think I'd take the drive to save that cause id end up paying it out in tolls and gas. what am I missing?

[TGSwimFly]

I dont think I'd take the drive to save that cause id end up paying it out in tolls and gas.

Hence the complimentary shuttle service...

[TGSwimFly]

Magazine lauds Southern NH housing market
By DENIS PAISTE
Union Leader Staff
15 hours, 19 minutes ago


The Manchester-Nashua metropolitan area is the eighth-best nationally to invest in a home purchase and will experience 35 percent appreciation over the next five years, according to Business 2.0 magazine.

"New Hampshire's financial appeal is readily apparent: It has no income or sales tax, and it's within commuting distance of Boston, one of the most expensive housing markets in the country," the magazine reports.

In Business 2.0's November cover story, "The New Rules of Real Estate," researchers for Moody's Economy.com and Global Insight analyzed forecast data through 2011, ranking the 10 cities expected to post the high gains in median home prices and the 10 cities expected to see the biggest declines.

"Unlike the destruction wrought by the tech crash of several years ago, the current housing downturn won't take a huge bite out of the value of American residential real estate assets, which is estimated at more than $20 trillion," Business 2.0 magazine said in a press release.

Topping the list of gainers was Panama City, Fla., at 72 percent appreciation over five years. It was one of three Florida cities on the list.

Ranked worst was Stockton, Calif., one of six California metropolitan areas on the list of biggest decliners. Including Stockton, five metropolitan areas in California's Central Valley are expected to have housing price depreciation from 6.4 percent to 9.7 percent.

The researchers were bullish on the southern New Hampshire market. "Manchester, a former textile mill town, is the largest city in northern New England; neighboring Nashua, which twice has won honors as Money magazine's "best place to live" in America, shares a border with Massachusetts, which has been losing population since 2004," the magazine said.

"The edges of greater Boston are beyond the state boundary," Andrew Schiller, geographer and founder of NeighborhoodScout, said in the Business 2.0 article. "People know they can move out of Boston, get more house for their dollar, and have a great quality of life."

Now may be a good time to buy, because appreciation rates started dropping in New England several quarters earlier than in the rest of the country, the magazine said.

Prices are expected to burst upward again by mid-2007, according to the report. Median home prices in the Manchester-Nashua corridor will rise from $226,000 in 2006 to $305,000 in 2011, the magazine forecast.

The magazine also sounded a note of caution regarding the strength of the southern New Hampshire market. "It remains to be seen whether southern New Hampshire can buck the larger demographic trend: people leaving New England in droves to seek milder, sunnier climes," the report said.

Business 2.0's top five list includes Vero Beach, Fla., 64 percent, Bridgeport, Conn., 63 percent, Lakeland, Fla., 59 percent, and McAllen, Texas, 57 percent.

Business 2.0's November issue will be available on newsstands Monday. It is a publication of Time Inc. Business and Finance Network.

[TimmyG]

Town manager's departure shouldn't delay $60m Raymond development

By TOBY HENRY
Union Leader Correspondent
12 hours, 1 minute ago

RAYMOND ? Developers and town officials looking ahead to the planning board's final decision on a ground-breaking $60 million development say they don't expect the recently announced departure of Town Manager Rick Bates to jeopardize the long-awaited ruling.

Bates, a town employee for 30 years and the town's highest appointed official for the past six years, announced last week that he will formally retire at the end of his current contract, June 30. Plans for the $60 million Granite Meadows -- a multi-use development featuring a hotel, restaurant, retail stores and 192 condominium units at Exit 4 -- have been discussed for nearly a year, and the planning board could make its decision on the project soon.

As of today, however, there are no working architectural drafts for a sewer treatment plant needed to support the development, and the plant's discharge permit and discharge location have yet to be approved by the state Department of Environmental Services.

Auburn developer Elmer Pease, who designed and applied for Granite Meadows, said he expects these and other loose ends to be tied up by the time of Bate's departure.

"I'm going to miss Rick, and he's been a great person to work with - (but) by the time he leaves, I think that we'll be far enough along so that (the new town manager) won't have to deal with as far as the project goes said Pease. "Rick has been a major player in this, and I don't think there will be a huge bump in the road "? but I know real estate well enough to know that I shouldn't take anything for granted."

In an interview last week, Bates said he planned his retirement a number of weeks before the Oct. 17 vote this month that resulted in final public approval for the $12 million developer-funded treatment plant. Bates said he held off making his announcement at the time of his decision to avoid creating the impression that he lacked confidence in the project.

He said: "Some people may have lost confidence, perhaps wondering 'Why is he retiring? Maybe he knows something we don't.' People may have been led to incorrect speculation, and that might have changed the whole focus. At this point, I don't think there's anything left that only I can do, and honestly, if there is something like that going on, then something is probably being done the wrong way.

"People have to remember that even if the unthinkable happens, like I get hit by a bus, things are still going to move forward."

Planning Board Chairman John Page said he doesn't foresee Bates' departure causing any problems for the Granite Meadows project regardless of what his board's final decision is. The board will continue its hearing on Granite Meadows Nov. 30.

[Smuttynose]

Millyard wins National Award

By JOHN WHITSON
Union Leader Staff

Manchester ? The Millyard is getting a national reputation.

A group of city and state leaders are in Pittsburgh today to accept an Honor Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The award, one of about 15 bestowed annually nationwide, recognizes the transformation of the world's largest 19th-century millworks into a hub of Manchester's business community.

"America is dotted with impressive mills, but Amoskeag tops them all," said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

"The immense scale of this project -- finding productive uses for four million square feet of space -- is a credit to the visionary people of Manchester who led this preservation effort.

"What was a few decades ago merely a group of decaying mill buildings has been transformed back into what it once was -- a thriving economic engine and a center of life in this community."

The Honor Award doesn't come with grant money or tax credits for development. But there are tangible benefits.

"It will be used for marketing," said David Beauchene, an urban planner and historic preservation specialist with the city planning office. "Owners and real estate people feel that it adds value."

Mayor Frank Guinta will accept the award on behalf of the city this afternoon.

http://www.unionleader.com/uploads/media-items/2006/november/1102mill.jpg
Manchester's Millyard, looming behind the Mill Girl statue, is receiving an Honor Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation today. (THOMAS ROY)

But the winning effort, from submitting the application to gaining key endorsements and compiling voluminous material in support of the nomination, came from RiverStone Resources.

RiverStone moved its headquarters in 1999 from Chicago to the Millyard, and company officials adopted the Honor Award project as their own.

The insurance company leases 100,000 square feet of mill space and spent $5 million after its move on architectural renovation with historic preservation in mind.

Bob Kant, an assistant vice president at RiverStone, said the company invested time and money on the project because the award can be a point of pride for the city and a boon to the Millyard.

"We felt we needed to give something back to the community," said Kant, "and it has to help with economic development."

Gaining the award has been a long-term project. Kant said company officials began working years ago with former Mayor Bob Baines, gained political support from Gov. John Lynch and got local historians on board.

"Getting everybody on the same page "? is often very difficult to do," said Kant. "There has been a time effort and some cost, but I'm sure it's insignificant in comparison to the benefit that Manchester will receive."

Gail Colglazier, executive director of Manchester Historic Association, said the news reinforces the Millyard's import, past and present, in shaping Manchester.

"It acknowledges the important role that the Millyard played in the history of the city," said Colglazier. "It acknowledges what different entities have done in recent years to preserve the Millyard and make it a viable part of the community."

Beauchene said he hopes the Honor Award nudges the Millyard toward getting named to the National Register of Historic Places, something he thinks is long overdue.

"This is literally the cradle of the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century in our country," he said.

The Honor Award, said Beauchene, is a prize unto itself and is not a stepping stone to being named to the National Register.

"But if the national trust people are recognizing us for this "?," he said, "isn't it unfortunate that we aren't taking that extra step?"

The only roadblock is getting the various mill building owners to agree to pushing for the designation, said Beauchene. A small percentage of owners, he said, feel being on the National Register would impede their development rights.

"I don't know how that could be the case," said Beauchene. "I'm hopeful that there will soon be a unified ownership voice in the Millyard toward this end."

[Smuttynose]

City scrutinizes plan for downtown 'ale house'

By RILEY YATES
Union Leader Staff
21 hours, 41 minutes ago


MANCHESTER ? An "ale house" proposed next to the Palace Theatre has raised concerns with police, who say the owner has a history of problems in other communities.

Penuche's Ale House would be the fourth in a chain that already includes establishments in Keene, Nashua and Concord. But its owner said the Manchester proposal is based on a different business plan that will be attractive to theatergoers and professionals from nearby law offices.

Todd Tousley of Keene said the 96 Hanover St. location, the former Stage Door Cafe, will be more restaurant-oriented, serving lunch and dinner with a fare that includes steak, pita wraps, salads and soups.

"If 'Cats' is playing, we don't want to alienate that crowd," Tousley said.

In a letter to aldermen, a deputy police chief last week said his department is reluctant to sign off on Tousley's request for a business license, given Penuche's reputation as a "beer joint" that does not offer a full restaurant.

The Penuche's in Keene was cited 17 times by the liquor commission over 16 years, according to records Manchester Deputy Chief Gary Simmons provided the Committee on Administration and Information Systems.

In Concord, it was cited eight times since 1998. In Nashua, 11 times since 1996.

Tousley's business record "questions his ability to properly run a full-scale restaurant and liquor establishment without adding a burden to the neighborhood it does business in," Simmons wrote. "A poorly run establishment could certainly negatively affect Hanover Street, commonly known as the theatre district of the city."

Rowdy nightlife has been a key issue in Manchester for more than a year, with the city successfully lobbying against the liquor licenses of several downtown nightclubs.

Mayor Frank Guinta said he has yet to meet with Tousley to learn specifics of his plans. Until a meeting is held, he said he does not know whether the city will fight the establishment.

"There are concerns that are raised that are very serious concerns," Guinta said. "We're taking them seriously enough for me to want to sit down with the operators and see if they'll be a good fit for Manchester."

The administration committee will discuss Penuche's tonight at its 5:30 meeting at City Hall. The panel's chairman said he expects that a public hearing will be scheduled over the proposal.

Alderman At-large Dan O'Neil said it is important to make sure new establishments won't be problem for the neighborhoods they are located in, scrutiny he maintained won't hurt investment in Manchester.

"What it's going to lead to is having responsible businesses opening in the city," O'Neil said.

Another alderman on the committee said he wishes a high-end restaurant could be opened instead.

"I'd like to see something quality next to the Palace Theatre, you know," said George Smith of Ward 10.

Tousley purchased Stage Door Cafe in October and plans to open the new place in about a month.

He said he recognizes city leaders want to know what his business will be like, given the struggles Manchester has had over nightlife.

"Obviously they have an interest and want to know if there are going to be problems," Tousley said. "Whatever they want me to do, I'm easy to work with."

[Smuttynose]

Huge development proposed for Milford
By Daymond Steer
Cabinet staff

MILFORD ? A North Carolina company pitched a 500-home development to the planning board last week that would require Milford to relax its growth management ordinance and give exceptions to zoning regulations to allow nearly 10 times the density that?s currently allowed.
Landquest calls the 500 home subdivision ?workforce housing.?
Ordinarily, such a plan would get laughed out of town hall, but the developers have a special carrot: They would improve or possibly buy the town?s Brox property. The plan also would help address the growing affordable housing shortage in Milford. Propoerty values have risen dramatically in the area over the last few years, and there are very few homes currently on the market that cost less than $250,000.
The developers from Landquest say they are interested in putting 500 homes on two parcels totaling 127 acres just south of the Route 101 bypass, near the Brox property.
In exchange, they would provide water, sewer and road access to the 125-acre Brox industrial lands and onto the parcels where the homes would be located.
The informal proposal was made during a planning board work session on Nov. 16. The planning board asked Landquest to come back with an economic analysis that would show why the plan is worth pursuing.
See the Nov. 30 Cabinet for more.

[TGSwimFly]

Developer goes 'green' at former Jac Pac site
By RILEY YATES
Union Leader Staff
Friday, Jan. 19, 2007


MANCHESTER ? The city's Jac Pac site could be the home of a high-end development spanning 300,000 to 400,000 square feet and including professional offices, retail and housing.

Local developer Dick Anagnost yesterday submitted a proposal for the 17-acre site off Queen City Avenue that calls for as much as 100,000 square feet of offices, 32 to 50 apartments and between 7,000 and 20,000 square feet of retail space.

"This truly ties southern Manchester into the downtown," Anagnost said.

The proposal was filed on the last day of a more than two-month search for developers for the city-owned land, which was purchased in 2005 from Tyson Foods and has been off the tax base since.

The only bid submitted, it will be reviewed by a seven-member committee, with a recommendation slated to be made to aldermen on March 20.

"On first blush I'm very impressed by what I saw," said Glen Ohlund, the city's development coordinator. "We're still going to need to do due diligence on it."

Anagnost proposes razing the former meat packing plant and constructing as many as six environmentally friendly "green" buildings over a five-year period.

The first phase of work would span two years and involve the offices, which have already secured prospective tenants, he said.

Professional services such as medical and legal offices will be served in the multistory building, which would have parking underneath.

The project would stimulate jobs by drawing companies to Manchester and allowing local business to expand, Anagnost said.

The offices would be centrally located on the property, the retail would front Queen City Avenue, and the housing would protect residential neighbors along the edges.

Between two and four acres of land by the Merrimack River would be donated to the city for green space by Manchester's Riverwalk.

The city's request for bids was made in November. It asked for mixed-use development, the recouping of the city's investment, and the maintenance of open land by the river.

Anagnost has offered $3.6 million for the parcel, which would cover the city's nearly $3.5 purchase price and upkeep costs at property, Ohlund said.

Ohlund said it is not surprising only one developer submitted proposals, given the current high cost of construction and technical issues on the site, which contains easements for electricity and a Pan Am Railways track.

City officials may be interested in seeing Anagnost expand the office proposal beyond the 80,000 to 100,000 square feet he proposed, Ohlund said.

Also, the city would prefer Anagnost to maintain the open space by the river, instead of forcing the parks department to, he said.

Mayor Frank Guinta said he needed to review details of what Anagnost is looking at.

"We appreciate the response that we received from Anagnost Companies and look forward to sitting down with his team and seeing if it's the best fit," Guinta said.

Anagnost, who has a team that includes Cube 3 Studio Architects and CLD Consulting Engineers, already owns two properties near the site: a former mill at 33 South Commercial St. and the Rockwell Automation building at 460 Elm St.

He said he has been long struck by the Jac Pac property's potential, which city officials hope will serve as an anchor to attract investment south from the downtown.

"I've been working on this for two years," Anagnost said. "I was originally working with Tyson before the city started negotiating with them."

[Patrick]

I was watching this show the other morning on NHPTV about manchester and its mills. There was a tour of the city with mayor guinta and apparently (according to Him) Manchester used to have about 8 million square feet of mill space, and now has about half that since a lot has been torn down. That is a lot of space that could have been used for more offices and living. too bnad. but I bet it was all crappy since otherwise it wouldnt have needed to be knocked over. some of the buildings looked really nice inside, and a few are still awaiting development, with graffitti everywhere. I was unaware that Manchester has over a mile of mills, and used to have much more. thats a lot.

I was also unaware that Manchester was a planned mill-city, not an original settlement. In the show it described how the same company who founded Lowell Massachusetts bought up all of the farm land around Manchester and built all of the mills for their production, and this led to the city of Manchester we now know today. The company even built most of Manchester's original houses for workforce living quarters, and that must account for why a lot of its units are so dense and why a lot of manchester has a working class vibe to it (not all, these days, obviously, but a lot of it does). It even told of how manchester used to be a walled city, with a gate around the mills so only workers could get in and out. At this time, half of the city was employed at the mills, and that totalled about 17,000 people, so we are talking about when the city was about 34,000 people in terms of population. long time ago. Now I can see how it is emerging as somewhat more than a mill city as all of those massachusetts people move north. interesting history, it kinda makes me feel like comparing manchester and portland is like comparing apples and oranges now.

P.S. the video is linked online on NHPTV.org or something like that.

[Smuttynose]

^That is true. You know Canal St. in Manchester? That was actually a canal up until the 60's when it was filled in and paved over. Most of the mills running along the canal were torn down too.

There's some interesting pics here (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.conservationtech.com/x-MILLTOWNS/RL-Photographs-4x5/AMOSKEAG-color/LIFE-upper%2520canal%2520demo.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.conservationtech.com/x-MILLTOWNS/RL-Photographs-4x5/Amoskeag-4x5s.htm&h=620&w=921&sz=95&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=PMrQHOe1uhaydM:&tbnh=99&tbnw=147&prev=/images%3Fq%3DManchester,%2BNH%2Bcanals%26svnum%3D1 0%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D)



http://www.conservationtech.com/x-MILLTOWNS/RL-Photographs-4x5/AMOSKEAG-photos/Amoskeag-0005.jpg

[M. Brown]

If Derry was a city it would be the fourth largest in NH. And Pinkerton Academy is the 2nd largest private high school in the country. We do have the Mini-Big Dig going on downtown. It be nice to see what it looks like when its done. I drive through downtown almost every day.

[Patrick]

MBrown --

I am confused, why did you bring up Derry? Am I Missing something?

Also, is Pinkerton religious oriented, or is it just straight up secular-private?

And how close to Manchester is Derry?

And what do you mean you have a mini big dig ( a mini dig :) ) going on downtown? the widening of granite street?

[M. Brown]

MBrown --

I am confused, why did you bring up Derry? Am I Missing something?

Also, is Pinkerton religious oriented, or is it just straight up secular-private?

And how close to Manchester is Derry?

And what do you mean you have a mini big dig ( a mini dig :) ) going on downtown? the widening of granite street?

I must have confused an earlier post you made with one the the latest ones. My bad. I prolly thought one of the earlier pages in this thread was the last one. But anyway I think it used to be religious. I don't remember. Derry is about 10miles out or something like that.

[Smuttynose]

Jeez could we lay off the senior housing, we're going to become old person land...

High end retail, senior housing eyed for prime Bedford land

By STEPHEN BEALE
Union Leader Correspondent
9 hours, 10 minutes ago

BEDFORD ? Thirty-eight acres of prime commercial real estate near the corner of routes 101 and 114 are being sold by Saint Anslem College to Hawthorne Partners, LLC, which hopes to build high-end retail stores and senior housing on the site, representatives of the company said yesterday.

The land was owned by the Flatley Company and donated to St. Anselm in 2002 when a proposal to construct a Target, Stop & Shop and restaurant there stirred controversy among residents who wanted to limit development in the area. The company also tried to sell the property to the school district, but voters rejected the proposal in 2002.

The college reached a purchase-and-sales agreement with Hawthorne several months ago, according to Thomas Farrelly, an executive director at Cushman & Wakefield, a global real estate company representing St. Anselm.

Farrelly said 30 developers across the nation had initially expressed interest in the property and a dozen of them had made offers.

"There was a tremendous amount of interest in the site," he said. "The competition was very aggressive."

Hawthorne is based in Woburn, Mass. and is involved in six other residential projects in that state and in Connecticut, according to the company Web site. The Bedford project is the only one it is pursuing in New Hampshire.

Completion of the sale is contingent upon the approval of all necessary permits for the project, according to Scott Tranchemontagne, a spokesman for Hawthorne. Tranchemontagne said the company intended to submit a preliminary conceptual site plan to the town planning board in about a month.

Neither Hawthorne nor St. Anselm is disclosing the purchase price. The land is assessed at $5,028,600, according to tax information Cushman & Wakefield obtained from the town in 2005. Farrelly said St. Anselm was asking for $7 million.

"We believe the proposal is a win-win opportunity for Bedford and Saint Anselm College," said the Rev. Jonathan DeFelice, O.S.B., president of the college. "Responsible development of this land will contribute to a healthy tax base to benefit all Bedford residents. At the same time, proceeds from the sale will support scholarship aid for students, including hundreds from New Hampshire, greatly improving access to one of the finest Catholic liberal arts educations," DeFelice said.

Hawthorne representatives say the company wants to turn most of the area into a village of high-end senior housing condominiums that would be restricted to residents aged 55 and older.

A portion of the property would also be transformed into high-end retail space. "It is very important to note there will not be any kind of what they call big-box retail," Tranchemontagne said.

Officials are declining to discuss potential retail tenants, but when asked if Williams-Sonoma, a company which sells kitchen and other household goods, was an example of the kind of store Hawthorne would like to see move into the retail area, Farrelly said it was.

Karen White, the director of planning in Bedford, said she had had "extremely generalized" conversations with Hawthorne representatives about its proposal. She said it was too early to comment on potential issues that might be raised by the planning board.

White did say that Hawthorne would not be able to build a driveway out to either Route 101 or 114 because the state had purchased the limited access rights to both highways. Corporate Drive now connects the property with Olde Bedford Way, which feeds into Route 101.

[Smuttynose]

Here's the Web site for The Neighborhoods at Woodland Park in Manchester. "An upscale, 112-acre master-planned community comprised of five neighborhoods featuring homes in a broad variety of residence styles." Looks extremely suburban to me.

http://www.theneighborhoodsnh.com/home.html

[Patrick]

most large urban areas have very suburban areas just outside of them--where all of the industry and business leaders choose to live in order to escape the inner urban core.....like newton for boston, cape elizabeth for portland, and places like this for manchester. i think it is a good sign. more rish people means more business.

[Patrick]

Diamond View needs zoning variance for ballpark project to move ahead
By MARK HAYWARD AND SCOTT BROOKS
New Hampshire Union Leader
6 hours, 9 minutes ago


MANCHESTER ? In a move that may invigorate the sluggish pace of condo development around the MerchantsAuto.com Stadium, a Salem-area developer is planning to build a six-story condo tower at the edge of the ballpark, according to city officials and an engineer familiar with the project.

Representatives from Diamond View LLC are expected to meet with aldermen at City Hall this week to discuss company plans.

The tower would include 36 one- and two-bedroom condos and would be built on land that had been reserved for retail space or a restaurant, said Bob Duval, an engineer with T.F. Moran who has worked on the stadium and surrounding development.

Duval said Diamond View plans to invest $10 million in the tower. With a brick and glass facade, the tower would feature luxury loft-style apartments, he said.

"It has that urban, renovated-warehouse look you might find in New York City or Boston that is appealing to young professionals," Duval said.

Alderman At-large Mike Lopez, who chairs the committee overseeing riverfront projects, said he is open to Diamond View's proposal.

"I can visualize this as being an improvement over the original plan," he said.

This will be the third year that the New Hampshire Fisher Cats play at the city-owned baseball stadium. Last spring, a 125-room Hilton Garden hotel opened beyond the left-field wall.

Otherwise, the stadium area has not lived up to expectations that private development would generate enough tax revenues to help defray stadium construction costs.

"The most important thing I'm interested in is getting something in the ground so we can get our taxes," Lopez said.

Diamond View's project could compete with other condos under construction south of the ballpark. Durham developer Eric Chinburg has promised to erect 45 townhouse condominiums, of which 24 are now standing.

Chinburg is revising blueprints on his standout project, what was to be a pair of six-story riverfront towers. His new plan, which could go before the Planning Board in May, is to build three towers, each rising just four stories high. The idea is to save money by building the frames with wood instead of steel and concrete, he said.

Diamond View's condos would be different than his own, Chinburg noted. Together, he said, they would help fulfill the city's vision for a developed riverfront.

"I think it's going to be a great part of the city," he said, "and it's happening now."

Efforts were made to build a restaurant on the lot Diamond View is now eyeing, but those plans faltered in 2005 when city officials could not devise an acceptable parking plan.

Duval said the lot is small for a condo development, and Diamond View will need a zoning variance for the project to move forward. A request for a variance is expected to go before the Manchester Zoning Board of Adjustment in early April, he said.

Mayor Frank Guinta is reserving judgment, saying the aldermen will have to give the proposal a close look.

"This is a bit more complex than just a straightforward development project," Guinta said.

The lot is located between the stadium and the parking lot to the north. Part of it fronts Line Drive, the public street that ends with a cul de sac at the stadium entrance. A driveway to the condo tower would connect to Line Drive, Duval said.

A subsurface and ground level of the tower would be used for parking. The condos would be in the next five stories.

The lot is the last piece of the baseball-area land owned by Manchester Downtown Visions, Duval said. Other lots have been sold to Chinburg and the hotel developer.

Diamond View LLC includes several investors, Duval said. Its managing partner is John Cook, a high-technology businessman who sold his company and is now looking to invest in real estate, Duval said.

He wants to begin construction this season and have the condos ready for sale in a year, Duval said.

Late last year, aldermen complained development around the stadium was at a standstill.

City officials said they collected money from Chinburg to cover property taxes from developments that have yet to materialize.

[TimmyG]

UNH-Manchester has some growing plans
By MARK HAYWARD
New Hampshire Union Leader

http://www.theunionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=UNH-Manchester+has+some+growing+plans&articleId=07f7f23f-7616-4d1f-8408-8fe6fe56570c

Manchester ? Expanded curriculum and a larger building at the University of New Hampshire-Manchester will be mapped out in the coming months, the university branch announced yesterday.

A 13-person planning team has been named, officials said in a release issued yesterday.

It will take about seven months to survey area business and community leaders, examine demographic trends and then consider additions to curriculum and the university space.

Kristin Woolever, dean of UNH-Manchester, stressed that UNH is committed to the Millyard. It's likely an expansion would be "upward" on the current building at 400 Commercial St.

"We want to be right downtown in Manchester. That is a major strength," Woolever said. "We are UNH's urban campus. To maintain that legitimacy, we need to be in the city."

The appointment of the team comes after officials failed to win state funding this year for a 25,000-square-foot science and technology center connected to the university branch.

But U.S. Sen. John Sununu has written a $400,000 appropriation for a UNH Manchester planning grant. That now is part of legislation that awaits President Bush's signature.

Opened in 1985, UNH Manchester is housed in the three-story, 75,000-square-foot mill building at 400 Commercial St. Last year, it leased 11,000 square feet on the top floor of 286 Commercial St.

The university branch has an enrollment of about 1,550 students and offers 11 master's and 18 undergraduate degree programs.

Woolever said she has spoken to business leaders and technology companies in the Greater Manchester and Merrimack Valley areas. They are interested in programs in topics such as business, engineering, medical science and information technology, she said.

The expansion of such programs, however, requires lab space. It would not make sense economically to outfit a lab in leased space, said Ginger Lever, spokesman for UNH Manchester.

The branch university is bordered by mill buildings to its north and south and the Arms Parking lot to its east. Woolever said the university does not want to reduce the number of parking spaces in the millyard. She said the acquisition of neighboring mill buildings is not under consideration at this point.

[M. Brown]

Article from WMUR

$100 Million Project Proposed For Jac Pac Site

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Elliot Hospital announced a $100 million redevelopment plan Tuesday for the former Jac Pac site in Manchester.

The proposal would be one of the largest commercial developments in state history, officials said.

Elliot Healthcare will build an urgent-care facility on the site, along with retail stores and an apartment building. Company officials said the project will create 250 to 300 jobs.

Environmental work will need to be done to the site, which is contaminated with asbestos and other chemicals.

Company officials said the project should be completed by 2010.


Video
http://www.wmur.com/news/14457419/detail.html

[Cojapo]

This is great for that end of Manchester. As always, my only wish is that they build up! Four stories??? Come on.

[Mr. DM]

I ran across this article from the 11/23 Manchester Daily Express (http://www.manchexpress.com/express112307.pdf). Its talks about proposed zoning changes to encourage small business growth in Manchester. I know next to nothing about zoning. It sounds good on paper, but will this new zoning actually spur small business growth?

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc290/Mr_DM/zoning.jpg

[a630]

wow. manchester NH, who knew? progressive!
I'm assuming this will be in a bunch of overlay districts ... can you get a map what it looks like?
I think allowing accessory retail/consumer use in a residential building is especially good - and allowing construction for these facilities as of right really backs it up. And no requirement for off street parking ... nice (hopefully they'll alleviate street parking restrictions in these districts/adjacent residential districts to back this up? if they don't it's just a gesture) ...
hm, as for actually promoting small business... yes, i think it will make establishing small very locally-oriented businesses much easier. funny, it's exactly the sort of thing zoning was established to get rid of, almost a century ago in LA now!
expect to see lots of new nail salons within the next decade.

[Cojapo]

Big ideas for development on Elm Street

MANCHESTER ? The old Goulet Supply Building at 379 Elm St. would make way for a new development with office space, retail space and apartments if one city developer's vision comes to pass.

The plans, at this point, are nothing more than architectural drawings. But Ron Dupont, president of Red Oak Property Management Inc., believes the site could well attract a major commercial tenant whose presence would be key to a successful development, along with renters looking for more upscale apartments. The location, and the availability of parking, also make the site attractive, according to Dupont.

"It is Elm Street -- the best main street in New Hampshire. It is the corporate center for a lot of large law firms and banks," said Dupont, as he pointed to a map noting future development planned and expected in the area. "That's the future of Elm Street. It's only going to improve."


A multi-building, mixed use complex would occupy the site of the old Goulet Supply building at 379 Elm St. in this plan by Red Oak Property Management. (LAVALLEE BRENSINGER ARCHITECTS)
It took a bit of work for Dupont to cobble the 1.75 acres of land together. Originally, it had been in two parcels, totaling five tracts of land. But in 2005, city tax records and Hillsborough County Registry of Deeds records show, Dupont's Oak Leaf Homes LLC vehicle purchased the properties, with street addresses from 379 to 409 Elm St. The total sale price for the land was $1.3 million.

Having that much land, however, allows for one thing that is often lacking elsewhere downtown: ample on-site parking, which will come free with the rent.

"My goal is never to get a call about a parking problem at this site," Dupont said.

The idea for the parking is that users would park at different times, thus allowing more people to park in the spaces available. Office workers would largely park during the day, while residents would use it at night. A similar system is in place at his Opera Block building on Hanover Street, and has worked well, Dupont said.

At this point, the site design calls for a three or four-story Class A office building to anchor the site, which would have 15,000 or 20,000 square feet of space, depending on its height. Also envisioned are a two-story retail building with 8,000 total square feet, and in the back, an apartment building around six stories tall. The apartment building has been designed to offer tenants views of the mountains on the West side and of the park-like Valley Cemetery on the East, which should make for excellent fall foliage viewing.

"I have people coming in my office almost every day that would want to rent something like this," Dupont said of the apartments.


A total of 1.75 acres, from 379 to 409 Elm St., are part of Ron Dupont's plan for a new development. (BENJAMIN KEPPLE)
For the project to go forward, Dupont needs to secure a major tenant for the office building. Once that takes place, he can demolish the old Goulet Supply building and start building the new space with that tenant in mind.

"In the end, the way it's going to look will be driven by demand in the marketplace, which we're still trying to measure. The housing's probably the easy part," said Dan Scanlon, of Grubb & Ellis/Coldstream Real Estate Advisors Inc., the property's listing agent. "There's a lot of flexibility here."

"We're going to need a fairly substantial tenant for the office portion to just get approvals and start construction," Scanlon said.

Since the project is still in its conceptual phase, many details have yet to be ironed out -- such as the potential rents for the office space. However, the building will be designed with the idea it will provide high-end, Class A space -- in other words, some of the best space available in the market. Rents will be set accordingly.

"That's going to reflect the quality of the project and the availability of the parking," Scanlon said.
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w294/cojapo/61408ave379elm_240px.jpg
What is there now:
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w294/cojapo/61408avemanch_275px.jpg

[M. Brown]

Nice.

[M. Brown]

Here is some info on the reconstructed exit 5 on I-293 in Downtown Manch.

http://www.nh.gov/dot/projects/manchester10622a/documents/DrivingSPUI2.pdf

[Cojapo]

This really needed an upgrade. It's the gateway exit to the city.
That exit configuration looks pretty similar to what the state did for the Rte 108/Exeter/Stratham exit of Rte 101. That seems to flow pretty nicely.

[M. Brown]

This really needed an upgrade. It's the gateway exit to the city.
That exit configuration looks pretty similar to what the state did for the Rte 108/Exeter/Stratham exit of Rte 101. That seems to flow pretty nicely.

I totally agree man. The old set up was a PITA.

[Chris]

Study: Buses cheaper than rail expansion
Boston-Manchester line being considered

The Associated Press
October 13, 2008

Proponents of restoring passenger train service between Boston and Manchester worry a new transit study will derail their efforts.

A draft report presented recently to New Hampshire and Massachusetts transportation officials recommends using "bus-on-shoulder" travel as the chief means of reducing future congestion on Interstate 93. Commuters would be picked up at park-and-ride terminals by express buses that would travel in a 12-foot-wide breakdown lane closed to other vehicles.

HNTB, a Chicago-based transit planning company, was hired by the states two years ago to forecast traffic conditions along the I-93 corridor 20 years from now. Although the company's report leaves the door open for rail travel, it said cost was a major consideration in making bus-on-shoulder travel the No. 1 option.

It would cost almost $200 million to rebuild the old Manchester-to-Lawrence rail line, compared with about $80 million to start up the bus service, said Ken Kinney, HNTB's national director of transit planning. Operating and maintaining the rail line would cost about $9.2 million a year, while the buses would cost about $4.9 million a year.

There are other obstacles to overcome with rail, as well, he said, including residents' resistance to train noise and horns and rail safety concerns. Some former rail beds have been transformed into walking and bike riding trails, and users might not want to relinquish them, he added.
Rail supporters fear the report will lead the public to believe rail is no longer an option for southern New Hampshire. They argue that train service would not only get traffic off the highway, but would boost economic development at stops along the line.

"Why lock ourselves into a recommendation that puts off transit rail options when the landscape may be changing?" said Cliff Sinnott, executive director of the Rockingham Planning Commission.

Kit Morgan, rail and transit administrator for the New Hampshire Department of Transportation, believes the report's recommendations are flexible. The first phase of the bus program wouldn't be built for five years, leaving time to perhaps establish the rail link between Salem and Lawrence, Mass., he said.

Work on the shoulder couldn't begin until the widening of a 20-mile stretch between Manchester and Salem is completed, and that construction remains mired in a legal battle between the state and the Conservation Law Foundation.


Unfortunate, but considering how cheap-ass NH is, not surprising...

[Corey]

That is unfortunate. The Amtrak Downeater has been doing well (from what I gather), as well as Amtrak in general. More people commute to Boston from the Manchester area than from Portland too.

How far does the MBTA commuter rail come to Manchester?

[Lrfox]

That's a shame. I think ridership would be higher on a train, given the higher capacity. I also think the development around stations and growth of Manch. as a commuter center would be much higher with rail service. Keep fighting.

[Ron Newman]

Manchester to Lawrence? When this service last ran, it went from Concord through Manchester and Nashua to Lowell. Those tracks still exist, though they need upgrading.

[M. Brown]

How far does the MBTA commuter rail come to Manchester?
About 30 miles.

[Josh]

What looks to be on tap for Manchester right now in terms of development?

[M. Brown]

What looks to be on tap for Manchester right now in terms of development?

Well construction is underway for the Elliot Hospital Expansion. (its pretty much a whole new hospital.) And they are awaiting proposals for a new transportation up downtown that would host bus and rail.

[Josh]

I was in Manchester yesterday. I didn't get to see the new hospital though. It didn't look as if any new construction was goin on! I was a bit disapointed.

[M. Brown]

I was in Manchester yesterday. I didn't get to see the new hospital though. It didn't look as if any new construction was goin on! I was a bit disapointed.

I noticed this too. Last time I looked it seems like they were half way tearing down the old JacPac foods plant. I guess they might have halted construction because of snow...

[ManchVegas]

The steel for the Airport access road bridge now spans the Merrimack. It's almost up to the point where it will go over Brown Ave. I heard that the entire project will be completed in 2012 because of the stimulus money.

I didn't get to take a look at the Elliott site while I was up there this weekend.

[M. Brown]

I'm about to head over to Circuit City to see what I can pick up for the cheap. I'll drive by the elliot site to see if anything has happened.

[ManchVegas]

There's a lot more activity at the Elliot site now as they're clearing out the lot. They have even put up a sign with the picture of the development on Queen City Ave. The old Jac Pac building nearest the river is still standing and hasn't been touched.

[M. Brown]

There's a lot more activity at the Elliot site now as they're clearing out the lot. They have even put up a sign with the picture of the development on Queen City Ave. The old Jac Pac building nearest the river is still standing and hasn't been touched.

Good news. I'll drive by there tonite to see whats up.

[Corey]

I'm glad to see there are still some Manch people here. Feel free to take some pictures for us out-of-towners!

[M. Brown]

I'm glad to see there are still some Manch people here. Feel free to take some pictures for us out-of-towners!

LoL. I lurk around on AB everyday. I just never post anything. And I've just been to lazy to take pics + my camera sucks.

[M. Brown]

A new building for the NHAI has been under construction and is coming along fine.

Live cam + Construction Time Lapse vid. (http://www.nhia.edu/webcam.php)

[M. Brown]

I pic from a local news paper of the NHIA building.

http://i30.tinypic.com/24wxdmb.jpg

Also you should read the article on how NHIA has changed downtown Manch.

http://www.manchexpress.com/express081009.pdf

[M. Brown]

Some snippets from a local paper

http://i30.tinypic.com/2cog1tg.jpg

http://i31.tinypic.com/6ifxao.jpg

http://www.manchexpress.com/express.pdf

[Patrick]

Thanks for the update. When Portland was a dump, the city tried to clean things up by doing the same exact thing (creating an arts district, which was anchored by a similar sort of institution, "The Maine College of Art" or MeCA on Congress) and it worked. I think the new building is nice looking in Manchester, I didn't realize it was so tall. 8 stories?

The rail should also be a VERY good thing for Manchester. would it be commuter or leisure travel? I wonder if it would pump people out of manchester to work in Massachusetts rather than the other way around (if its commuter). Either way I'm sure it will be a good thing for growth.

[Josh]

Yea the rail project will be great for Manchester, I think.
I'm not very familiar with Manchester though, is that NHIA a new building currently under construction? Its also good to hear about the money towards improving housing.

I'm going down to visit Manchester this weekend hopefully, I will try and get some pictures for everyone!

[M. Brown]

Yea the rail project will be great for Manchester, I think.
I'm not very familiar with Manchester though, is that NHIA a new building currently under construction? Its also good to hear about the money towards improving housing.

I'm going down to visit Manchester this weekend hopefully, I will try and get some pictures for everyone!

yes

[M. Brown]

Thanks for the update. When Portland was a dump, the city tried to clean things up by doing the same exact thing (creating an arts district, which was anchored by a similar sort of institution, "The Maine College of Art" or MeCA on Congress) and it worked. I think the new building is nice looking in Manchester, I didn't realize it was so tall. 8 stories?

The rail should also be a VERY good thing for Manchester. would it be commuter or leisure travel? I wonder if it would pump people out of manchester to work in Massachusetts rather than the other way around (if its commuter). Either way I'm sure it will be a good thing for growth.

I'd say most likely commuter. I did little bit more research on this rail campaign and found a facebook group supporting it (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=70851999816) and a website (http://www.nhbti.org/) Interesting stuff.

[ManchVegas]

Great to see that the NHIA building is under construction. I really hope the rail becomes a reality. Manch continues to move in the right direction by becoming a better city each year. I hope they can get going on the Gas Light District off of Elm St.

[Josh]

the Gas Light District off Elm St.? What is this project? It sounds interesting.

[ManchVegas]

The Gas Light District is old industrial area directly across the street from the Verizon. That area has a few bars in there already, but the city is supposed to improve the sidewalks, install new lighting and install some deocative arches. There was a city master plan that suggested this area be the future home of bars, jazz clubs, and restaurants. At least we have a few bars in there now and I have a good feeling about this place. If the train station is built, it will be right next door. If I can find the original plans outlining the district, I'll be sure to post it.

[Josh]

That sounds like a pretty good idea for the area!

[ManchVegas]

A couple sketches of the Gaslight district:

http://www.knowlesdesignnh.com/index_files/page0050.htm

[Patrick]

A couple sketches of the Gaslight district:

http://www.knowlesdesignnh.com/index_files/page0050.htm

that was interesting, thanks

[Josh]

Yea those looks great. The whole project seems great. Did you say it was making progress?

[ManchVegas]

It definitely is now because Carol Shea-Porter secured $1 million for the project in July. It seems that everything is in place to keep the project going.

[Muns1990]

Hi, new to the site, btw it's great. I'm from Manchester, and love it, and I really want to see it keep growing. This city has so much potential; it's not always utilized in the correct ways though. It really kills me to think that Manchester is relatively the same size of a lot of New England Cities in terms of population, like New Haven, or Hartford. Has one of the busiest airports behind Logan in New England, is in an incredibly tax friendly state, that has been voted five years in a row the most livable, but can't seem to get itself together to attract a large amount of business, entertainment, or new residents. Of course the city is in much better shape than it was twenty years ago, thanks to Mayors Wieczorek, and Baines, who brought Manchester into a short lived renaissance from say the mid 90s to 2006, but the current mayor has done nothing to improve the city. Most of the plans that are talked about in this thread have been in development for at least five years or more, and now all of them have hit a wall. The only projects currently going strong in the city now are the renovation of the Pandora Building, and The Elliot at Rivers Edge. The later has been under construction for well over a year and not even a drop of cement has been poured. With elections coming up on Nov 3rd, I hope the next mayor does his part to help Manchester compete with its neighbors in the region.

[Patrick]

There are reasons Manchester is smaller compared to cities with equal population. First, many people in its suburbs actually travel to Massachusetts or Boston every day, rather than Manchester. The fact is, Manchester operates as sort of both a suburb and a central city both at the same time. So, while its residents may not leave every day, the people in the towns surrounding the city (typically the more wealthy, educated, etc.) probably do, at least more than for other cities similarly sized. So, you see, Manchester DOES have business, it just so happens that it developed in Massachusetts rather than in the city itself. Also, some of the "other cities" to which you compare manchester in the region were at one time much larger than they are now in terms of population. There populations today represent the urban shell left over after white flight and urban renewal. Manchester, on the other hand, is at its peak population. So it is sort of like comparing apples and oranges to make some comparisons the way you have. New England is strange in that population doesn't always serve as an accurate indication of urbanity. Thirdly, the airport in manchester is an outlier for Boston, which has limited space to grow. If I am not mistaken, it is part of a deal with Boston which also includes a deal with Providence's airport to relocate some passenger service to those two satellite locations. Not a bad thing, but you have to remember the passengers coming and going through Manch are not all coming and going TO Manch. They are merely using it as a base from which to travel, and nothing more (sometimes). That said, you have to look at the fact that manch has an impressive skyline, a new arena, etc. all things which work in its favor. I think the town is still by and large working class, which is not bad, but it needs to attract more of a creative class, sort of like the people starting to fill in the mills (segway guy etc...other entrepreneurs). How it can do this I have no idea. I think it is FAR better off than many other post industrial new england mill towns. FAR BETTER. but you have to keep things in perspective. Remember: proximity to Boston = filtering out of people during the day. Mill city = large blue collar class of people not necessarily concerned about the aesthetics of the city. large airport = misleading because the passengers stem from new england travelers as a whole, not merely NH visitors. I think it has a lot going for it, and should continue to clean itself up. before new business investment occurs, I think I would like to see more parks (like that along the river), more bike lanes, more walking trails, more trees, and less used cars sales places. These are small things which in the aggregate could give the city a more welcoming vibe, and together result in increased and renewed commitment and investment to the town. I think it takes a coordinated effort like that of Baines to bring a city up. Unless you have that, you are right, the city will remain prisoner to its industrial past, and subject to the conditions that normally prevail in mill cities. there needs to be a renewed effort in consciously trying to make sure that the opposite occurs. the population base is there. the location is there. everything is in place. it just needs more of a concentrated effort. Who are the mayoral candidates this year?

[ManchVegas]

Great posts! I agree with you Patrick that Manchester needs more of a creative class. Manchester is slowly getting better in that sense, but it's still a working class town for the most part. I think that once the economy rebounds, Manchester will see a lot of growth in the downtown area that has lagged recently. The Millyard is a gem and I hope that the riverwalk is linked together. I'd love to see more restaurants, bars, and shopping down there.

Guinta has been a useless mayor unfortunately. He moved here from New Jersey not that long ago and just used the city as a stepping stone to run for Congress. I don't know really much about the current candidates, Mike Roy and Ted Gatsas.

[Patrick]

Yeah I definitely agree that the economy has had an impact on the town as well. It should only be getting better for the town now.

[Muns1990]

Wow, thanks for all the responses. Considering the last post on this thread before mine was in July, I figured it would be a while before anyone took a glance at it. I definitely see what you mean Patrick by the urban shell; most of the other cities comparable in population have at one time or another been quite a bit bigger. That said, I think now is the perfect time for Manch to really step up its game to compete for those companies that are moving there headquarters or opening up new branches, since the playing field has now become a little more equal. It is unusual to think that Manchester is at the largest point it?s ever been at, and that we really didn?t experience the ?white flight? as you called it. I always here people say that Manchester doesn?t really have a skyline, so thanks for the compliment. I think a reason for that is since the mills have been completely overhauled, there hasn?t been a need to build more offices in the downtown. With the completion of the Pandora Mill renovation, every mill in the city will have been gutted and opened up for use. Doing this has given the city hundreds of thousands of square feet of office space in the mill yard. It?s starting to run out though; almost every one of them is thankfully occupied. This has brought a lot of white-collar workers to the city, but most of them live in the surrounding towns, like Londonderry or Hooksett, and especially Bedford, Manchester?s wealthy neighbor. As for Manch being a sort of edge city on Boston?s metro, I do see that, but I don?t totally agree that the people living in Manchu?s surrounding towns commute down to Mass. If they do commute, I think most either go down to Salem or Nashua, up to Concord, or one of the towns in between the triangle all three of those create around Manchester. People who live in Nashua or Salem and their respective bordering towns definitely commute into Mass; I just think that Manchester and its border towns are too far north. On a good weekday morning it takes at least an hour to get to Boston, or maybe even more, and on the weekends about 40 minutes. Manchester itself falls out of the Boston metro area, while Nashua and Salem are within it. We definitely do need more of a creative or younger class. There are a decent amount of schools just outside the city, such as St Anselm or SNHU, both of which are within 5 or 6 miles of downtown. In the downtown we have The New Hampshire Institute of Art, and they have just built a mix use building that will have dorms for up to 100 students, and they are growing rather quickly. Finally, we do need a great mayor who is really committed to see the see grow in the right direction. Like ManchVegas said, Guinta was really useless, all he did for the city was add 20 more cops to the police fore, and he?s been mayor for four years. Mark Roy, and Ted Gatsas, the two candidates for mayor, both seem to really care for the city. Gatsas is big on small business growing in the city and giving the city more of a small town neighborhoodish feel. On the other hand, Roy is really into the school system, which might be a better place to start right now considering the school district is one of the worst in the state. Both though want to see the southern end of Elm St redeveloped and for The Elliot at Rivers Edge to finish up. Whoever wins will be better for Manch than what we currently have. So sorry this post was so long, I just have too much to say haha.

Thanks

[Patrick]

I like reading your comments. They are not too long.

I think, technically speaking, Manchester IS within the Boston Metro. It's not Greater Boston (inside 128) but it is Metro Boston. as is Worcester, Providence, and even the southern tip of Maine. Metro Boston is actually quite large and multi state. That said, you may have a point about Manchester commuters. But, think of it this way: if nashua people commute to northern massachusetts, then there are more places in and around nashua for people in Manchester to commute to. Everything shifts south. Even if people in Manchester don't commute everyday to downtown Boston per se, it is a known fact that people in Southern NH DO commute to Massachusetts, in one way or another. Many of them hopped over the border to evade taxes, but still earn their money in Massachusetts, which by virtue of being closer to Boston has better jobs. Obviously not everyone in Manchester or even southern NH for that matter commutes to Boston or even massachusetts, but what I guess my main point is, is that there are more people (way more) in southern NH than actually work there during the day. In another town, Portland or Burlington, for example, there are no major cities nearby, and not even major towns (like Nashua) so everybody goes to one central place. Conversely, in NH, there are major towns (Concord as well) and a major city real close by. The city may be an hour away, but it sprawls like all metropolises and its jobs extend northwards beyond its municipal boundaries.

I think the school system and the art college in general would be a good place to start. and you are right, the mills have a major impact on the skyline because they effect the demand for new office space (by glutting the market with a huge supply). nothing will grow up until the mills are filled horizontally. But manchester has a lot of good things going for it. It just needs to focus its efforts more and really cultivate an attitude of pride. That goes a long way. Look at cities that are proud of themselves and comparre them to cities that people just stay in for convenience. notice a big difference? You should. I'm thinking Boston versus somewhere like Hartford.

[Muns1990]

Ya I totally agree that plenty of people in southern NH commute down into Mass, I can?t deny that at all. What I wish though is that the city would be able to attract enough business to try and counter act the job flow into Mass, and keep the New Hampshire workers in the state, even if it only encompassed the work force in the towns surrounding Manchester. I personally believe that the city is large enough to hold its own in getting the jobs and the business to come here, and our proximity to Boston very well aids in that, as does our airport. Like how you said, Patrick, that Manchester acts as a ?suburb and central city?. Manchester has to use the closeness it has to Boston to its advantage, and also be independent. The city almost has to market itself to companies, there are plenty of corporations that have branches or offices that are outside of a major city because its cheaper and more convenient, so why can?t Manchester be one of those places. We may be farther from Boston than some of the larger towns on the north, or south shore in Mass that companies may turn to when they want to stay out of Boston, but we have things those places don?t. Manchester has to work with what it has, and what it has is a location in a very tax friendly state, plenty of areas of town that would welcome redevelopments, and an airport that always terms itself as ?the friendly alternative to Logan?. I guess a pipe dream for me would be that Manchester would have a new redevelopment boom, for example like Providence. Providence was run down for years, filled with crime, and lost a dramatic amount of its population. Now, I think it?s a beautiful city, and it only took like 15 or so years to bring it back from where it was as a not so great place, to put it lightly, in the early 90s. Their downtown is gorgeous. I guess I just want Manch to get a boom of a renaissance, and that?s something if the city plays its cards right could happen, as the economy bounces back. Really the only place to go from here economically is up, so why not use it to our advantage. There may not be a huge comeback for a few years, in that time the city really needs to get its bones together. The school district needs a major overhaul, so do the city services. Those are things that if you work efficiently can have dramatic change in a two-year term the mayor, alderman, and school board are elected to. If you look at a map, Boston has three mid sized cities to its south, Providence, east, Worcester, and north, Manchester. Even though the first two were once much larger, they both stand out in New England as center for business, and etc. So everyone else got their boom, why can?t Manchester?

[Patrick]

Ya I totally agree that plenty of people in southern NH commute down into Mass, I can?t deny that at all. What I wish though is that the city would be able to attract enough business to try and counter act the job flow into Mass, and keep the New Hampshire workers in the state, even if it only encompassed the work force in the towns surrounding Manchester. I personally believe that the city is large enough to hold its own in getting the jobs and the business to come here, and our proximity to Boston very well aids in that, as does our airport. Like how you said, Patrick, that Manchester acts as a ?suburb and central city?. Manchester has to use the closeness it has to Boston to its advantage, and also be independent. The city almost has to market itself to companies, there are plenty of corporations that have branches or offices that are outside of a major city because its cheaper and more convenient, so why can?t Manchester be one of those places. We may be farther from Boston than some of the larger towns on the north, or south shore in Mass that companies may turn to when they want to stay out of Boston, but we have things those places don?t. Manchester has to work with what it has, and what it has is a location in a very tax friendly state, plenty of areas of town that would welcome redevelopments, and an airport that always terms itself as ?the friendly alternative to Logan?. I guess a pipe dream for me would be that Manchester would have a new redevelopment boom, for example like Providence. Providence was run down for years, filled with crime, and lost a dramatic amount of its population. Now, I think it?s a beautiful city, and it only took like 15 or so years to bring it back from where it was as a not so great place, to put it lightly, in the early 90s. Their downtown is gorgeous. I guess I just want Manch to get a boom of a renaissance, and that?s something if the city plays its cards right could happen, as the economy bounces back. Really the only place to go from here economically is up, so why not use it to our advantage. There may not be a huge comeback for a few years, in that time the city really needs to get its bones together. The school district needs a major overhaul, so do the city services. Those are things that if you work efficiently can have dramatic change in a two-year term the mayor, alderman, and school board are elected to. If you look at a map, Boston has three mid sized cities to its south, Providence, east, Worcester, and north, Manchester. Even though the first two were once much larger, they both stand out in New England as center for business, and etc. So everyone else got their boom, why can?t Manchester?

On the contrary, Manchester has had its boom. Just like providence, Manchester was not doing too well a while back. Now, it has converted mill space, cleaner streets, new headquarters, and the best thing of all recently, the airport and arena developments. And Providence and Worcester also have two schools that are much more nationally respected than St. A's...not that St. A's is bad--not at all. Providence also built a mall downtown, which worked out well. But, Providence is still a dump in my opinion. Sure, it has been revitalized, but I think manchester has more going for it. Providence is way bigger than Manchester, and way more industrial, and way more dirty. It is a different city altogether. It depends on what you like in a city. Many people would disagree with my assessment of Providence, but many more (especially those unaware of its recent successes and renaissance) would not disagree with me. Providence is not all bad, but would you really want to live there?

It takes people like you to get involved in city politics and investment to bring a place up. I agree manchester has the potential.

The way I see it, jobs developed first in NH with the mills. Those jobs evaporated. But yet, the city continued to grow. why? Because as jobs were expanding in metro Boston, the people who were working them were relocating to Southern NH for a more relaxed pace. You can think of it one of two ways: either a large portion of southern NH's jobs are located in northern massachusetts, or a large portion of northern massachusetts employees choose to actually go to bed at night in southern NH. The key now is to make sure from here on out the population base and the employment base develop in tandem. I don't see why they can't, so I agree with you.

New growth policies and strategic investment actions by the city would help indicate to the private sector that manchester is business friendly.

[Patrick]

ALSO, TAKE A LOOK AT THIS ARTICLE, IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT ALREADY:

http://www.yourmanchesternh.com/library/pdf/MaineStory.pdf

IT WAS WRITTEN AT THE PEAK OF MANCHESTER'S REVITALIZATION BOOM IN 2005. I REMEMBER READING IT IN THE PAPER.

[Lrfox]

Interesting discussions, guys. I just wanted to add a couple of things.

One, the comparisons between Manch and New Haven/Hartford are off the mark. The population numbers may be similar (Manch being a mere 10,000 or so smaller), but there's more to it than that. Hartford and New Haven cover a REALLY small area geographically (right around 17 Square Miles as opposed to Manch's 32). So, Hartford and New Haven have MORE people in about 1/2 the land area of Manch. They're bigger cities. It's like Comparing Jacksonville's population to Boston's... not an accurate measure. Hartford and New Haven are much larger urban areas than Manchester despite the similar population figures. Realistically, Manchester is much more similar in size to a city like Lawrence, MA or Fall River, MA (though Manch is in better shape than those cities) than it is to Hartford or New Haven.

That being said, while I think comparisons to Hartford are unrealistic, I don't disagree entirely with the New Haven comparison and I'll explain why in a second.

First, I have to chime in and say that I wouldn't consider Manchester a "suburb" of Boston. It's not a bedroom community. It may have a good portion of the population who do commute to Boston for work (in fact, I know some), but they don't all. Manchester still has some major independent functions (economic hub of NH) and its own urban identity. It used to be independent but is no longer entirely that way. However, it hasn't just morphed into Boston's urban fabric like, say, Lynn MA has (now an entirely suburban city). It's more of a SATELLITE city. A city that while retaining some independence, is caught in Boston's orbit.

Being a satellite city isn't a death sentence for a city though. In fact, many cities evolve and fill their role well. Providence is a city that was once an independent entity, but is now a Satellite of Boston. It has taken advantage of its ties to Boston (i.e. big city public transit in the commuter rail, and high level Amtrak service as well as more affordable urban housing) to establish itself as an urban oasis at the exterior of Boston's suburbs. Of course other things have played into the revitalization, but it has reinvented itself very well.

New Haven has done the same thing as a satellite city of New York. It may no longer be in it's own universe anymore, but it has adapted well to being in NYC's orbit. I can't think of any place in New England (outside of Boston) to go for a better urban environment (restaurants, museums, shopping, nighltife, etc) than Providence and New Haven. At the same time, these cities make great options for people who work in NYC/ Boston or just want to be near those cities yet can't afford to live IN them. They have fully adapted to their role and the change from being independent and primary to being a secondary orbiting city.

Manchester can find its niche in the same fashion. It needs better transit (though having the airport there doesn't hurt). IT can act as an affordable urban oasis as well as the primary city in the region. Having the airport, hospitals, restaurants and nightlife in that region will keep it from becoming irrelevant regardless of how entwined in the Boston area it is. Manchester has more going for it than many cities in similar shoes (Lawrence and Fall River, again, being good examples) and I bet it will eventually thrive in its adapted role.

[Muns1990]

Hey again, first off that article Patrick was great, and it brings me to my first point of how you said Manchester already had its boom. I know we have come quite a long way from where we were twenty years ago, but the way I see it, the boom was made up of renovations of what the city already had, in terms of office, retail, and dining space. Granted we did gain an incredible amount from it, like the new arena, and ballpark, but there was no ?building boom? like other cities, such as Providence has had.. Manchester filled in the spaces it already had, but the development stopped before anything new could go up. That?s what I would like to see, and I think the reason this didn?t occur was because of the current mayor being elected, and the economic turndown. The only good thing about Guinta being elected, I think, is that if Baines or someone who was really determined to get new development going was mayor at the time of the turndown, we might have projects sitting around unfinished throughout the city, I guess you have to look at it is the glass half full, we should use the economic situation to our advantage, get the city ready so when development opportunities arise, Manchester will be a choice for people to come to, to start growing again. Also I realize where Manchester stands in terms of what it has to work with. Cities like Providence, Worcester, and New Haven have very prestigious university?s like you said Patrick that play a big part in how the city has grown, and the schools Manchester has are good schools, but not known on a national or international level. What Manchester can do with the schools it has, is work with them when they expand to better benefit the community, like internship opportunities with city businesses, dorms and classrooms located in the downtown, etc. A big thing on the table right now is getting rail to comeback to Manch, like Lrfox said, better transit to and from Boston will help us grow. Oh, and also I want to clarify what I meant by my comparisons with other places, what I meant was that we have a similar population, so why can?t we BECOME, like these places, not that we already are. Manchester has the foundation down for development; we just need to attract it. Also acting as an edge city is a great thing, but we also have to be independent. I think the main reason we haven?t become like Fall River Mass, etc, is that we are in a different state. We benefit from having Boston near us, but being in a different stay more or less solidifies an independence from Boston, making us the economic center of New Hampshire, like Providence to Rhode Island. The city does need to take advantage of its proximity to Boston, which it doesn?t. I?m a firm believer in the ?why not? factor, why can?t Manchester have a better developed, more retail and business oriented downtown, why can?t we have a connection to the commuter rail down to Boston, why can?t we have something like the Providence Place Mall. It takes time, but with the right amount of determination from city officials, Manchester can grow to become a strong competitor in New England. That sounded a bit preachy, but ehh, I really think the city could do it.

[Patrick]

Hey again, first off that article Patrick was great, and it brings me to my first point of how you said Manchester already had its boom. I know we have come quite a long way from where we were twenty years ago, but the way I see it, the boom was made up of renovations of what the city already had, in terms of office, retail, and dining space. Granted we did gain an incredible amount from it, like the new arena, and ballpark, but there was no ?building boom? like other cities, such as Providence has had.. Manchester filled in the spaces it already had, but the development stopped before anything new could go up. That?s what I would like to see, and I think the reason this didn?t occur was because of the current mayor being elected, and the economic turndown. The only good thing about Guinta being elected, I think, is that if Baines or someone who was really determined to get new development going was mayor at the time of the turndown, we might have projects sitting around unfinished throughout the city, I guess you have to look at it is the glass half full, we should use the economic situation to our advantage, get the city ready so when development opportunities arise, Manchester will be a choice for people to come to, to start growing again. Also I realize where Manchester stands in terms of what it has to work with. Cities like Providence, Worcester, and New Haven have very prestigious university?s like you said Patrick that play a big part in how the city has grown, and the schools Manchester has are good schools, but not known on a national or international level. What Manchester can do with the schools it has, is work with them when they expand to better benefit the community, like internship opportunities with city businesses, dorms and classrooms located in the downtown, etc. A big thing on the table right now is getting rail to comeback to Manch, like Lrfox said, better transit to and from Boston will help us grow. Oh, and also I want to clarify what I meant by my comparisons with other places, what I meant was that we have a similar population, so why can?t we BECOME, like these places, not that we already are. Manchester has the foundation down for development; we just need to attract it. Also acting as an edge city is a great thing, but we also have to be independent. I think the main reason we haven?t become like Fall River Mass, etc, is that we are in a different state. We benefit from having Boston near us, but being in a different stay more or less solidifies an independence from Boston, making us the economic center of New Hampshire, like Providence to Rhode Island. The city does need to take advantage of its proximity to Boston, which it doesn?t. I?m a firm believer in the ?why not? factor, why can?t Manchester have a better developed, more retail and business oriented downtown, why can?t we have a connection to the commuter rail down to Boston, why can?t we have something like the Providence Place Mall. It takes time, but with the right amount of determination from city officials, Manchester can grow to become a strong competitor in New England. That sounded a bit preachy, but ehh, I really think the city could do it.

All very good points. You have a similar attitude to me. I say why not as well when it comes to development. Wal mart? No thanks. But a high rise downtown? Of course. But, many people don't see a distinction between wal mart and high rises...all development is bad to them. it is peculiar. Nimbyism. People want to benefit from development (i.e. work, jobs, shopping, etc.) but they don't want it in their back yard or even on their block. Thus, you have places like Manchester, NH, which if it weren't for commuters would likely be a lot smaller. The city grew from an original mill town, set up to house the workers, and was booming because of that. then the mill jobs shipped overseas. Its classic post industrial new england scenario. The rents lowered and property values decreased because of a lack of demand for housing stemming from a lack of jobs (i.e. a lack of reasons to locate to Manchester). Now the city has a housing glut (to some extent, at least compared to its prime) and it needs to pursue policies that replace all of the high paying mill jobs and productive industry with something else. Thing is, that's easier said than done. The very thing for which the city was founded no longer exists. Its similar to what is being done with the mills (creative reuse) but on a municipal scale.

Also, Manchester is not near the population of places you compared it to. Not to argue, but the peak of Manch is at the shell of the other places (and even then it is less). The other small big cities in New England all have comparatively huge (1 million or more) metro areas. Manchester has 400,000 I think. So, compare those numbers and things look a little more understandable. The inner city population does not, in this day and age of the commuter, define the build out of a central city. Southern NH certainly could build a much larger metro area, and quite easily, even without an in migration. There are currently about 1 million people who live in southern NH. why is Manchester's metro region so small then? Because they don't all work in or depend on Manch. But they could. This would require drawing business from Northern Mass and Nashua, as well as concord, centralizing things. This would accelerate given the right sort of policy framework, which is a political objective to achieve, and depends on the right people in office. Perhaps you could affect this landscape?

[Muns1990]

Ya, it?s kind of hard to get a straight answer about what Manchester?s metro is. I?ve heard people say that its 175,000, just the immediate towns surrounding it, to 600,000 or so, and that would be Hillsborough, and Rockingham counties in their entirety. Both of those are a little out of whack, so 400,000 is probably a good gauge as to what it is. That though isn?t anything to complain about, say half of those people who live outside the city are part of the work force, 150,000 (subtracting Manch?s pop from that 400,000 metro), if Manch could get just 10% of those people to work in the city, that?s a decent amount of people. That would be on the low end too, what you could really hope for is to get a huge chunk of those people to find jobs in Manch, whatever they may be, and turn the surrounding area into bedroom communities that are oriented towards Manchester, not northern Mass. Seeing that it is the largest city in the state, it really needs start acting that way. Manchester has to really be strong about this, and say to itself that it is plenty capable to handle just as much as any other New England city could, and with a Mayor, Alderman, etc, who feel this way, it can try, and can, reverse the hold Mass has on southern NH. Obviously none of this happens over night, but a good ten years of thinking this way, and Manch could really change how southern NH works, the city needs to become the focal point. The dynamic would be completely different if Manchester was the same distance, population, and what not, and was in the same state as Boston. Since it?s not, it has just as much of a right to be the center of NH, as does a city that is the largest in its respective state. One thing that really has to change, is that downtown needs retail, not just like little shops and such, but real stores that would bring people downtown who usually don?t go there. For instance, there is no movie theater in Manchester, that?s just ridiculous. Hooksett, the town north of Manchester, basically stole a brand new IMAX theater from being built downtown. Back in like say 2004 or 2005 cinemagic was looking to open another theater in or around Manchester, and the city was in talks to bring it downtown where the Plaza Mall is, a perfect space for it. Hooksett though swooped in and gave the company this deal they couldn?t pass up on, on this huge chunk of land to build the theater on. It was over from there, two years later cinemagic opened up in Hooksett. The whole city needs to start working from the ground up though, first take care of the crime, and poor school district, and then make the place look a little better. There needs to be some major road paving done, and nice new tar can make a street a million times more appealing. Until things like this are done, nobody is going to want to move to Manchester. As for people being passionate about Manch, it?s pretty fifty fifty, there are a lot who love it, and then a lot who just see it as another Lowell. As for me getting involved in the ?landscape? of the city, maybe after I get out of college haha, I just love where I?m from. I just hate it when people don?t like Manchester, and ask what?s so great about it. There?s so much history in the city, and if we?ve been on top before with those mills, we can certainly find a new niche for ourselves to do it again.

[ManchVegas]

I'm glad you mentioned the movie theaters because those were supposed to be located in the city. It seems that the approval process to get anything done moves way too slowly sometimes. Although, the Elliott got quick approval, so maybe that's a sign of things to come. Once the airport access road is complete, tons of companies will move into that area. There are already plans for more office space on the Londonderry side.

If commuter rail comes to the city, it will only help. People would definitely use it. You know it's a good thing because the Union Leader is against it.

I'm most excited right now for the new Elliott because that's going to transform that whole area. It's kind of a sketchy area over near Bakersville and I'd like to see southern Elm grow to match the northern portion in terms of its look. There were plans to tear down the plumbing supply business next to Van Otis and build a ten story mixed use building, but I'm sure the developers are waiting for the economy to bounce back.

[Patrick]

Interesting discussions, guys. I just wanted to add a couple of things.

One, the comparisons between Manch and New Haven/Hartford are off the mark. The population numbers may be similar (Manch being a mere 10,000 or so smaller), but there's more to it than that. Hartford and New Haven cover a REALLY small area geographically (right around 17 Square Miles as opposed to Manch's 32). So, Hartford and New Haven have MORE people in about 1/2 the land area of Manch. They're bigger cities. It's like Comparing Jacksonville's population to Boston's... not an accurate measure. Hartford and New Haven are much larger urban areas than Manchester despite the similar population figures. Realistically, Manchester is much more similar in size to a city like Lawrence, MA or Fall River, MA (though Manch is in better shape than those cities) than it is to Hartford or New Haven.

That being said, while I think comparisons to Hartford are unrealistic, I don't disagree entirely with the New Haven comparison and I'll explain why in a second.

First, I have to chime in and say that I wouldn't consider Manchester a "suburb" of Boston. It's not a bedroom community. It may have a good portion of the population who do commute to Boston for work (in fact, I know some), but they don't all. Manchester still has some major independent functions (economic hub of NH) and its own urban identity. It used to be independent but is no longer entirely that way. However, it hasn't just morphed into Boston's urban fabric like, say, Lynn MA has (now an entirely suburban city). It's more of a SATELLITE city. A city that while retaining some independence, is caught in Boston's orbit.

Being a satellite city isn't a death sentence for a city though. In fact, many cities evolve and fill their role well. Providence is a city that was once an independent entity, but is now a Satellite of Boston. It has taken advantage of its ties to Boston (i.e. big city public transit in the commuter rail, and high level Amtrak service as well as more affordable urban housing) to establish itself as an urban oasis at the exterior of Boston's suburbs. Of course other things have played into the revitalization, but it has reinvented itself very well.

New Haven has done the same thing as a satellite city of New York. It may no longer be in it's own universe anymore, but it has adapted well to being in NYC's orbit. I can't think of any place in New England (outside of Boston) to go for a better urban environment (restaurants, museums, shopping, nighltife, etc) than Providence and New Haven. At the same time, these cities make great options for people who work in NYC/ Boston or just want to be near those cities yet can't afford to live IN them. They have fully adapted to their role and the change from being independent and primary to being a secondary orbiting city.

Manchester can find its niche in the same fashion. It needs better transit (though having the airport there doesn't hurt). IT can act as an affordable urban oasis as well as the primary city in the region. Having the airport, hospitals, restaurants and nightlife in that region will keep it from becoming irrelevant regardless of how entwined in the Boston area it is. Manchester has more going for it than many cities in similar shoes (Lawrence and Fall River, again, being good examples) and I bet it will eventually thrive in its adapted role.

Good points. I just wanted to point out that I used the term suburb loosely. By a suburb, I mean: more so than average, people AROUND the city of Manchester commute to places OTHER than Manchester. I guess I meant its metro region is half a suburb or Northern Massachusetts (not just Boston). So, while there may be 1 million ppl in So NH, where the travel during the day is NOT 100% manchester, unlike somewhere like Burlington, VT, where everybody has but one choice as to where they work and shop etc. Manchester area people can choose to go to Manchester, or, if they locate a suitable job elsewhere (not an impossibility, given the proximity of northern mass, nashua, and concord) they can work there as well, instead. It is this factor that I think makes the manchester AREA suburban, even if the city is obviously not just a bedroom community.

[ManchVegas]

Here's a link to the development at the Goulet Plumbing Supply site. I was wrong as the tallest building would only be 6 stories.

http://www.379elm.com

[Patrick]

NICE!

http://015ec1a.netsolhost.com/379elm/images/bg_top.jpg

[Muns1990]

When was this proposed, because I think I saw these plans a few years back. If it does go through, it would be a great addition to southern Elm st, making it a little less warehousey, and with the Elliot Center going up on the other end, it'll cap the end of the "southern downtown". The Elliot Center really needs to get a move on though, they broke ground for it like a year ago this month and it's still just this GIGANTIC hole in the ground hidden behind a few tenement buildings, and a gas station. That looks great though if they do build it!

[Muns1990]

Oh, and hear is a link to the recent master plan for the city that was unveiled in August

http://www.manchesternh.gov/website/Departments/Planning/CityMasterPlanUpdateinProgress/tabid/479/Default.aspx

[Lrfox]

Good points. I just wanted to point out that I used the term suburb loosely. By a suburb, I mean: more so than average, people AROUND the city of Manchester commute to places OTHER than Manchester. I guess I meant its metro region is half a suburb or Northern Massachusetts (not just Boston). So, while there may be 1 million ppl in So NH, where the travel during the day is NOT 100% manchester, unlike somewhere like Burlington, VT, where everybody has but one choice as to where they work and shop etc. Manchester area people can choose to go to Manchester, or, if they locate a suitable job elsewhere (not an impossibility, given the proximity of northern mass, nashua, and concord) they can work there as well, instead. It is this factor that I think makes the manchester AREA suburban, even if the city is obviously not just a bedroom community.

Sounds like we're on the same page but using different terminology. That's about how I'd sum it up.

[Muns1990]

Well I wish Manch would just use what it had to its advantage. Hopefully now that the recession is slowing, the city might be able to get some corporations that are starting to grow again to move to the city. Just want Manchester to have a more vital role in NH, and New England. If only every pipe dream of mine could come true for the city.......haha.

[Patrick]

Well they can and they might, but not by merely thinking of them. There has to be a coordinated and concentrated effort to revitalize a place. Historic forces operate to bring industry to locations where it is most economical and efficient to operate, based on cost of labor, skills, know how, and geography. Just about all of these things, with the exception of geography, change over time. So, the things that once conspired naturally to make a town what it is/was may not be in force any longer. This seems to be the case for manchester. It is at this point where a city can either accept a redefined role as the center of a commuter region or as the center of a self sustaining urban center. It seems like a place could also opt to play both roles, something manchester does to a degree already, siding more on the commuter side of the spectrum's center, though, I think. Given the fact that historical and economic forces responsible for manchester's existence no longer exert the same pull on its development these days, it is going to take proactive efforts to ensure that the city develops more toward the other end of the spectrum. Otherwise, it will fall comfortably into a niche where it provides gas and other necessities to those on their way to Massachusetts. This may be the optimal choice for an individual family living in manchester, which wants to take advantage of proximity to a larger business market while being near cheaper housing, but in the aggregate if everyone makes similar assessments of manchester's regional significance, it leads the city to be not much at all. There need to be policies to attract new investment, as relying on natural market forces likely won't accomplish things on the scale you seem to be hoping for. Interfering in the market is not always a bad thing. in fact, i guess what I am suggesting is less actually interfering with the market or in the market than it is actually influencing or creating the market. the art college seems to be great. what about getting more dorms downtown? remember, large businesses are great for a skyline but they might not do much for a city if all of the workers go home at a certain time of day and the sidewalks correpsondingly roll up. Get more housing in town. how? give people a reason to want to be there. providence place mall and the old port in portland are examples of what I mean. create an arts district. student dorms inevitably seem to bring culture as well. organize community events more than currently exist. give reasons for people to move downtown and the rest I think has a better chance of falling into place. you have to pursue the type of vibrancy you are seeking indirectly by promoting policies which at first may seem like they have nothing at all to do with attracting large businesses, condo developments, skyline altering structures etc. those things follow the more community oriented developments i think

[M. Brown]

I love the discussion guys. I also think that Manch is not quit a suburb, but a satilite city like Providence and Worcester, and if you look on a map it looks like it was almost planned that way; Boston in the center, Worcester directly to the west, Providence directly to the south, and Manchester directly to the north and they are all pretty much the same distance away from Boston. And I think that is a great situation for Manchester to be in. It just makes the Boston metro (Boston-Worcester-Providence-Manchester CMSA) more powerful. But I also agree than Manchester needs to become more attractive, though I think that it is quit attractive right now. If it wasn't the population would be lowerer, the airport wouldnt have grown to what it is now, we wouldnt have any sports teams, new construction and so on. I think what we need is a downtown mall like Providence. So I guess what I am saying is Manch needs to become more like Providence and Worcester than what it already is now.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Greaterboston2.png

[Ron Newman]

being 'more like Worcester' doesn't sound like a good plan to me.

[M. Brown]

being 'more like Worcester' doesn't sound like a good plan to me.

Well then more like Providence.

[Muns1990]

Yes, I absolutely agree with you Patrick, and M. Brown, that's what I've been trying to get at all along, Manchester-Worcester-Providence. Especially Providence, I think the whole revitalization that has gone on there is amazing, and want something to that degree to happen for Manchester. Since Boston already has two fairly large satellite cities to its south and west, why can't Manchester also take advantage of the proximity to grow and become a player as the third. Right now its almost like it goes Southern NH-Worcester-Providence, instead of Manchester. Just like Providence acts as a satellite, and regional center of its state, Manchester should be able to pull that off too. One major issue with Manch is too much of its retail is concentrated on South Willow St, the area that contains the mall, chain restaurant, car dealers etc. Leave the car dealers, and tire shops there, and get all the retail you can to move downtown. About 10 years ago Manch's mall went under a huge renovation, but now its failing because it contains the same stores as the Salem, and Nashua malls that sit on the border of Mass. Something like Providence Place would do well downtown, but they should try and attract stores that aren't in NH, but have locations right over the border in Mass. Something like an "upscale mall" would bring more upscale people downtown, altering the demographic of people who usually stay there after 5pm. For instance I know places like Nordstrom, Crate&Barrel, etc are all places that have no locations in NH, but NH people will flock over the border to mass to shop at, if locations were brought to Manch in some sort of downtown mall it would bring NH shoppers, as well as tax evading bay staters. Also, whenever there is talk of the downtown, the city always says there is no room to build, but the last time I check the whole area is full of flat open spaces called parking lots, that could easily be developed over. First though the city has to take care of the schools, and crime. Sadly today's Manchester Express's, weekly alternative paper, front cover was "25% of Queen City Kids live below poverty line, why?". Manchester just needs to be worked through top to bottom.

[Muns1990]

Ted Gatsas won for mayor, which isn't totally bad, either one was better than what we have, but something terrible happened. The voters approved a tax cap, one gigantic step backwards for the city.

[Muns1990]

A few pictures of the downtown area on November 9th 2009.


http://s978.photobucket.com/albums/ae266/Muns1990/?action=view&current=DSC01180.jpg

http://s978.photobucket.com/albums/ae266/Muns1990/?action=view&current=DSC01185.jpg

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http://s978.photobucket.com/albums/ae266/Muns1990/?action=view&current=DSC01182.jpg

http://s978.photobucket.com/albums/ae266/Muns1990/?action=view&current=DSC01193.jpg

http://s978.photobucket.com/albums/ae266/Muns1990/?action=view&current=DSC01196.jpg

http://s978.photobucket.com/albums/ae266/Muns1990/?action=view&current=DSC01201.jpg

http://s978.photobucket.com/albums/ae266/Muns1990/?action=view&current=DSC01202.jpg

http://s978.photobucket.com/albums/ae266/Muns1990/?action=view&current=DSC01203.jpg

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http://s978.photobucket.com/albums/ae266/Muns1990/?action=view&current=DSC01215.jpg

http://s978.photobucket.com/albums/ae266/Muns1990/?action=view&current=DSC01206.jpg

http://s978.photobucket.com/albums/ae266/Muns1990/?action=view&current=DSC01200.jpg

http://s978.photobucket.com/albums/ae266/Muns1990/?action=view&current=DSC01211.jpg

http://s978.photobucket.com/albums/ae266/Muns1990/?action=view&current=DSC01189.jpg

http://s978.photobucket.com/albums/ae266/Muns1990/?action=view&current=DSC01219.jpg

[Patrick]

very nice. thanks for posting. What an impressive skyline for a small city. What I think the town could use is more affordable housing and closer to downtown. make it a 24/7 type of place. that would do a bunch. too many parking lots. should be housing in my opinion. I know you don't control these things, just rambling on I guess

[Muns1990]

Thanks, ya there are way too many parking lots downtown, the plus with that though is there's plenty of space to develop. Was in Providence on Saturday, and was so jealous of their downtown lol. Something like a Providence Place would totally reinvent downtown.

[Muns1990]

Here are some more from later that afternoon. They're of the Currier Museum of Art, a few from the view of downtown at Derryfield Park, and then Stark Park (with the horse statue) which is just outside of downtown in the North End.

http://s978.photobucket.com/albums/ae266/Muns1990/?action=view&current=DSC01225.jpg

http://s978.photobucket.com/albums/ae266/Muns1990/?action=view&current=DSC01226.jpg

http://s978.photobucket.com/albums/ae266/Muns1990/?action=view&current=DSC01228.jpg

http://s978.photobucket.com/albums/ae266/Muns1990/?action=view&current=DSC01229.jpg

http://s978.photobucket.com/albums/ae266/Muns1990/?action=view&current=DSC01233.jpg

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http://s978.photobucket.com/albums/ae266/Muns1990/?action=view&current=DSC01237.jpg

http://s978.photobucket.com/albums/ae266/Muns1990/?action=view&current=DSC01238.jpg

http://s978.photobucket.com/albums/ae266/Muns1990/?action=view&current=DSC01221.jpg

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http://s978.photobucket.com/albums/ae266/Muns1990/?action=view&current=DSC01232.jpg

[Patrick]

The odd thing about Manchester is that it is such a city and such a town. It looks like a big little town with a huge skyline. If that makes sense. It looks like a large center city moved into a small town. The surroundings are all so suburban but the downtown is huge heightwise compared to everything around it. In a sense this is good because it preserves open space, but then it seems like the open space is being used inefficiently. don't mean to crap on manch, just bringing these things up from a criticism standpoint because all cities should be criticized, most of the time.

[Patrick]

http://pics4.city-data.com/cpicc/cfiles39314.jpg

[Patrick]

http://pics4.city-data.com/cpicv/vfiles8474.jpg
http://pics4.city-data.com/cpicv/vfiles34144.jpg
http://pics4.city-data.com/cpicc/cfiles47825.jpg
http://pics4.city-data.com/cpicv/vfiles29865.jpg
http://www.city-data.com/picfilesc/picc39312.php
http://pics4.city-data.com/cpicc/cfiles39311.jpg
http://pics4.city-data.com/cpicv/vfiles27482.jpg
http://www.city-data.com/picfilesv/picv14875.php

[Muns1990]

Yah I know what you mean about the town-city thing, I think it?s because Manchester, compared to other New England cities, Portland, New Haven, Hartford, Providence, etc, is much larger in area than those places. Manchester is 33sq miles while those places are about 20sq miles or below. When I say this I?m speaking about land area, not including water, because I know Portland is like 50sq miles land and water, but land is only like 20sq miles. This makes parts of the city dense, and others suburban. So Manchester can sometimes be very deceiving, like if your driving either north or south on route 293, which goes right through downtown, Manch probably seems bigger than it is, but other areas seem like a small town. It makes the city very diverse I think.

[Patrick]

I'm not familiar with the State of NH's land use laws, but I wonder if Manchester wouldn't benefit from an urban growth boundary. Essentially the idea is to mark off an area beyond which urban style development is absolutely prohibited. This does two things. One, it maintains wilderness and scenic farmland the way it is, rather than having it gobbled up by large auto dependent businesses seeking cheaper land prices farther from the city, and two, it condenses the city and artificially makes land prices more expensive. this would do a lot to gentrify manchester, because only those who could afford it would be able or willing to build or locate in the city (assuming there was a bidding war, which there may or may not be, but either way the growth boundary wouldn't act as an economically depressing agent), and the buildings that chose for convenience's sake to stay near the population center would have to build in smaller spaces, meaning height and density would increase. right now, business has its choice between manchester, Nashua, concord, and surrounding areas (I think you mentioned the imax in nearby town) as do people choosing where to live. If there was an urban growth boundary, however, nashua and concord would remain the way they are (assuming it was drawn around manchester only) and manchester would suck up all of the new investments. Or, a boundary could be drawn around each city in the state, so that the interstitial areas are not sprawled across (which is the way things currently operate). This method has been used in places like Colorado and Portland, Oregon, as well as in San Fran and London. Portland, Maine looks like it has a bigger (although not taller) skyline than manchester because if you look at a map it has a natural growth boundary. The downtown is located on a peninsula, meaning on three sides it is blocked off by water, so there is naturally not a lot of space to spread out (the peninsula I might add is only about two square miles). The rest of Portland is suburban, but downtown is very compact, for the most part (although it too has its problems of surface parking and underutilized areas) because business wishing to locate here has no choice but to build up or not build at all. Perhaps you could write your representative and ask about State land use laws. The urban growth boundary concept is controversial to some, but in my opinion it seems to work well. Essentially it says make a choice: urban or rural, none of this in between crap (i.e. sprawl). what do you think?

[Josh]

I love those pictures of Manchester! Manchester is great city, although I wish the downtown was a little bit bigger, like Portland's. I could say the same thing about Portland though, I wish it was more like Manchester (in terms of height).

[Patrick]

in terms of size and regional importance I think the two cities are very similar, even if culturally distinct. Manchester is taller, but portland is wider (at least in their downtowns) so it is a trade off I guess. Both cities would benefit from taking advantage of the successes of the other.

[Muns1990]

I'm not familiar with the State of NH's land use laws, but I wonder if Manchester wouldn't benefit from an urban growth boundary. Essentially the idea is to mark off an area beyond which urban style development is absolutely prohibited. This does two things. One, it maintains wilderness and scenic farmland the way it is, rather than having it gobbled up by large auto dependent businesses seeking cheaper land prices farther from the city, and two, it condenses the city and artificially makes land prices more expensive. this would do a lot to gentrify manchester, because only those who could afford it would be able or willing to build or locate in the city (assuming there was a bidding war, which there may or may not be, but either way the growth boundary wouldn't act as an economically depressing agent), and the buildings that chose for convenience's sake to stay near the population center would have to build in smaller spaces, meaning height and density would increase. right now, business has its choice between manchester, Nashua, concord, and surrounding areas (I think you mentioned the imax in nearby town) as do people choosing where to live. If there was an urban growth boundary, however, nashua and concord would remain the way they are (assuming it was drawn around manchester only) and manchester would suck up all of the new investments. Or, a boundary could be drawn around each city in the state, so that the interstitial areas are not sprawled across (which is the way things currently operate). This method has been used in places like Colorado and Portland, Oregon, as well as in San Fran and London. Portland, Maine looks like it has a bigger (although not taller) skyline than manchester because if you look at a map it has a natural growth boundary. The downtown is located on a peninsula, meaning on three sides it is blocked off by water, so there is naturally not a lot of space to spread out (the peninsula I might add is only about two square miles). The rest of Portland is suburban, but downtown is very compact, for the most part (although it too has its problems of surface parking and underutilized areas) because business wishing to locate here has no choice but to build up or not build at all. Perhaps you could write your representative and ask about State land use laws. The urban growth boundary concept is controversial to some, but in my opinion it seems to work well. Essentially it says make a choice: urban or rural, none of this in between crap (i.e. sprawl). what do you think?

I think that's a wonderful idea, it would really establish downtown as the center of Manchester if something like that was done. Right now it's as if the downtown, and S. Willow St, the strip that's full of car dealers, chain restaurants, the mall, and Walmart, are competing. There are so many efforts to put Manchester into that small destination city category, with things like the weekly alternative newspapers, The Hippo, and Manchester Express, this new magazine call "Manchester Magazine", and a bunch of websites such as EverythingManchVegas.com, and Manch-Vegas.com, that try and spread the word about new places to go and such around town. If something like this growth boundary was done, it would help establish neighborhoods too. I know like in 06 they had this big plan call Neighborhood Initiatives, where the planning board, and urban engineers did this thing where they cut the city into like 20 different neighborhoods. Most of them were a little rediculus because they were based off of things that had nothing to do with the area. Only one of them was finished on the west side, called Rimmon Heights. The city said the area was called that in the early 20th century, but there were articles that looked into and there was nothing proving it, and this was the case for most of the districts they had designed so the plan fell through when Guinta was elected. What they did though was nice, even though it was a little much with the Rimmon name, the whole area was freshly paved, new sidewalks, the old gas light street lights, the telephone poles were cleaned up, banners displaying the name of the neighborhood, and two big steel arches displaying Rimmon Heights over what they considered the entrances to the place. Manchester really only has a few distinct areas, the north end, west side, south end, and east side, the center of the city isn't really refered to as anything, just the place you don't want to be past 10, so if they wanted to do something like this they needed to consider those areas. But if development was sectioned off in some sort of ripple effect, high develepment downtown-suburban edges, the city would be nice. Manchester has a great mix of city feelings, and then drive 4 miles away and your on a huge lake front at the edge of town to go boating at, or can go skiing at the city ski area near the edge of town, etc. I just can't stand how it takes so long to get anything down, especially in Manchester.

[Patrick]

In vermont they have some sort of an act that is to protect downtowns that works really well. in the greater burlington area for instance there was a law that stopped big box development in a nearby suburb and the downtown of burlington is really nice for only 50,000 people.

winooski next door to burlington has REALLY redeveloped itself too and is only a city of 6,000 with a very dense downtown. growth boundaries are very useful. perhaps you should look into them some more.

http://www.winooskifalls.com/

[Muns1990]

Ya that seems really interesting, for such a small place to be so well developed, they must have really had their stuff together to get that done. To me it seems a lot of the time smaller areas are able to keep themselves up better. I've always wondered if the city treated each of the 12 wards as if it were a small town, if they may be able to give each area more character.

[Patrick]

small indeed. Winooski is only one square mile in size, with a population of 6,000. But, it is right nextdoor to Burlington. The city was a former mill town, just like manchester, until they redeveloped it all a few years ago.

Interesting what you said about Manchester's different wards. have you heard of the shrinking cities movement? It tries to tackle the problems of places like flint and detroit and buffalo. For detroit there is even a proposal to split the city up into several different smaller towns ringing an urban core with green space in between them (to basically clear out all of the abandoned houses and stores etc). Manchester may be growing, but I think the central city suffers from many of the same ailments as the other so called shrinking cities. google it I would be curious to hear your thoughts.

[Muns1990]

That is interesting, sometimes it seems there is just too much land for one Mayor or board of alderman to take care of. It always drives me crazy when they rank cities by their population, and a place like Phoenix, which is 517sq miles, is ranked the 5th largest in the country, and Boston, at 40sq miles or so is all the way up at 22, even though if you place the coverage of Phoenix over Boston, there would be at least the same amount of people if not more. I would never want Manchester to be split up, and make like a South Manchester or East Manchester, I don't think they're anywhere near that point. For instance there may be 10,000 people living in a ward, why couldn't it be treated somewhat like a town of its own within the city. Plenty of places have neighborhood commitees, like in Providence for example with places like College Hill or Federal Hill, who's whole purpose is to deal with the area aesthetically. Why couldn't you treat a ward in this way. Even if you didn't do it this way, the Urban Boundaries you had spoken about before could create this by zoning the city highest to lowest density starting with the downtown. Cutting up a city like Detroit would be suitable, because that city, and others need to be SAVED from themselves, before they're a former city of 1.5 million, with 100k living there. Manchester isn't divided up enough, it needs some concrete boundaries between neighborhoods. Because right now, whenever they create new development plans, it's always random where they begin and end.

http://www.yourmanchesternh.com/plans-and-projects/

This website is a list of all the major developments going on right now. At the very bottom, the Hilliar Downtown Studies is interesting, espescially section 5, which is a long powerpoint on what could, and should be done to develop the downtown. This though was all put together in 06, the same year that the boom ended. So I'm not sure how much of it is still being considered if not just totally forgotten about.

[Patrick]

I can't think of the name of those new apartments on the corner of Elm and some other street right sort of where the downtown begins, but they are about 4 years old and about 8 stories tall. they were supposed to be two 21 story towers originally until the designs were changed. Manchester should build up as soon as the recession is done.

[Muns1990]

Those are the Residences at Manchester Place, I've seen that plan around a bit, but I think it was nixed pretty early one, because there wasn't enough demand for TWO 21 floor apartment buildings. They actually had a hard time filling that place at first, now I think they're mostly rented. I heard somewhere, I'm not sure whether or not it's true, but that Manch has a 300ft height limit because the flight path for one of the runways goes right over downtown. The only thing about building up right away is that I don't think downtown is dense enough for it to look proportional for it yet. like when you look at Portland, and its very densely built, Manch's downtown is either decent height, or 1 or 2 stories. I've always thought that if there was a lot of demand to build downtown they should put up a bunch of buildings that are say 150-200 feet high at first. This would make downtown much bigger feeling, like a Hartford or Providence, and the city could leave certain strategic lots that are right at the center of downtown empty for whn the time comes to build either right up to the same height as the two office towers there are now, or above those. The Hampshire Plaza (black tower) is 250ft tall, and City Hall Plaza (Red-Tan-Green roof) is 275. If they randomly built something that was like 350 or 400 feet it would look weird. Like if you've ever seen pics of Albany's downtown, there's this one building that is 589 ft tall, almost twice the height of anything else in the city, and it just looks terrible I think. I like a skyline that comes to some sort of pinnacle, like Los Angeles, or even Providence.

[Patrick]

you could build a 21 story residential building at about 250 feet or less. Usually, for residential buildings there are ten feet for each level. With office buildings there tends to be more of a space because of the need for industrial vents etc.

300 feet would NOT be a bad height limit. like you said, if the town build up more, with one tower at 300 feet, this would NOT be bad at all. By built up I guess I mean built up in a quantity sense, not a height sense. even a bunch of 10 story buildings at 90 feet would look great. Manchester is also just a street, so in a sense it is like a major city trying to squeeze onto Main Street USA. It should try to branch out in different directions. Of course, though, we talk about this stuff as if its sim city and someone can just do it. But there are, I'm sure, plenty of vested interests in the area who like things just the way they are.

[ManchVegas]

I never knew that Manchester Place was going to be two 21 story towers. I'm very glad that they at least built something there. That lot was empty for years and really interrupted the flow of downtown at that corner. I've never heard of height restrictions due to the airport.

Thanks for posting the yourmanchester link. There's some great ideas in there, especially improving Canal Street. That street is just an ugly barrier between downtown and the Millyard.

[Muns1990]

Ya, I'm not sure if that building height limit is true, it wouldn't be a bad thing if it was, 300ft is decent, especially if there were like say 2 or 3 buildings of that height. Ya that site is great, I found it looking for those neighborhood initiative plans, and stumbled on all that. Most of it is a good 3 or so years old, so I don't know how much of it is still being considered. Once Guinta came in, it was like he killed all the good ideas, Baines was really a visionary for the city, he saw what it could become I think. I mean in the 6 years he was mayor elm st came back, the arena, ballpark, and the residences went up, and then in 06 it was like boom it's all over. Yes Patrick, if only it was like sim city, I spent many hours when I was younger playing that game, and if I could do that to Manch, it would be a dream.

[Patrick]

I tried looking for height limitations on the city site and could only notice a 100 foot restriction on certain areas, which we know isn't the max. The height limit in Portland is 190 feet, only along certain stretches of Congress street. There is an exception of about 50 more feet tall if the building tapers back at the top and if the developer meets certain requirements. This would only allow about a twenty story building, which would work fine in Portland. But, zoning variances are made all of the time, so zoning restrictions are more of a guide than a definitive restriction on building height. The newest high rise in Portland is 135 feet tall (10 stories) and it is built in an area zoned for like 50 feet. the city, realizing it wanted the building, just changed things so it could be built. Things like that are done all the time. Right now a developer wants to build a 30 story building in Portland on a site that is zoned for only 150 feet next to city hall. Well, actually I don't know if he still wants to, but he did at one time.

edit, if you're interested, see the link at the bottom of all my posts.

[Muns1990]

I'm sure they could break the limit if they wanted too, atleast in certain ares. Some planes do fly pretty low over downtown, so I don't know if they were going to build up, if they'd have to push further away from downtown. The river I'm pretty sure is the flight path guide, or w/e. So whatever is built would prob be further east than closer to the Merrimack. If there were to be a height limit in any part of the city, I think it should be on the West Side, St Marie's church dominates the area, and you can see it from any part of downtown or the West Side. If something were built above it or close, it would be very awkward I think. Are they still planning on the 30 story building in Portland? I do admit, that I would be disappointed if Manch lost it's tallest north of Boston title.

[Patrick]

"They" is actually a "he." and the "he" in this case is very controversial. Not too many people take him seriously. In 1999, for example, he proposed to build TWO 41 story hotel towers on top of a 64,000 seat arena (almost 7 times the manchester arena's capacity) which could essentially hold the entire city population of portland inside at the same time, which would also be connected to an airline hanger, plastic surgery hospital, and cable cars connecting it over the harbor to downtown Portland. Everyone laughed at it, but he seemed pretty serious. He still owns the land and has since tried to scale down his project to 20 stories, 15 stories, 11 stories etc. Nothing has been built. Now he plans on building 30 stories in portland, which is more realistic, but people are still very cautious about proceeding with a guy like this. He has tons of money and is from new york, but he is not taken seriously around here. I haven't heard any word on the building since last summer. I don't think for the time being there is going to be much headway made on this project. I think manchester would develop just fine with a bunch of mid rise buildings and dense, compact street level retail and other uses.

Here are the renderings from Mr. Cacoulidis's (that's the portland developer's name) plans for south portland
note downtown portland in the background and the airplane entering the building's garage area (I don't mean to steal this thread from Manchester)
http://plans2pictures.com/images/north.jpg
http://plans2pictures.com/images/south.jpg
http://plans2pictures.com/images/tower.jpg

[Muns1990]

Wow, what he started out with was a little much I think. I guess two hotel towers could of been feasible because Portland does get a lot of tourists with cruises and such, but an arena that large, for what I can't imagine. Gillette holds somewhere in the ballpark as well and that's for the Patriots, I can't imagine what it would be used for up in Maine, or anywhere in Northern New England for that matter. The designs, I'm not sure how you feel about them, but in my opinion are quite ugly. It's nice to mix modern with an old city, but not when it looks like that. Is this building going to be just straight office space if it's built, or mix use? Portland has the upper hand on tourists definitely, I'm sure people don't think of coming up to Manch for the weekend, but obviously Portland does. Manchester if, and when it grows, will no doubt be from business rather than pleasure, much like Providences growth has been. It's slow moving here now, but things are changing. Elm st is being completely redone the whole length of it now by putting diagonal parking all the way up and down, and new like flower bed things in the road. It just started randomly last week, had heard nothing of it before then. There redeveloping the whole front area of the street infront of this large warehouse on elm almost across from the arena, that's where they want the train station to go. Since June they've been trying to get this walkable neighborhoods thing going so little changes like this are the extent of whats developing right now. It's too much of an age of the population thing right now, a large portion of Manch is elderly, and also a large part of it is younger like 20s and 30s. So all these new restaurants pop up around downtown for the younger people, then something like the tax cap is approved by the other end.

[Patrick]

yeah the design was weird. the developer wanted to use the arena to host national political conventions like democrative and repub national conventions.

The building he is talking about now is going to be mostly office, with an attempt to lure a big insurance company from Boston, but will also have some mixed use in that he intends to include parking, a hotel, a pharmacy, and street level retail. This project is proposed in a site that would currently not allow it due to height restrictions and so it probably will NOT be built without first substantially being scaled down. There are seven floors of parking included in the initial talks, and I bet if the city relaxed mandatory parking requirements it could make the building on 23 stories, much closer to what would be allowed by current zoning.

[Muns1990]

Huh, I suppose you're lucky that someones so interested in starting development in Portland, too bad that hasn't come along for Manch yet.

[Patrick]

to tell you the truth I'm not so sure that he is serious about the development. I think he may want to build a ten to fifteen story building there, assuming the market would even allow it (not now) but I think he may say the 30 story thing just to raise eyebrows. I mean, he hasn't developed anything yet in ten years, he just keeps floating these mega projects that piss people off (but that excite urban enthusiasts). There was a similar project, bigger if you can believe it, proposed for the site next door about 20 years ago. The site is now a parking lot, but the project was approved. It would have consisted of four large office buildings connected in the middle with a parking garage. Then in 2005 there was a proposal to build a 17 story building and 10,000 seat arena, which would have helped compete with manchester, but no financing was available through taxes. Then, another site across the street has had a 15 story building proposed on it. nothing. 15+17+30+22+15+12+9 = 120 floors of commercial space has been proposed in about those two blocks in the last two decades and none of it has even come close to being built. so don't feel too bad. Manchester beats portland in size, population, and height.

[SHAZBAT73]

Those are some pretty cool pics above! Does anyone have any pics of past Manchester progects that never quite made it to reality? We harp about them all the time in the Portland forums, but I never see any past proposals in the Manchester one...

[Patrick]

when looking for renderings I saw this webcam

[Muns1990]

I once saw some rendering of what the arena may have ended up looking like, the only difference was that I guess they wanted to put a parking garage next to it where the parking lot is not for the event vehicles. Other than that, I've never seen anything in terms of what buildings could have looked like. This link goes to the city site that shows a lot about what is going on right now.

http://www.yourmanchesternh.com/plans-and-projects/

[SHAZBAT73]

Checked the link...I wasn't too impressed with what was in the pipeline. Hopefully in the next economic boom Manchester can beef up it's downtown and fill in those gaps inbetween it's current highrises. The area definetly has potential. Hopefully Nashua gets the itch too for building up (not in the suburbs either!).

[Muns1990]

I'm not sure if you went through it, but the bottom one, the hiller downtown studies, section 5 is this wicked long powerpoint about what could be good for the city to do, and it's pretty interesting. I'm not sure how much of it was actually in consideration, or was just a thought. Oh god Nashua, not a fan, if they ever surpassed Manchester I would die lol, which considering they're only 20,000 shy of our 110,000, it's plausible. Manch's downtown is extremely more developed though than Nashua's. Nashua's looks more like Concords main street more than anything.

[Patrick]

Correct me if I am wrong about the name of the river, but during the last boom Nashua had plans for condominium development similar in scale to (actually even bigger than) Portland's along the Merimack. There were supposed to be about 500 or so in mid rise structures that actually looked quite nice. and very urban. Nashua's Main street is alright but not urban. Even though the population's are similar it indicates nothing as to the urbanity or work/commute patterns of the place. If anywhere in NH is a mjor bedroom for Boston, its Nashua.

Edit - Actually I just searched for the project and I located a picture of it. See below.

http://www.nhpr.org/files/Riverwalk2.jpg
Aerial view of the planned mixed-use development along Franklin and Front streets in Nashua (Courtesy City of Nashua)

Minkarah Cotton: That’s the cotton storage building. That is going to go and we’re going to see the Cotton Mill Square, three new buildings along the river there. 162 units in cotton mill square and another about 360 in the Harper project. Huge, huge change.

All these changes are scheduled to begin next year.

But they are not taking place in a vacuum.

They are part of the city's master plan to broaden downtown’s appeal.

At its heart is a mile and a half boardwalk loop along the river.

full story: http://www.nhpr.org/node/11953

[Muns1990]

Ya that was a few years ago that Nashua wanted to do that, it never went through of course. I think that was going to be like the biggest building project in that city since they built their mall. Nashua is of coarse a bedroom community, and is in no way near what Manchester has in terms of a downtown, or even business, but if their population surpassed Manchester it would very much annoy me, bedroom or not. I'm only in Manchester every couple of weeks when I come home from school, and over the past month or so it seems that a lot has actually been going on. There reconfiguring a lot of the roads in downtown for new parking, and mostly all of them are being paved, it's a good change. Just simple stuff like new tar can make a everything on a street look ten times better. No one has really proposed any large projects in Manch in probably 5 years, because all those places like the arena, ballpark, and new apartments had been on the table for years prior to them actually going up. Once you go south of Lake Ave, downtown just dies, and becomes a strip of gas stations and tire places. Everything north of it is pretty good. Even the stretch between Bridge St and Brook st isn't as bad as it once was, a lot of the building there have been renovated lately, and I see a lot more street front business moving in.

[Patrick]

Don't worry about Nashua's population. Portsmouth has about 20,000 people and its one of the best cities in New England. So is Burlington, VT, with only 38,000 (although there are several thousand additional residents during the school year in both towns).

Manchester should really try to concentrate not just on its CBD but also on its tourist activities. I for one would like to see the lego millyard at the museum sometime. Walking along the river would be nice. Is there a river walk? How about scraping the graffiti off of the mills that face the river. make sure they are no longer an eyesore. zone out suburban development like tire sales places. like you said, also, upkeep streets nicely. I know one thing Portland has been doing left and right, and which is also sweeping the country, is putting in bike lanes everywhere to encourage pedestrians to get out in alternative transportation forms. see streetfilms.org if you're interested. Increased lighting downtown would be useful too. and try to balance elm street, it seems like one side is twice as tall as the other.

I wouldn't worry at all about nashua's population because more people there means more of a market for manchester to draw on as well.

[M. Brown]

Ya that was a few years ago that Nashua wanted to do that, it never went through of course. I think that was going to be like the biggest building project in that city since they built their mall. Nashua is of coarse a bedroom community, and is in no way near what Manchester has in terms of a downtown, or even business, but if their population surpassed Manchester it would very much annoy me, bedroom or not. I'm only in Manchester every couple of weeks when I come home from school, and over the past month or so it seems that a lot has actually been going on. There reconfiguring a lot of the roads in downtown for new parking, and mostly all of them are being paved, it's a good change. Just simple stuff like new tar can make a everything on a street look ten times better. No one has really proposed any large projects in Manch in probably 5 years, because all those places like the arena, ballpark, and new apartments had been on the table for years prior to them actually going up. Once you go south of Lake Ave, downtown just dies, and becomes a strip of gas stations and tire places. Everything north of it is pretty good. Even the stretch between Bridge St and Brook st isn't as bad as it once was, a lot of the building there have been renovated lately, and I see a lot more street front business moving in.

I dont think that will ever happen. Hasn't Nashua's population been stagnent for a while? Also its gotta take a lot for Nashua to just jump up 20k residents to pass Manch. Also If you look at a map, Nashua is just not set up to hold as much as Manch does. Even if it does, pass Manch which is highly unlikely its not that big of a deal.

I think Manch needs to focus on keeping its clean image. The recent murders and gang activity is going to tarnish Manch's livable image. Its sortof turning into the ghetto north of the border. Nashua is also having that same problem.

[Muns1990]

Ya their pop hasn't changed much in a while, but really the only reason Manch's has increased over the past 10 years is because of all the immigration. Nashua probably wouldn't surpass Manchester, but anything's possible, it mostly grows because of Mass. I know that my parents have said that in the 60s and 70s Nashua was expected to be larger than Manch by the turn of the century. Manchester does have to focus on a better image. If it's not careful it's going to get the stigma of another Lowell or something like that, even Nashua has to watch it. Even people who live in NH think Manch is trashy, and it's totally not, granted it has its areas but every city does.

[SHAZBAT73]

Did they ever finish that beltway around Hudson? As for Nashua, I did see that post a while back about the downtown being redeveloped. It would have been nice if that came to fruition.

[Ron Newman]

the stigma of another Lowell

that stigma being what? The Merrimack Rep theatre? The Lowell Folk Festival? The Quilt and Textile museums? The minor-league baseball and hockey teams? Tsongas Arena? The national park?

[M. Brown]

Did they ever finish that beltway around Hudson? As for Nashua, I did see that post a while back about the downtown being redeveloped. It would have been nice if that came to fruition.

That was canned while ago I think.

[Muns1990]

that stigma being what? The Merrimack Rep theatre? The Lowell Folk Festival? The Quilt and Textile museums? The minor-league baseball and hockey teams? Tsongas Arena? The national park?

A stigma is just a general feeling towards something that at one time may have been true, at one point Lowell was not the greatest place in the world. It doesn't mean that it's not great now, it just means that people who don't know how it has changed still have the feeling that it's crime infested etc. Just like how people who have not been to Providence in some time still look at it as being crappy, but is now very nice.

There were a lot of condo projects going on around S. New Hampshire like three years ago. Like behind fisher cats stadium they built like 8 or 9 condos, and they were supposed to put up like 20, and also build two 6 story apartment buildings with retail on the first floor along the river, but only part of it went through.

This is a link to what was built.

http://www.riverwalkmanchester.com/

[Patrick]

very good dodge of a potential argument man, I thought this was going to devolve into a lowell thread

[Muns1990]

Thanks haha, not worth arguing over the internet.

[Ron Newman]

I posted that only to suggest that Lowell does, in fact, have some things that Manchester might want to learn from or copy.

[Muns1990]

Understandable.

[ManchVegas]

Exciting Manchester news! What could it be? My guess is a mixed use development with a convention center.

From the Union Leader:

Mayor: Downtown project could add 400 jobs

By MARK HAYWARD
New Hampshire Union Leader
8 hours, 51 minutes ago

MANCHESTER ? Mayor Ted Gatsas and Manchester developer Dick Anagnost are expected to announce a downtown development project this afternoon that could mean 350 to 400 jobs, Gatsas said last night.

Gatsas would not discuss the project in detail last night. But a notice about the 1:30 p.m. announcement said the project calls for using the Rockwell Automation Inc.'s former Allen-Bradley plant on Elm Street.

Closed for the last several months, the plant sits on 10.7 acres downtown, the largest tract of underdeveloped land in the area. It's between Verizon Wireless Arena and Merchantsauto.com stadium.

"It will be an exciting story," Gatsas said about the announcement. "It's going to change the complexion of downtown."

He said the project could generate 350 to 400 jobs, but would not provide details.

Anagnost owns the property, and Rockwell's lease on the property runs until November, according to previous newspaper accounts.

Given its size, the property has been mentioned for several potential projects over the years.

Recently, Anagnost said it could host a casino if New Hampshire leaders allowed slots and casino gambling. It has also been discussed as a potential transportation nexus that could be used as a train station, bus station and park-and-ride lot.

Gatsas ruled out either suggestion.

The announcement is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at City Hall.

[Todd]

Hmmmm...this is interesting....keep us posted on what the project is. I would have guessed a casino myself..but that's been ruled out....whatever it is, it sounds like an important development for Manchester

[Patrick]

awesome! can't wait to hear what it is! Convention center makes perfect sense given the airport, but would it really create that many jobs? aren't they only used when there are conferences?

Anagnost is know primarily for housing projects--particularly affordable housing projects. I wonder if the jobs created will be those of construction instead of permanent jobs? How come Manchester can just "announce" a development project, but in other cities they have to sit through lengthy debates about whether people want them?

at any rate, the claim that it will change the complexion of downtown--i.e. its entire appearance--sounds promising. it cant be retail in this market, otherwise I would have suggested that. It cant be an art museum, because that already exists.

I predict a major mixed use housing project, which would be GREAT for downtown. Excited to see.

[Patrick]

I just contacted the City's economic development department and learned that the project will be a Market Basket supermarket, the city's first grocery store downtown. Although not exciting, this is an important move in the right direction from an urban planning and community development perspective. Residents of Manchester's downtown won't have to leave for the burbs anymore, and downtown will become more attractive to others looking to reside close to other amenities.

[Todd]

well, it isnt the most exciting development, but this could definitely enhance the downtown area. They have a Shaw's in Boston's Back Bay, and it certainly fits the urban landscape. I guess it is all in the building's design.

[pel_north]

I was going to ask what the proposed development was, but we already have our answer. I, for one, wished that it would have been a civic building, or something with some height. I am happy that there is a Market Basket going in on the other hand. I am wondering though, why such a large piece of land for just a Market Basket. At most, they should need 5 acres right? Even with a large parking lot, and enough room for trucks to load and unload.

[Cojapo]

Hopefully a portion of the site will be dedicated to mixed use, high density. I for one would love to see a few towers added to the skyline. I know they wont be anything impressive, but Manchvegas is due for some height addition. One can only hope.

[Patrick]

Yes, it is about the form of the building, not necessarily the use. But, normally form follows function, and absent something like a form based code, which places like Miami have, and I Don't think Manchester has, you are going to get a sprawling parking lot and low density building. Again, this will be good for community development purposes, but isn't really exciting. At least this isn't really downtown, despite what the news says. In fact, I think the area was just recently included in an expansion of the downtown for tax purposes, but its not like its the center of activity of anything. Also, 10.7 acres is quite large for a supermarket, but then again there may be surrounding stores like a CVS, etc. that normally come up around supermarkets. Or a portion of the site may be left untouched.

[M. Brown]

Just a market basket? I hope there is something else other than that...

[Corey]

I've still never been to Manchester but have a good idea of how it is laid out thanks to google maps and streetview. Here is where the site is

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/1226/mbasket.jpg

There's a story in the Union Leader (http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Downtown+Market+Basket+to+br ing+jobs+to+city&articleId=cccd71dc-03c1-49bd-9059-42f37987664a) about this today. Apparently they are just retrofitting the existing building:

The developers said they are analyzing the building to see how much new construction is needed, but hope to have the project before the Planning Board in July. They have slated the store opening eight months from now.

It's great to reuse the structure, but there are certainly some great opportunities for development on this large lot. First of all, the large parking lot is directly along Elm St., which I hear is the heart of downtown. I would love to see something built up along the road. This truly appears to be a prime location, between the sporting venues and all. A few commentators on the Union Leader story mentioned building a transit hub in this spot, which seems ideal. So a grocery store is great but I hope there is more to come.

[Muns1990]

This is definitely something that Manchester doesn't need, there's a Stop n Shop about a five minute walk from there. The other projects that have been proposed for this spot were much more exciting, and probably would of had a longer lasting affect on the city than a Market Basket. This just seems like a project straight out of 1975, putting some larger sprawling store in the middle of a downtown. Before the arena was built in 01, there was a grocery store on that spot, along with drug stores etc, strip mall kind of stuff. They would of been better off building the Elliot Center here and putting the Market Basket where that is going up right now.

[ManchVegas]

I have to agree that this is a big letdown. We already had a downtown plaza and I was happy to see it go when the Verizon was built in its place. What the map doesn't show is that the parking lot is not level with Elm Street. That section really needs development against the sidewalk to truly extend downtown. Right now it's like a canyon and even with stairs, it won't be anymore inviting. A supermarket with a mixed use development would have been great for the site, but not just a Market Basket. I'm hoping more is done with the site in the future, especially another addition to the skyline.

[pel_north]

I was driving in downtown Manchester the other day and saw that there was a gap in buildings on Elm Street. I am curious. I am not sure which block it is on. Any information would be amazing.

[Patrick]

I'm not sure if this is the same place you are referring to, but I always thought that the lack of density between City hall plaza and the other high rise on what I believe is the west side of elm was very odd. Two 20 story buildings with not much in between. The opposite side of the street has so much more continuity. But, it is shorter, too.

[pel_north]

I'm not sure if this is the same place you are referring to, but I always thought that the lack of density between City hall plaza and the other high rise on what I believe is the west side of elm was very odd. Two 20 story buildings with not much in between. The opposite side of the street has so much more continuity. But, it is shorter, too.

It is on the same side as Margaritas.

[pel_north]

On a different subject, does anyone know if there are any renderings of this proposed Market Basket? I am not happy at all that they are building this as it will only reinforce that the city of Manchester wants to keep the lower income folks in the city center and keep everyone else on the outskirts.

[Corey]

On a different subject, does anyone know if there are any renderings of this proposed Market Basket? I am not happy at all that they are building this as it will only reinforce that the city of Manchester wants to keep the lower income folks in the city center and keep everyone else on the outskirts.

From what I gathered when it was announced, it sounded like the existing structure is just going to be converted into the grocery store. So I imagine that when it is completed it will look almost identical to its current form except it will have some new paint and a Market Basket sign.

[peteshep]

Manchester's Zimmerman House and Currier starting here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/peteshep/4077840969/in/set-72157622730195300/
P :-)

[M. Brown]

Manchester's Zimmerman House and Currier starting here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/peteshep/4077840969/in/set-72157622730195300/
P :-)
Nice pic. Its not everyday that you see someone from New Zealand come to Manchester to take pictures.

BTW this is a little off topic but the 2009 census estimate for Manchester is 109,395. Still growing slowly but surely.

[M. Brown]

Manchester to move forward with $43.5m complex


By BETH LAMONTAGNE HALL
New Hampshire Union Leader

MANCHESTER ? The Board of Mayor and Aldermen agreed to move forward on a $43.5 million plan to build a new municipal complex on Valley Street that will house the police, public works and highway departments.

Link (http://www.theunionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Manchester+to+move+forward+w ith+$43.5m+complex&articleId=d7b0a55c-292b-4d04-a7a0-4ba1b1f3cd35)

I have to say Gatsas has been pretty active so far.


Site Overview (http://www.manchesternh.gov/website/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=vZ8nJGwd9U4%3d&tabid=1677&mid=4460)

More Info (http://www.manchesternh.gov/website/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=tbmkTKlpF5E%3d&tabid=1677&mid=4460)

I'm curious as to whats going to happen to the old police station.

[FrankLloydMike]

This is my first post, but I spent a good deal of time today and yesterday reading posts on this thread going several years back. I'll try to be brief in this, and address the most recent development proposals, but just for some background: I grew up in Bedford near South River Road, and spent most of my time in high school living at my mother's house a few blocks north of Webster Street in Manchester. I left in 2003 to go to school in Boston, and have lived there since, but I still consider Manchester home and I think the city has enormous potential to be a premiere New England city. I'm already getting into this a bit more than I had intended, but I think the next several decades will see a resurgence of regional midsize cities like Manchester, Portland and so on, as more people move back to cities from the suburbs. If it can build on its gains since the mid-1990s, Manchester will probably be able to attract more young people back and away from larger cities (like the one I've left it for).

That said, the recent Market Basket announcement is a huge disappointment. The city does need an urban grocery store, but not necessarily this one and not on this site. The proposed Manchester Food Coop (http://manchesterfoodcoop.blogspot.com/) would be the best option in my view, as it would be locally owned, and be a destination food store. There's something to be said for locating a Market Basket, which sells affordable groceries and is relatively locally owned, downtown, and it would in many ways replace the two Vistas that used to exist in the area. Still (and this is harder without a car), there's a large grocery store just up the road from this site on Valley Street. There is no good reason to devote such a large and strategically important site to a full-size grocery store.

This brings me to much next point, which is that a grocery store downtown should not only serve downtown residents (though it must do this, too), but also be a destination grocery store. A Market Basket will not do this. A Whole Foods would, though I think that would price out a good segment of the local population, and better options might include a Trader Joe's or the proposed Coop. The latter two, and even Whole Foods to a certain extent, require less space than a full-size grocery store and less parking as many people would stop in for speciality items while downtown.

The biggest problem with this though is how much of a step back it is for Manchester, and how much of a missed opportunity this represents. For at least a decade now, the area has been a proposed Gaslight District, which the city should really move to develop. Small shops, restaurants, bars and apartments would fit wonderfully into the dense building stock between Granite Street and this site, and larger scale stores can create an urban counterpoint to the mall across Elm Street in the numerous old warehouses. The Market Basket site is the best site in the city for an eventual (and hopefully not far off) commuter rail/intermodal transit center along the railroad lines with tons of prime mixed-use development space leftover along Elm Street. There could be an urban grocery store on this site, and even a Market Basket, but it needs to be part of this larger project.

[Patrick]

Portland has a new whole foods next to a public housing project. A trader Joes is going in down the street from this, too, so I think Manchester could do the same. good points.

[palindrome]

Welcome to the forum, FrankLloydMike. That was an excellent and interesting post.

[FrankLloydMike]

Thanks--there have been some really great ideas raised in this forum, and there have been some really interesting proposals for the city from the general public as well as city planners over the past several years. Most of them require a good degree of coordination among several different ideas and the agencies, developers and public required to implement them, not to mention the vision and willingness to invest in something that may not see pay offs in the immediate future.

One proposal I just saw is that the MTA will have a free "downtown circulator" bus (during weekdays only I presume) beginning service sometime soon. Improving the city's public transit system would be a huge boost--I really think a city's public transit system is reflective of its livability, and a commitment to good public transit not only breeds increased usage and reduced auto traffic, but improves the neighborhoods and destinations it serves. If Manchester and the surrounding communities were willing to support a much improved transit system, whether it involved just buses, streetcars or bus rapid transit that not only served the city, but also commuter lots along the edge, you'd need much less parking downtown and the adjacent neighborhoods. That of course would free up all the open lots now used for parking for development, which would of course mean more people coming to and living downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods who in turn would support the public transit.

Obviously making a huge investment in public transit like this would require the assistance and cooperation of several towns and cities, as well as the private sector, and it certainly wouldn't be cheap. If, however, it is well coordinated regionally and with developers, it would be a boon for the city as well as surrounding communities, all of which would benefit from public transit service to, from and within the city.

A lot of comments here have commended the city for its skyline, which is especially attractive from across the river with the mills blanketing the water and climbing up the hill to downtown, which is still fairly horizontal pierced with just a few towers. I actually like this a lot--it's not so different from the cities of the past, which were low and pierced with a few bell towers and steeples. What Manchester could really use, before more high-rises in my opinion, is filling in all the gaps at street level. This includes many single-story buildings downtown as well as parking lots, which could be replaced with multi-story buildings and public open spaces if we were less reliant on single-occupancy automobiles to get into and around the city.

Sorry for how long-winded this has become--I was actually visiting Portland, Oregon while the Market Basket plan was announced, and really fell in love with the transit system there. That Portland is obviously much bigger than Manchester, but still a midsize city by most measures, and I was pleasantly surprised when I got back and looked into it a bit to see that several city-sanctioned studies have recommended improving public transit (including light rail in one case) with transit-oriented development. While the Market Basket proposal may be a step in the wrong direction, the new MTA "downtown circulator" is a step in the right direction.

[FrankLloydMike]

Just noticed this article from the April 2010 issue of Architect (http://www.architectmagazine.com/local-markets/manchester-nh.aspx) profiling the architectural/development market in Manchester. There's a (too) brief slideshow of current projects, including the Superior Court renovations, which I hadn't seen and look nice. I'd like to see a multimodal transit center on there, too, but hopefully soon--seems like everyone in the state, city and neighboring communities is up for rail.

Also, they mention "Manch Vegas", which is funny sometimes, but I miss knowing it as the Queen City sometimes, too. Interesting to see that 73,000 people work in the city, which has about 69,000 residents between the age 18-65. I don't know much about this sort of demographics, but I thought it was odd given the number of people from neighboring communities who work in the city that the number of workers was so close to the number of working-age residents. Obviously, some Mancunians work outside the city, some of the 10,000 residents between 18-24 are college students, and there is 6% unemployment, but I was curious if anyone knows how this might compare to other, similarly sized cities. Either way, getting more employees to move into the city, and more workers to live there would be a great development trend.

[Patrick]

Hey Mike -

The working population of Manchester is 69,000, and 73,000 people work in the city, for a net gain of 4,000 in-commuters. This sounds odd. I am willing to bet it is because of the factors you mentioned (college students and high unemployment), but even more than that it is because of Manchester's proximity to other places of employment (from Concord to Nashua/Northern Massachusetts). In other cities, which are more central, like Burlington, VT, the proportion of in-commuters is probably a lot more (although in absolute terms it is less than Mancehster's) because there just simply aren't any alternative work places.

Burlington, VT, by the way, has a free 'downtown circulator' bus as well, and it is great. It's called the college street shuttle and does a central loop.

Nice posts.

[M. Brown]

Just noticed this article from the April 2010 issue of Architect (http://www.architectmagazine.com/local-markets/manchester-nh.aspx) profiling the architectural/development market in Manchester. There's a (too) brief slideshow of current projects, including the Superior Court renovations, which I hadn't seen and look nice. I'd like to see a multimodal transit center on there, too, but hopefully soon--seems like everyone in the state, city and neighboring communities is up for rail.

Also, they mention "Manch Vegas", which is funny sometimes, but I miss knowing it as the Queen City sometimes, too. Interesting to see that 73,000 people work in the city, which has about 69,000 residents between the age 18-65. I don't know much about this sort of demographics, but I thought it was odd given the number of people from neighboring communities who work in the city that the number of workers was so close to the number of working-age residents. Obviously, some Mancunians work outside the city, some of the 10,000 residents between 18-24 are college students, and there is 6% unemployment, but I was curious if anyone knows how this might compare to other, similarly sized cities. Either way, getting more employees to move into the city, and more workers to live there would be a great development trend.


I had no idea they were doing that for the superior court. Looks great.

[FrankLloydMike]

Hey Mike -

The working population of Manchester is 69,000, and 73,000 people work in the city, for a net gain of 4,000 in-commuters. This sounds odd. I am willing to bet it is because of the factors you mentioned (college students and high unemployment), but even more than that it is because of Manchester's proximity to other places of employment (from Concord to Nashua/Northern Massachusetts). In other cities, which are more central, like Burlington, VT, the proportion of in-commuters is probably a lot more (although in absolute terms it is less than Mancehster's) because there just simply aren't any alternative work places.

Burlington, VT, by the way, has a free 'downtown circulator' bus as well, and it is great. It's called the college street shuttle and does a central loop.


I think you're right about this, and I also think Manchester might focus a bit too heavily on being "tax-friendly" in an attempt to draw businesses in. Being tax-friendly is fine, but in order to draw people into the city, it needs to do more than this and promote a vibrant, livable, diverse city center. I think the form-based zoning you've mentioned elsewhere would be great, but the city also needs to step up infrastructure. More people want to live in a walkable downtowns and surrounding neighborhoods where they can walk or take public transit to work and other destinations. Obviously, you can't promote this without good transit when more land is given over to streets and parking.

I just read an article in the Atlantic (http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/06/here-comes-the-neighborhood/8093/) about public-private partnerships in building streetcars, and I'm not sure how I feel about the model, but I thought it might be attractive to a place like Manchester. With Kenosha, Wisconsin (http://kenoshastreetcarsociety.org/today.aspx), a city smaller than Manchester, celebrating ten years of restored streetcar service--not to mention the heritage streetcar in Lowell, and restored service being proposed in Stamford and New Haven--I think Manchester should really consider drastically improving the transit system (maybe something like this (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c6/First_Horsecar_in_Manchester%2C_NH.jpg)) as well as modifying zoning to promote density and development in the downtown and surrounding neighborhoods. When I had some spare time a few weeks ago, I drew up a quick layout of what a streetcar system could look like, and I think it could really do an amazing job of connecting neighborhoods, promoting development and reducing auto-centric eyesores in the city.

There have been so many great plans in the past decade to improve the downtown and encourage development, not least of it the Gaslight/Warehouse/Commons district ideas and encouraging mixed uses in the Millyard. Still, not much has come of these, and a big part of that of course is due to the recession, but another problem is that the city seems to reliant on having people come downtown for dinner, not move there. With improved transit and form-based zoning to reduce gas stations, single-story development and the like downtown, I think the city would be on track to do implement some of the great planning ideas.

Speaking of which, whatever happened to the 379 Elm Street proposal from 2008?

[Patrick]

Mike,

Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with the 379 Elm Street proposal. What was it supposed to be? My suspicion is that it is another project delayed or abandoned because of the recession.

Thanks for sharing those links. I would like to look into them when I have a moment. As far as your ideas for Manchester, I think they are great. Transportation is a key factor in land use and is directly linked to development patterns. You know what else Manchester might try to do? -- get more students intown. I know it has UNH Manchester, and some sort of an art institute, but I'm not familiar with where the institutions are relative to the core of the city. I know that Burlington, VT is lively because of its college population, which has a magnetic effect on other groups of people who are into the same things (nightlife and art and restaurants etc.). Portland, Maine revitalized a stretch of Congress street (to an extent anyway) by doing the same thing when they brought in the Maine College of Art directly to the center of a hard hit economically bust section of our main street. Many people complain about the hippies wandering about during the day, and to tell you the truth I would rather see business people myself, but hippies have a key role to play in cities. They are the so called "creative class" (usually) and they bring diversity, eclecticism and an artsy vibe to places, which, in turn, draws in others who aren't so obnoxious to look at but who may share similar interests. Planning for these types of environments is truly tricky and sometimes it is just luck. I think one of the biggest problems Manchester has is its layout, with easy egress from the city. Sorry to use Portland and Burlington as examples again, but to get from the cores of those cities outward, there is no direct route. In Burlington you have to hop over to Main Street a few blocks, and in Portland you have to wind around congress street or get to forest ave, and even if you go straight all the way on congress street, you come to a do not enter section, where you have to be rerouted a few blocks. State street is the only street in Portland that goes directly through town without requiring any real travel into neighborhoods, and I think this is to the city' detriment. On the other hand, it seems like Elm in NH will bring you in and out of the city mighty quickly. The same for bridge street. Of course, I'm no expert on manchester, but this is the impression I got. Its like you drive down elm and if you don't find parking soon enough you have already left the city, whether or not intentionally. You need to design streets to trap people there, they might like it. ;)

[FrankLloydMike]

I completely agree about the layout--Manchester was designed by a 19-year-old engineer, and I think it shows. I like to think someone a bit wiser might have realized that the main street should not dead end at both ends. Obviously, the grid was designed at a different time when more people would live their entire lives in the city, and less people would come and go, so the grid didn't need to trap anyone really. Now, however, the grid and the built environment do just sort of bleed out of the city. The West Side, which is improving to some degree too, is more naturally hemmed in by the two rivers and several ridges. It's fortunate that because of the slight bend in the Merrimack, Elm Street bends at Bridge Street creating some degree of visual interest, and Canal and Commercial meander much more dramatically but both need more redevelopment work. It would be much nicer if there were squares at Bridge and Granite streets where they intersect with Elm, but I think the best solution now is creating better cross-connections with the Millyard and extending development beyond that stretch of Elm Street to reduce the strip effect.

I also think you're right on about getting students downtown. The New Hampshire Institute of Art (NHIA) (http://www.nhia.edu/) has grown quite rapidly over the past ten years, and is the best thing to happen to downtown as far as I'm concerned. Unlike the arena and ballpark, NHIA is not on the fringes of downtown, it brings people downtown everyday, and they live downtown. It's more a collection of buildings than a campus as it has been acquiring and renovating older buildings as necessary, but it's loosely centered around Victory Park, which is the intended "cultural district" downtown. Their website has some info on where the buildings are, but I think that not having a defined campus has made it much more a part of the city. I'd love to see the UNH campus expand a bit, in addition to making Arms Park more of a park/campus and less of a parking lot. Originally, I believe, UNH-Manchester was up on Hackett Hill, but they intelligently abandoned that site as the city should--stop trying to sell it as a business park and just let it be woods on the edge of town. They just expanded the community college out on the edge of town, so they probably wouldn't move downtown, which would have been nice.

379 Elm is a bit perplexing, because it was proposed in June 2008, when the downtown had already begun. I guess people didn't know the extent of it at the time, but I wonder if something else happened there--it was a nice mixed use proposal with a mid-rise apartment building toward the back of the block with retail and offices along Elm Street in the "Warehouse District".

[Patrick]

Although I have been to or through Manchester about a dozen times, I am not completely familiar with the locations of everything...so I think I may know which development you are referring to as 379 Elm, but could you let me know if I am right? The ballpark, which is relatively new, envisioned plans for one or two mid rise (6 stories I think) in a future phase of nearby development. Is this anywhere near where you are talking about (I have only seen the ballpark in photos, so I don't know where it is, other than near the river).

Also, the NHIA building looks VERY nice. A nice addition to the city, for sure. I didn't know that about the 19 year old engineer. My understanding is that Manchester was built as a company town, for the mill workers to live in and work in and not much else, but over time it (obviously) grew into so much more and took on a new role in the region. Is that about right? Again, I'm not a Manchester expert, I'm going off of some public television show I saw 5 years ago. I think places like Burlington and Portland are really helped by their geographic boundaries, because Portland is on a peninsula, and Burlington is on a lake. You can only go so many directions in each city before you have to turn around. I think step number one for Manchester would be to make some public space squares like you said, improve transit, and redesign the central grid a bit. That, of course, would be a lot of time and money, and those politically accountable might risk their jobs if the changes were immediately unpopular (even if they would be in the long term interests of the city). Very tricky stuff, but you have some great ideas for sure.

[FrankLloydMike]

379 Elm was actually a different proposal--not far from the Verizon on the forlorn stretch of Elm Street south of the arena and backing onto Valley Cemetery, which is slowly being restored as a very attractive garden cemetery. I did see, however, that the city's economic development report of last year recommended finishing the Riverwalk and the mid-rise condos by the ballpark.

I'm not positive about the early aspirations of Manchester, but I think they were pretty lofty from the start. I could be wrong about this, but I think that like Lowell, the idea was to create an industrial utopia while making a handsome profit--obviously things didn't work out quite that way, but the city took the name Manchester when it was still a small village based on the goal of surpassing its namesake. It was certainly more insular and less regionally focused, but it did draw workers from quite a few places, so I'm not sure. Unlike Portland, however, its growth was not organic, which led to some beautifully harmonious spaces and buildings (much since lost), but also a lack of responsiveness to changes and later development.

If you're interested in a brief, and rather sad historical analysis, there's this essay (http://www.conservationtech.com/RL's%20resume&%20pub's/RL-publications/Milltowns/1968-HARVbulletin/HarvBulletin.htm) and photos from a 1968 Harvard magazine. The writer speaks to the responsiveness of the Millyard to human scale and activity and the unprecedented harmony among American cities on the eve of its destruction.

In addition to about half the buildings, the Millyard also lost its canals, which had defined at least that part of the city geographically, more like Portland Burlington. Even with that loss and the ability of Manchester to sprawl out more, I'd especially like to see more done to focus development on the Millyard and the neighborhood between it and Elm Street. The Millyard is definitely Manchester's greatest asset, and it took the city some time to realize it. I think it would be too hard and result in even more loss if Manchester tried to build new squares and re-do the grid, but making greater destinations at either end of Elm Street in the city center and making greater connection to the Millyard and the riverfront could help refocus activity and stop the sense of the city bleeding out into sprawl in all directions. These are all things that planning studies for the city have shown and recommended, so I'd really love to see some implementation as the economy picks up a bit.

One thing that I love about both Portland and Manchester, and unlike Cambridge/Boston where I know live and love, is that there is so much potential for growth, development and improvement. Portland is much further along and still a nicer place to be, I think, but Manchester is fast improving, and both cities are small enough that it would be easy for a few smaller projects and policy changes to build momentum for larger development, as it seems is happening a bit in Portland already.

[Todd]

The potential for Manchester and Portland is huge...agreed. I think that often times, people get afraid of trying to be like Boston, and give in to NIMBYism. Truthfully, the charachters of Manchester and Portland both are vastly different and would never emulate Boston, but could certainly become just as economically and culturally significant years down the line, should development continue to build on the momentum you mentioned.

[FrankLloydMike]

Agreed... Manchester and Portland don't need to compete very much, but as the two premier larger northern New England cities there seems to be a natural competitiveness as they both try to draw visitors, residents and businesses. And they don't need to and shouldn't emulate Boston, I agree, but with Boston there's just less to develop--it's very built up and the ability of one or two projects to transform an area of the city and spur greater development is pretty small. There's also a much greater obstacle to development in the size of the city, the NIMBYism and the degree to which the city and its infrastructure has already been built up (if not always maintained). Boston is a great place and I really enjoy living here, but it's harder to get excited about proposals, projects and the idea of civic improvement when the beast is as big and as hard to move (and with less movement needed) than smaller cities.

[Todd]

I agree....I am much more interested in development in Northern New England. It carries so much more for the residents. In Boston, it hardly changes a thing.

[Patrick]

Interesting. I have often thought the same thing. Boston is obviously way more city than Portland, which is great about Boston, but at the same time its difficult to get excited about projects there the same way I do in Portland or Burlington or Manchester or even Nashua unless they are as big and capable of influencing change as the menino tower a few years back. I know urban planning isn't all about skyscrapers (and many people think it shouldn'd focus on them at all), but I really would have liked to see the mumbles tower.

In manchester even small little improvements can vastly improve the place, so the potential exists to, for very little money, dramatically improve a place, and as has already been said, that is very exciting and motivating. It is inspiring. Manchester has already come a LONG way from the early 1990s. I think regional planning would be very important to Manchester's success, too, moreso than in other cities, because of its situation and proximity to Boston. The key is to prevent people from working in the myriad other job centers of the region. Become a net and catch workers and residents who might otherwise live elsewhere. The key to this, I think, is transportation planning. some BRT and/or commuter rail directly into manchester from its surrounding communities would be a great idea. Again, the feasibility is another story. I don't know, but I know manchester has a lot of potential just waiting to be tapped by someone with the right amount of foresight (as some already have in recent years). The airport would make the city a great place to have a convention center.

[FrankLloydMike]

I've split this into two posts, because it was getting really long...

Manchester has already come a LONG way from the early 1990s. I think regional planning would be very important to Manchester's success, too, moreso than in other cities, because of its situation and proximity to Boston. The key is to prevent people from working in the myriad other job centers of the region. Become a net and catch workers and residents who might otherwise live elsewhere. The key to this, I think, is transportation planning. some BRT and/or commuter rail directly into manchester from its surrounding communities would be a great idea. Again, the feasibility is another story. I don't know, but I know manchester has a lot of potential just waiting to be tapped by someone with the right amount of foresight (as some already have in recent years). The airport would make the city a great place to have a convention center.

I completely agree--except the airport part--I think the idea should be to get people to arrive at the airport, easily get into town and spend time there. Manchester has come a long way in the past decade-and-a-half. I was a bit too young and didn't spend enough time downtown to remember it when it was really struggling, but I remember being able to see the Verizon Arena going up across the river from my high school, and beginning to spend time in downtown restaurants, coffee shops, diners and eventually bars.

My girlfriend (from CT) and I were in town last weekend for a wedding, and it was great to see some of the things that have been happening in the past few months (and years). Not much in the way of new development, except for the NHIA and some others, but more and better restaurants and other smaller improvements seem to be coming around. We had dinner on Elm Street, watching the sunset over the Millyard and Uncanoonucs, then walked around a bit and down to Milly's brewpub, which was recently redone (I'd love to see some outdoor seating by the river as well as development of neighboring Arms Park). The next day we returned for lunch, browsing the Currier and the Amoskeag Fishways. She said that with some of the recent improvement, it's the most she's ever enjoyed Manchester, and it was great to share the growth of a city I love with someone who has never lived there. While Manchester's location isn't as quite as picturesque as Portland's, the history and beauty of the Merrimack, the Millyard and surrounding (and mostly undeveloped) hills is a real asset.

In the past few decades, Manchester has done a great job of embracing and promoting its industrial past--the (incomplete) Riverwalk, the Millyard Museum, Energy Park, and so on, and more recently its embraced more of the arts with the rapidly expanding NHIA, the Currier expansion, the Langer Place mill. It's also very recently begun to see the emergence of a hipper urban scene with many of the new restaurants, which will be key in attracting and retaining young professionals, a group the city and state lose more of than they attract currently. A lot of these scenes complement each other nicely, but one that the city could really build on is a focus on the outdoors and recreation. With the river, Massabesic and the surrounding hills, there's quite a bit of untapped potential without even going to the Lakes Region or mountains--building on this would also help attract young people. Manchester Moves (http://www.manchestermoves.org/) seems to be one group that's really working on this.

[FrankLloydMike]

As far as regional planning goes, I've heard (but seen no details) of a study by the Southern New Hampshire Regional Planning Commission (SNHRPC (http://www.snhpc.org/)) to create a regional public transit system. This would be a great idea in taking the burden off Manchester, expanding transit beyond a need-based population and promoting the city as a better regional jobs center. While a greater percentage of people from greater Portland and Burlington commute to work in those cities than greater Manchester, I think Manchester could see this as an opportunity in a way. Aside from the significant sprawl along I-93 and Route 3, the towns around Manchester are relatively undeveloped, so a transit system would have less land area to deal with, and with a good in-city transit system, Manchester would be positioned to attract young professionals to live in the city rather than surrounding communities. There?s plenty of sprawl to the south along I-93 and to the west in Bedford a bit, but there?s a huge potential to build on the density in the city center and surrounding neighborhoods while preserving open space around the city. In the long run, Manchester's lack of commuter towns could be to its benefit if it builds up density and transit within the city, plus some transit to surrounding towns.

This is almost entirely anecdotally based, but this is how I'd like to a see a transit system--and the accompanying increased density and land use policy changes--develop in Manchester:

1. Commuter rail service from downtown to Nashua, Concord and Boston (eventually Amtrak to Montreal).
2. A streetcar loop through downtown and the Millyard similar to the downtown circulator bus to service workers and residents of the city center, plus commuter lots/garages at the downtown station and near off-ramps to reduce downtown parking and promote transit use.
3. Eventually expand streetcar spurs to Granite Square and Kelley Street on the West Side, and a connecting loop line through the East Side to the Currier and the Hollow neighborhood. These lines would serve Manchester's most densely-populated neighborhoods, and promote redevelopment (obviously gentrification would be a double-edged sword). If these were completed, the city could drastically reduce its inefficient bus system.
4. Possibly expand a Granite Street line to a commuter lot/garage in Bedford--either Bedford Center, which would be able to pick up commuters from Amherst, etc, or along South River Road, which would connect the city to some of the retail centers there and provide TOD redevelopment to the dying Bedford Mall.
5. Possibly begin BRT/commuter rail service down the transit ROW in the widened I-93. I could be wrong about this, but my guess is that towns like Bedford and Londonderry have more commuters to Manchester than Salem, etc, so a more feasible option may be to have people drive to commuter transit centers on the outskirts of the city.

Obviously, this is a bit far-fetched at the moment and dreamt up with little regard to cost or feasibility, but I agree with Patrick that the key to continued renewal in Manchester is good transportation planning. In the short term, the MTA bus system needs improvement (some of which it is getting, but needs greater support from the city and region). I think the city's future depends on vastly improved public transit and related development as transit makes a resurgence, and both young professionals and retirees (not to mention those without the means to drive) continue to show a preference for living in denser, more transit-oriented cities. Buses don't seem to be able to provide the same density, ridership and enthusiasm, nor support the same density and redevelopment as streetcars and light rail, however. As other similarly-sized cities look to streetcars, I don't think it's too unreasonable to imagine a system something like this in Manchester's not-too-distant future as both a way to promote greater redevelopment of the city and a huge improvement in the quality of life of its residents.

[FrankLloydMike]

I just wanted to post a map I made of the very hypothetical transit system I envisioned in the last post (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=100831431958034753861.00048b5e08cd74ae87df8&ll=42.983428,-71.461945&spn=0.086147,0.188313&z=13).

I'd love to hear what others think of this, and I'd love to see streetcars (and trolleybuses, BRT, etc where that makes more sense) continue expanding to m (hhttp://fastlane.dot.gov/2010/07/this-morning-as-part-of-president-obamas-livability-initiative-we-announced-over-290-million-in-new-transit-funding-for-go.html)ore cities in the US[/URL].

In the meantime, I think it's great to see the MTA working to improve and expand service, first by equipping all buses with bike racks, then introducing the Downtown/Millyard Circulator, and now successfully petitioning the DOT for funding for a Health Care Circulator (http://www.fta.dot.gov/news/news_events_11820.html). These are all great steps, and it seems like the MTA is doing a lot with the limited funding it gets from the City, and planning for future expansion of services. If they could get more support from the city, the surrounding towns and the state, I think they could really achieve the sort of system that would attract riders by choice, not just necessity, and we'd see the sort of density and redevelopment that has still eluded Manchester. They'd also be eligible for funding for expanded bus services, trolleybuses, streetcars and commuter rail/BRT through DOT's Livability program (http://www.dot.gov/livability/).

[Patrick]

I've split this into two posts, because it was getting really long...



I completely agree--except the airport part--I think the idea should be to get people to arrive at the airport, easily get into town and spend time there. Manchester has come a long way in the past decade-and-a-half. I was a bit too young and didn't spend enough time downtown to remember it when it was really struggling, but I remember being able to see the Verizon Arena going up across the river from my high school, and beginning to spend time in downtown restaurants, coffee shops, diners and eventually bars.

My girlfriend (from CT) and I were in town last weekend for a wedding, and it was great to see some of the things that have been happening in the past few months (and years). Not much in the way of new development, except for the NHIA and some others, but more and better restaurants and other smaller improvements seem to be coming around. We had dinner on Elm Street, watching the sunset over the Millyard and Uncanoonucs, then walked around a bit and down to Milly's brewpub, which was recently redone (I'd love to see some outdoor seating by the river as well as development of neighboring Arms Park). The next day we returned for lunch, browsing the Currier and the Amoskeag Fishways. She said that with some of the recent improvement, it's the most she's ever enjoyed Manchester, and it was great to share the growth of a city I love with someone who has never lived there. While Manchester's location isn't as quite as picturesque as Portland's, the history and beauty of the Merrimack, the Millyard and surrounding (and mostly undeveloped) hills is a real asset.

In the past few decades, Manchester has done a great job of embracing and promoting its industrial past--the (incomplete) Riverwalk, the Millyard Museum, Energy Park, and so on, and more recently its embraced more of the arts with the rapidly expanding NHIA, the Currier expansion, the Langer Place mill. It's also very recently begun to see the emergence of a hipper urban scene with many of the new restaurants, which will be key in attracting and retaining young professionals, a group the city and state lose more of than they attract currently. A lot of these scenes complement each other nicely, but one that the city could really build on is a focus on the outdoors and recreation. With the river, Massabesic and the surrounding hills, there's quite a bit of untapped potential without even going to the Lakes Region or mountains--building on this would also help attract young people. Manchester Moves (http://www.manchestermoves.org/) seems to be one group that's really working on this.

All excellent points. The millyard leggo museum is awesome. Restaurants are key (as yuppies seem to prefer a good selection). Portland may have scenery, but none of it is downtown, so I think there is hope for Manchester, for exactly the reasons you mentioned. It really should build on its strengths. Exeter did a great job of embracing the river.

[Patrick]

As far as regional planning goes, I've heard (but seen no details) of a study by the Southern New Hampshire Regional Planning Commission (SNHRPC (http://www.snhpc.org/)) to create a regional public transit system. This would be a great idea in taking the burden off Manchester, expanding transit beyond a need-based population and promoting the city as a better regional jobs center. While a greater percentage of people from greater Portland and Burlington commute to work in those cities than greater Manchester, I think Manchester could see this as an opportunity in a way. Aside from the significant sprawl along I-93 and Route 3, the towns around Manchester are relatively undeveloped, so a transit system would have less land area to deal with, and with a good in-city transit system, Manchester would be positioned to attract young professionals to live in the city rather than surrounding communities. There?s plenty of sprawl to the south along I-93 and to the west in Bedford a bit, but there?s a huge potential to build on the density in the city center and surrounding neighborhoods while preserving open space around the city. In the long run, Manchester's lack of commuter towns could be to its benefit if it builds up density and transit within the city, plus some transit to surrounding towns.

This is almost entirely anecdotally based, but this is how I'd like to a see a transit system--and the accompanying increased density and land use policy changes--develop in Manchester:

1. Commuter rail service from downtown to Nashua, Concord and Boston (eventually Amtrak to Montreal).
2. A streetcar loop through downtown and the Millyard similar to the downtown circulator bus to service workers and residents of the city center, plus commuter lots/garages at the downtown station and near off-ramps to reduce downtown parking and promote transit use.
3. Eventually expand streetcar spurs to Granite Square and Kelley Street on the West Side, and a connecting loop line through the East Side to the Currier and the Hollow neighborhood. These lines would serve Manchester's most densely-populated neighborhoods, and promote redevelopment (obviously gentrification would be a double-edged sword). If these were completed, the city could drastically reduce its inefficient bus system.
4. Possibly expand a Granite Street line to a commuter lot/garage in Bedford--either Bedford Center, which would be able to pick up commuters from Amherst, etc, or along South River Road, which would connect the city to some of the retail centers there and provide TOD redevelopment to the dying Bedford Mall.
5. Possibly begin BRT/commuter rail service down the transit ROW in the widened I-93. I could be wrong about this, but my guess is that towns like Bedford and Londonderry have more commuters to Manchester than Salem, etc, so a more feasible option may be to have people drive to commuter transit centers on the outskirts of the city.

Obviously, this is a bit far-fetched at the moment and dreamt up with little regard to cost or feasibility, but I agree with Patrick that the key to continued renewal in Manchester is good transportation planning. In the short term, the MTA bus system needs improvement (some of which it is getting, but needs greater support from the city and region). I think the city's future depends on vastly improved public transit and related development as transit makes a resurgence, and both young professionals and retirees (not to mention those without the means to drive) continue to show a preference for living in denser, more transit-oriented cities. Buses don't seem to be able to provide the same density, ridership and enthusiasm, nor support the same density and redevelopment as streetcars and light rail, however. As other similarly-sized cities look to streetcars, I don't think it's too unreasonable to imagine a system something like this in Manchester's not-too-distant future as both a way to promote greater redevelopment of the city and a huge improvement in the quality of life of its residents.
I couldn't agree more with everything you have written in your recent posts. Have you ever thought of pursuing urban planning as a career? There are currently plenty of positions open in the SNH RPC office (or there were a few weeks ago). As the price of other transportation and cost (as in environmental) continues to climb, I predict cities will be turning more toward the direction you envision for Manchester. It would be nice if you could sort of grease the wheels a bit in that regard and get things moving a bit faster. Perhaps you were the "someone with the right amount of foresight" I mentioned in a previous post?

I think Manchester is just waiting to explode with urban vibrancy (and to an extent already has a fair share). It just needs dedicated residents to make it happen. To capitalize on Brady Sullivan's investments around town (and other entrepreneurs) would be a key step in my opinion. Attract at least one major high tech employer that will circulate downtown employees, and the spin off effects won't have to be planned--they'll just happen. I'm glad you agree transportation planning is integral to the future of Manchester, as I think it is just about everywhere. Land use patterns follow transportation very closely.

[FrankLloydMike]

I couldn't agree more with everything you have written in your recent posts. Have you ever thought of pursuing urban planning as a career? There are currently plenty of positions open in the SNH RPC office (or there were a few weeks ago). As the price of other transportation and cost (as in environmental) continues to climb, I predict cities will be turning more toward the direction you envision for Manchester. It would be nice if you could sort of grease the wheels a bit in that regard and get things moving a bit faster. Perhaps you were the "someone with the right amount of foresight" I mentioned in a previous post?

I think Manchester is just waiting to explode with urban vibrancy (and to an extent already has a fair share). It just needs dedicated residents to make it happen. To capitalize on Brady Sullivan's investments around town (and other entrepreneurs) would be a key step in my opinion. Attract at least one major high tech employer that will circulate downtown employees, and the spin off effects won't have to be planned--they'll just happen. I'm glad you agree transportation planning is integral to the future of Manchester, as I think it is just about everywhere. Land use patterns follow transportation very closely.

Well, I have an architecture degree and I'm working as an intern architect in Boston now, so not urban planning, but a closely (sometimes not closely enough) related field. I've had an interest in buildings and cities since childhood, and going to school and living in Boston really helped me see how different things lead to good and bad built environments. Looking back, I wish I'd spent a bit more time in some urban planning electives. I'm not looking to go back to school at the moment, but I am definitely interested in urban planning and policy as someone in a related field, I guess. For all the reasons mentioned before about why smaller and mid-sized cities are more excited in terms of redevelopment, and because of the amount of time needed for a larger city, I don't see myself volunteering on a planning board or anything here in the short term. If I were to move, somewhat permanently at least, to a city like Portland or Manchester, I'd definitely consider it more seriously--it seems easier to make inroads in smaller cities and the work that volunteers do seems more productive.

I'd be really happy to be considered a former resident with foresight on Manchester, but I don't see myself living there, at least in the short term. My girlfriend is in grad school down here and I have a job at the moment and we're enjoying it, so it would be a hard sell for both me and her. Still, the idea of being involved in the improvement of a mid-size city (Manchester or Portland, which I know much less about but also really like) would be very exciting in a way that my work now is not... all things to consider, I guess. For now, I'm really enjoying commenting and discussing things as an outsider rather than an activist of any sort.

As far as the other comments--I think they're starting to come about: the trail system is coming together, more restaurants (which as a yuppie by definition, I do enjoy!) are popping up in Manchester, and you're right that if someone/something can attract some downtown residents, the rest should follow naturally. Manchester and Portland are both fortunate to have some beautiful architecture in their city centers--the Old Port and Millyard respectively, and both have downtown waterfronts of varying sorts, but Portland seems to have connected to its natural attractions farther out, like the East End Beach, a bit better. If Manchester can get the Riverwalk finished, maybe attract a kayaking rental place or something else down there, the waterfront could really come alive. Once outdoor enthusiasts see it as a destination, maybe a residence, and residents begin to enjoy it, greater interest in more outlying outdoor destinations could follow, too, I think.

[Patrick]

all very good points. I am kind of the inverse of you. I have schooling in urban planning (one year left in a master's degree) but at one time I really considered Architecture. Toured BAC and everything. That was in 2001-2002. I still visit it every time I'm in Boston to see what the students' displays look like and see what else the school is up to. Instead, I went to a school where there was no architecture option, and it was right after September 11, so political issues were hot. Ended up in Poli Sci. If you ever find out what someone can do with an undergrad degree in that, please do tell. I completely understand your want to stay in Boston for the time being, and can't blame you one bit. However, I do see a return to the city so to speak in Manchester's future, and perhaps once you settle down in a place outside of a major city, whether it is Manchester or elsewhere, then you can get involved to a greater degree. I know what you mean about having more of an influence in a smaller city, and totally agree. And speaking of smaller cities, you are also right about Portland capitalizing on outlying areas like the east end beach. That used to be totally underutilized until the eastern promenade walking trail was constructed (a new addition to which was recently completed), and the city is attempting something similar with another promenade at the moment in a currently underutilized district. Walking trails are good for people. people are good for cities. Kayaking sounds great, too. Great ideas.

[M. Brown]

I just wanted to post a map I made of the very hypothetical transit system I envisioned in the last post (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=100831431958034753861.00048b5e08cd74ae87df8&ll=42.983428,-71.461945&spn=0.086147,0.188313&z=13).

I'd love to hear what others think of this, and I'd love to see streetcars (and trolleybuses, BRT, etc where that makes more sense) continue expanding to m (hhttp://fastlane.dot.gov/2010/07/this-morning-as-part-of-president-obamas-livability-initiative-we-announced-over-290-million-in-new-transit-funding-for-go.html)ore cities in the US[/URL].

In the meantime, I think it's great to see the MTA working to improve and expand service, first by equipping all buses with bike racks, then introducing the Downtown/Millyard Circulator, and now successfully petitioning the DOT for funding for a Health Care Circulator (http://www.fta.dot.gov/news/news_events_11820.html). These are all great steps, and it seems like the MTA is doing a lot with the limited funding it gets from the City, and planning for future expansion of services. If they could get more support from the city, the surrounding towns and the state, I think they could really achieve the sort of system that would attract riders by choice, not just necessity, and we'd see the sort of density and redevelopment that has still eluded Manchester. They'd also be eligible for funding for expanded bus services, trolleybuses, streetcars and commuter rail/BRT through DOT's Livability program (http://www.dot.gov/livability/).

Thumbs up on street car map.

[FrankLloydMike]

Thanks! Given the increased funding for streetcars and public transit in general, and the growing preference for using it or at least living in neighborhoods where it's available, I'd say it's not out of the question in Manchester's future.

Not that it's big development news, either, but I just found a website for the West Granite neighborhood (http://westgranite.com/) recently detailing the NeighborWorks group's revitalization efforts there. Dense neighborhoods close to the city center like this have a huge potential to be great diverse, mixed-income communities with their own identities but connected to each other and to downtown via good public transit, so I think community-led and involved efforts like this are essential to getting there.

I also found this CarrotMob site (http://manchester.carrotmob.org/) currently focusing on bringing attention to local businesses in Rimmon Heights. It's run by the same guy as the very nice Fortress Manchester website (http://www.fortressmanchester.com/), and again though not a new development or anything, I think this investment in local businesses in a dense neighborhood so close to downtown bodes well for future development.

I know there was some criticism of it when it came out, and it's seems to have stalled a bit since then, but the initiative to give the city's neighborhoods greater individual identity and foster micro-communities is a great idea and key to making the city a better place. The idea of a connection of neighborhoods around and focused on the downtown, but with their own shops, residences, feels and communities is part of what makes most cities great place to live and explore.

It's hard to tell and I doubt he'll be as much of a visionary as Baines, but so far Gatsas seems like a huge improvement over Guinta. Guinta seemed to start things like the neighborhood initiatives but never take them anywhere, if he started them at all. My sense, and this could just be cynicism and political difference on my part, is that Guinta viewed the mayoralty as a stepping stone in his political career; while Gatsas isn't my favorite politician, he seems rooted in the city and concerned about improving it. I hope he picks up on things like the neighborhood initiatives and steers development downtown and in key areas of surrounding neighborhoods.

[Patrick]

Too bad there isn't an option for a satellite-mayor's office in Boston. You'd be great. Maybe someday.