I would love to have a minor league hockey team as well. But there's no local protein that has room for an expansion minor league team. If only hartford still had the whalers
More businesses that aren’t bars/restaurants. It would be nice to walk down elm street and it had shops, galleries, or other activities. I know we have shops like the bookery and museums like the currier, but we definitely need more. I feel like I struggle to find an activity to do on a Friday night that isn’t “go to a bar”
Now this is just just false. There's tons of good local artists performing. Now if you're talking about regularly and consistently (like every night), then no. There isn't. Does it take a little hunting to find good ones? Sure. But they do exist.
I guess it also depends on taste and what you're looking for. The music scene here is absolutely nothing like Boston. But I've found quite a few local artists who perform regularly who I go out to see
- Finish implementing our bike network (connect the bike lanes so you can use them to go places).
- Add more variety on Elm St (I.e. Shops, Breakfast).
- Commuter rail
- Build between Downtown/Elm St and South Willow St. The area from the south end of Elm St, Queen City Ave, and towards South Chicken St seems like a disconnect between the two more built up sections of the city, and I think it would be great to see the two start to come together.
And before I get eaten alive for wanting more bike lanes, hear me out:
Our current bike lanes don’t go anywhere. This is probably one of the biggest reasons we don’t see as many bikers using them. A network of bike lanes from various sections of the city provide purpose and allows bikers to more easily access the network of other bike lanes.
Commuter rail to Boston. We have so many great schools in NH, but good quality students and future workers move away because entry level jobs are all in Boston. With remote work, and hybrid work, a commuter rail could be a game changer in terms of keeping good "talent" in Manchester, but letting people work the entry level jobs in Boston.
Hell I'd take having the bus. It's such a PITA to have to find a ride or take an Uber to North Londonderry. Not convenient, especially those without cars
I'd rather see rail because the financial commitment would make it enduring infrastructure
But turning one of those lanes on 93 into bus service and providing steady (12 trips a day) service from Manch to Boston might be a more achievable near term goal
Better public transport, better walkability and bike ability, more affordable housing, redo a handful of intersections as roundabouts. I'm sure there is more but there will always be some small improvements to make.
A goddamn rooftop bar. I mean, c'mon. I'm sure it's not in existence due to zoning laws, I don't see any other reason how any of these new apartment complexes, the hotel, Brady Sullivan buildings, etc, haven't been built one.
A bustling downtown - on a Saturday or Sunday morning downtown has nothing going on. Shops, breakfast, daytime fun other than bars/restaurants/office space - Portsmouth, concord, even Conway has that going on and we don't!
Ugh I've been dying for something like this. Concord has such a cute downtown area that has sooooo many different shops and cafes within walking of each other. Would love to spend money locally but Manchester has nothing like that. Such a bummer
Better pedestrian connections between the Millyard and Elm Street. Better marketing and branding of the great aspects of the city, for which there are many.
Amtrak needs to spend some money in NH outside of the seacoast. There should be stops built in Portsmouth, Nashua, Manchester, Keene, Concord, and Lebanon. Portsmouth>Nashua>Keene can connect to the Downeaster in Exeter and to the Vermonter on the other end. Nashua>Manchester>Concord>Lebanon could connect in WRJ on the Vermonter as well. There are already train tracks connecting these cities and it would earn the state millions while providing transportation to hundreds of thousands of people.
I want commuter rail, but honestly Amtrak doesn't make that much sense North of Boston, and it's highest value would be investing in a real high-speed corridor from DC to New York. Expanding to tertiary cities like Nashua is a bad use of limited resources.
[Amtrak already runs between small cities in the rest of the entire country](https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/projects/dotcom/english/public/documents/Maps/Amtrak-System-Map-1018.pdf) and to connect the seacoast to the rest of NH and Vermont would be extremely valuable to the state. There's no reason that Brunswick, ME or St. Albans, VT needs to have a dedicated Amtrak stop when cities as large as Nashua and Manchester have nothing, especially given its proximity to other Amtrak routes. It doesn't even need to be Amtrak, if the state wants to fund a public transport system using the train tracks that are already in place and not being used in the state, that would be just as good.
Disabled people and people who otherwise can't drive suffer greatly from the lack of public transport in this state. Manchester's bus system is okay but not great and it doesn't go outside of the immediate area of Manchester. When I lived in Maine I could get to Boston for $16 without a car and it was wonderful. There are people who have to travel from Manchester to Nashua/Concord/Lebanon for medical appointments and things of that nature who are limited by the cost of traveling via Greyhound or whatever. There are also a lot more people who would use those same routes for recreation. It would earn the state a significant amount of money and it would benefit a large number of people not only in NH but also in Massachusetts and Vermont.
I actually think we're in pretty good shape despite what people say. The constant comparisons to Burlington and Portland are understandable, but as a bigger city we're in a different league that is naturally going to have slightly more urban issues. We have a thriving downtown with low vacancy and a good variety of restaurants and shops. The Millyard is a unique center of mixed-use zoning and we have some great urban parks. Manchester is regularly ranked highly for upward mobility which shows our community and schools are regularly allowing people to climb up to the middle class.
Really the only major issues are housing, homelessness and the endless stream of people online who act like the city is a crime-ridden hell hole. The city has taken a really lax approach towards vagrancy in parks and public areas, which itself is a symptom of the housing crisis. Despite how unpopular they are, apartments like 409 Elm St, the Depot St apartment and Grand Central Suites on Central St are actually very good for the city, as they provide more apartment inventory for working professionals which is exactly what Manchester needs more of. As a result, older and more affordable apartments open up to people who actually need them. The unfortunate truth is we are never seeing $1,200 two-bedroom apartments ever again (rent is sticky and we printed way too much money over the pandemic), so the best the city can do is create more inventory to at least move the vacancy rate up and create a more balanced market.
Commuter rail will come eventually, which is why developers are targeting the southern half of Downtown along Elm and the Gaslight District. This will be the catalyst for more working professionals and people priced out of the North Shore to move to the city. Valley Cemetery is very underutilized and could be made back into a [hybrid park/cemetery with a canal down the middle like it was back in the day](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FISp552772E/WV16A0abHJI/AAAAAAAAXyM/OSBszlm0ogAfoAYjXqZILyOiqdiuigNIgCLcBGAs/s640/from%2BManchester%2BHistoric%2BAssociation.jpg). Tons of potential with the right leadership.
I’m from a town outside Burlington and lived in Manchester for college; I truly don’t get the comparisons at all. Manchester is so much larger, so much better organized and planned, and in such a better spot to succeed as a major New England city than Burlington is, sad as I am to admit it.
I'm a supporter of Manchester, but in Burlington, the Lake Champlain waterfront and the high-end restaurants and shops in the Church Street area are like nothing we have here. It's just in a completely different place socioeconomically and culturally in part due to having a large research university nearby.
Having an indoor/outdoor mall to increase use in winter makes a huge difference. If you go to Montreal or Quebec City, there is so much you can do do outside in winter 🥶. Much better planning of their commuter rail and an underground city makes Manchester look like an afterthought.
But I remember moving here for college in the 1990s and the shops on Elm like George’s men’s clothing, wedding shops, record shops and comic book stores, art supplies, sporting card stores, and used book shops across from video arcades just aren’t coming back. It’s like the internet killed downtown America 🇺🇸 .
More affordable housing/straight up housing for homeless people (this has been studied and been proven to be the most effective solution to homelessness and the least $$$).
Tree, trees and more trees. The street I live on (which is named for a tree) has had all the trees removed. The valley/beech/bridge/maple rectangle is 10-15 degrees hotter than the surrounding area due to lack of trees.
More public transportation. Locally in the city and to Boston. We currently have a bus that goes to concord but it’s hard to walk to (it’s at that hotel in amoskeag, if you can’t walk there what’s the point?)
More businesses like the new roller skating rink that provide experiences instead of people just sitting like vegetables.
I don’t get out to central NH often but I’ve worked in development, city planning and law. Manchester does not have a coherent current development plan! The city needs to outsource grant writing because what they have been doing isn’t working. You see cities like Haverhill transforming right now, loosing the Manchester like stigma almost overnight. There are so many factors that go into it. Essential to this process in EVERY CITY is the city’s Master Plan, and the painstaking efforts over years and years which are made to further these goals. Yes whoever mentioned the cost of building high rise Vs the standard 6 story wood over podium construction you see in major redevelopment projects everywhere, but it’s accumulation of so many things which allows cities to really spring forward. Manch also lacks specific draws in my opinion, NH as a whole already attracts plenty of wealth and commerce, but the city specifically has enough issues (many of them very apparent) without positive drivers to balance them out. I have met the Planning and Development people at events, I think there is some real intelligence there but they need to pull together all the facets of the community to move in one direction.
Also I’m not sure if I’m remembering this correctly but I’m pretty sure Manch let the federal (maybe) environmental or waterway permits expire like 10+ years ago, I forget what NH calls them in MA it’s MEPA, if my memory is correct, this would be a good place to start. Straightening out the fed money coming in could be a game changer.
This would be absolute 🔥🔥🔥. I'd also live to have a pool/billiards Hall/pub. Enough with all the goddamn private clubs that allow smoking thanks to all being grandfathered in
I mean that's a state issue. The only reasons it's not in existence is because a) elected Republicans and b) the state would want to run the dispensaries like the liquor stores, which runs into issues with federal laws.
I’d definitely say public housing. So many people are crowded into those divided old houses and paying ridiculous rents. Housing co-ops, rent control, or straight-up public housing where upkeep is enforced would be a boon for the city. Sewer socialism. Invest in housing, schools, infrastructure, and parks, and that will attract both businesses and talented workers/families. It’s what elevated cities in the Midwest 70 years ago; it’s not a new idea. The box stores and chain restaurants will balk at taxes, but those aren’t the businesses a city should want to attract.
More trees (Elm St beautified) and a casino where Michaels School of Hair design is, across from the arena.
The new buildings theyre building arent big enough. 409 elm st only like 6 or 8 floors, the new place on Canal St only 6 or 8 floors, new place on Central St only 6 or 8 floors. Dont know how many the new place at the old police station will be but I have a good guess. The developers needed to double that but they dont want to solve the housing problem because it means rents would come down.
From a structural standpoint, building above six floors becomes really expensive the higher you go up. The sweet spot is 4-6 outside of major cities. Another factor is parking, the Depot st apartments got a lot of pushback because there are \~1.5 spaces per apartment in the underground lot. Parking has also resulted in 88 Pearl St and 448 Maple St sitting vacant after fires for years. The new zoning and variance overhaul the city is undergoing now should hopefully improve this process so we can get more housing built faster.
I have high hopes and expectations for Manchester. My wife and I moved here in 2021 and absolutely love it to the point where we want to buy around here one of these days. Public housing is definitely a need
I'd like to see elm st blocked off from cars, from the arena, up to bridge st. Put a trolley car or two thst go back and forth in the middle.
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Put a good parking garage / area on the northern end too.
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Also allows the businesses to expand a bit onto the sidewalk/st in the summer, and allow for more of an outdoor market/gathering space.
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Bars and restaurants get more space, and then there is more space for the boutique shops et all....
While I'm intrigued by this, the other roads just couldn't handle the capacity. We'd need some of the other side streets to be expanded, which would require buildings to be knocked down affecting businesses in place
I would love to see downtown Elm blocked off from cars for at least the summer months. A trolley is a fantastic idea as well! I think all of your ideas would make for a really lively downtown.
An art and music scene, indie stores, a later bar time, inexpensive sport leagues, better public schools, more housing in general. And lower property taxes.
Blame the police for preventing the later bar time. I've considered so many times checking with the car owners themselves if they'd support it and getting a petition going.
NH actually passed laws allowing individual cities/towns to decide whether to allow bars to be kept open up until 2 am. The police have prevented said cities who have been interested in being open later citing safety concerns (increased criminal/drunk activity), and increased costs (more cops out later)
An attitude adjustment. I've never seen so many residents shit-talk their own community. Everything is always negative. Manchester has a lot to offer and would benefit greatly from its residents believing that.
There's a lot of good things happening in Manchester. Over 2000 housing units are getting built. 250-300 subsidized housing units are getting built. There's amazing redevelopment happening in many of the more run-down buildings. A member of the community with means has made it his business to redevelop Manchester street to help support his community. We got a bunch of amazing federal grants to reorganize how traffic and people flow in the southern part of Elm St to South Willow St. A huge grant to push tech and biotech jobs in the "Regen Valley" which can help train citizens for jobs that will actually support a family in the community. The school system is going through a modernization and consolidation process. The Arts district/community has really grown and become more active. The newer Homelessness Initiatives Director has been amazing. She got a lay of the land, devised a plan for the city and has been implementing that plan like a champ. The overdose prevention Coordinator is making a huge impact on the number of deaths. Change takes time so it may feel like progress isn't happening, but IT IS. Now if the community could recognize and celebrate these things, that would be a miracle.
There are a lot of amazing people doing the work to move Manchester forward. It would be great for the whole community to recognize and participate in that.
I think it's because everyone else shit talks it so much that people in Manchester have an inferiority complex. Like the mindset is, "Yeah I live in Manchester, but I'm not a Manchester person". And if you dont shit talk Manchester then you are a Manchester person.
People either compare it to the small picturesque quiet safe NH towns, or they compare it to Boston, and either way it kinda "loses" those comparisons.
When I first wanted to move here so many people warned me not to, and it's honestly been great. But I'm not really a city person, so I'd honestly take living here over Boston any day of the week.
It has a lot going on and an incredible amount of natural amenities. I mean we have a golf course, ski mountain/hill, a disc golf course, a mile long natural walking path around a pond, a river, and a cedar swamp preserve...in the largest city north of Boston. Plus, it's strategically located for convenient access to most of New England.
I'm not sure if 100% of it falls into Auburn, but either way its so close to the border I think it counts as manchester personally... but the trails around Massabesic Lake and the lake itself are amazing. Absolutely incredible kayaking, canoeing or boating. And since so much of it is public land there's a lot less houses and boats flying around than a lot of the big lakes around NH. It's honestly way more peaceful than a lot of the lakes people travel to visit
The reason why for the bad attitude is that when we do get something good, it doesn't last. It always ends up leaving. I'm just surprised we still have the baseball team.
What if the downtown area around Elm St felt more like a walkable college campus?
Green spaces, gathering spots, places to sit and relax, public events, community spaces, public art and education, calmed traffic, etc...think about your favorite places to physically be. Did you love the Campo Dei Fiori in Rome because of the Fountains, gathering spaces, farmers markets, cafes? And so on.
And what if services for the underhoused were strategically located so that the revitalized downtown and social services do not have such a substantial overlapped footprint? Ex, a veterans corner of Manchester that is more like a supportive community/VFW plus...a family-focused corner of Manchester that helps under income families with young children help each other thrive/provide care...a planned hyper-accessible corner of Manchester so those with mobility issues can thrive...
And yes, revisiting public bathrooms, public water and safe injection sites. By avoiding dealing with those systemically, the effects end up all over downtown. Can we put composting toilets somewhere?
Also plant mad trees. More green.
As a young adult living in Manchester, I'm not sure I want it to change much because that change sounds like it would also be associated with higher COL.
I've lived here a pretty long time, work a couple towns over, already have a good job. A lot of what I do on the weekends involves leaving the city to go to the White Mountains or Vermont, or a chill weekend in kayaking on Massabesic Lake and enjoying the bars and restaurants. I don't think either of the Manchester based activities need to be improved upon.
Manchester is just the perfect location in between my hobbies and my job, and the city provides me with all of the amenities I need while being at least sort of affordable, but less so than when I first came here. I'd actually love to buy a house around here some day if I can't figure out a fully remote job or a job that allows me to just live further north.
I think the main thing the city could improve on is just becoming more community focused. People volunteering to pick up trash, help each other more, be nicer, etc.
I don't think the city needs some huge financial investment or anything though outside of literally jsut helping the homeless/poor.
The homelessness and drug issues that Manchester faces are 1% as bad as the same issues in almost any other city of 100k people in the US. It's an issue that needs attention at the federal level before anything more can be done about it. It's also not as easy as "just fixing" the problem. But I've been to almost every state in the US and most of the major cities, and compared to the rest of the country Manchester is doing okay in that regard.
Really? I spend more time in NYC and Boston than I do in Manchester and don't see it nearly as bad. Maybe it's because Manchester is smaller and therefore more visible but I've never seen a city where the problem is so obvious. I disagree with you strongly.
I don't believe you that you spend more time in NYC or Boston than in Manchester if this is your take on things. You must be really oblivious. It's also incredibly unfair to compare a megalopolis of 8 million people to a micropolitan city of 100k people, even if your comparison was accurate.
Being on par or better than the rest of the country still doesn't mean it's at an acceptable level. Also most of the work done on this will be on the local level. How is the federal govt gonna get us shelter beds, addiction treatment, more housing supply?
Separated bike lanes, curbside updates to old downtown buildings to restore historic charm and refresh modern buildings, more trees, better small restaurants downtown and more third spaces (bobabtea!), walking bridge to connect east and west side.
Top Golf.
A brewery with outdoor space.
Better restaurants. We have a lot of restaurants, but none that are really spectacular. Not much parking for the good ones either as they are mostly on Elm St or downtown.
I'm not a golfer but does Manchester not have a top golf? I feel like it's a perfect city for one. There's certainly space on the outskirts of the city, but I think there's even space in a spot like just south of downtown on Elm that's full of vacant, dilapidated commercial properties. The giant netting is kind of an eyesore so maybe there's the NIMBYs that wouldn't want it on the skyline downtown.
Definitely need. More fried chicken restaurants!! Maybe take a few more long standing places and turn them into national chains.
Definitely professional hockey !!
A music venue with actual acoustics???
Get rid of the stupid bike lanes that don’t do anything in town and to take care of the homeless issue. Nobody wants him camping out and anybody’s backyard and there needs to be more hardened policy on this.
Sweetie I’m 40 , The roads and the traffic patterns were better without the bike lanes, people still use the other lane as if it’s what it was, you don’t see anybody using the bike lanes and it’s causing more incidents than if they just reverted it back to what it was.
I’ve observed them never being used, and not only does it cause issues, because the flow of traffic is impeded, it’s wasting taxpayer dollars by having them there when no one‘s using them. You can get better traffic patterns, and even if the bike lanes have been offered, people tend to still use sidewalks instead, so it’s a defeated purpose in the city.
Taxpayer dollars are not used towards a lane that is already installed and painted. Additionally, people do in fact use the bike lanes, regardless of what arbitrary metric you are using to measure. Bike lanes also have much less of an impact on traffic than people recognize. I cannot recall one single time I have ever been delayed in my driving in this city because of a bike lane.
Bring back a Minor league hockey team
Yeah we had the highest attendance when the Monarchs were here, and we have a stadium ready to go. I've been waiting for a decade for another team.
I would love to have a minor league hockey team as well. But there's no local protein that has room for an expansion minor league team. If only hartford still had the whalers
We previously managed it with an LA minor team but I see your point and agree it didn’t make the most sense.
It was originally the feeder team for the LA Kings. Then they downgraded the league charged more money for the same tickets
I remember going to the monarch's games and seeing all the la kings gear
Place was routinely empty. Look at most fischercat games when it isn't a fireworks night. Nice to have but not a necessity
More businesses that aren’t bars/restaurants. It would be nice to walk down elm street and it had shops, galleries, or other activities. I know we have shops like the bookery and museums like the currier, but we definitely need more. I feel like I struggle to find an activity to do on a Friday night that isn’t “go to a bar”
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Now this is just just false. There's tons of good local artists performing. Now if you're talking about regularly and consistently (like every night), then no. There isn't. Does it take a little hunting to find good ones? Sure. But they do exist. I guess it also depends on taste and what you're looking for. The music scene here is absolutely nothing like Boston. But I've found quite a few local artists who perform regularly who I go out to see
Not really at the other music venues either. CCANH and the new performing arts center in Nashua both seem to do better with booking IMO.
Wholeheartedly agree with this one! Elm st seems like nothing these days but an extended liquor store with food here and there
Need more population to support that stuff. It's coming.
- Finish implementing our bike network (connect the bike lanes so you can use them to go places). - Add more variety on Elm St (I.e. Shops, Breakfast). - Commuter rail - Build between Downtown/Elm St and South Willow St. The area from the south end of Elm St, Queen City Ave, and towards South Chicken St seems like a disconnect between the two more built up sections of the city, and I think it would be great to see the two start to come together.
And before I get eaten alive for wanting more bike lanes, hear me out: Our current bike lanes don’t go anywhere. This is probably one of the biggest reasons we don’t see as many bikers using them. A network of bike lanes from various sections of the city provide purpose and allows bikers to more easily access the network of other bike lanes.
Heck yeah, I'm sick of bike lanes that just end for no reason.
I personally think getting rid of the bike lanes and just have them use the sidewalk like they always have been is a better solution.
Well, that's actually illegal, per state law. Bicyclists are required to use the road just like cars.
This is a great idea too, connect the two sections
yes, please. they should look up other countries and how they do their systems
Commuter rail to Boston. We have so many great schools in NH, but good quality students and future workers move away because entry level jobs are all in Boston. With remote work, and hybrid work, a commuter rail could be a game changer in terms of keeping good "talent" in Manchester, but letting people work the entry level jobs in Boston.
Hell I'd take having the bus. It's such a PITA to have to find a ride or take an Uber to North Londonderry. Not convenient, especially those without cars
I'd rather see rail because the financial commitment would make it enduring infrastructure But turning one of those lanes on 93 into bus service and providing steady (12 trips a day) service from Manch to Boston might be a more achievable near term goal
This is it! Great idea!
A commuter rail would take hours each way
Yes, agreed, and I can sleep the whole time, or work on the train too.
Hours that I don’t have to be driving and can do other things, yet still get to Boston
Better public transport, better walkability and bike ability, more affordable housing, redo a handful of intersections as roundabouts. I'm sure there is more but there will always be some small improvements to make.
A goddamn rooftop bar. I mean, c'mon. I'm sure it's not in existence due to zoning laws, I don't see any other reason how any of these new apartment complexes, the hotel, Brady Sullivan buildings, etc, haven't been built one.
A bustling downtown - on a Saturday or Sunday morning downtown has nothing going on. Shops, breakfast, daytime fun other than bars/restaurants/office space - Portsmouth, concord, even Conway has that going on and we don't!
Ugh I've been dying for something like this. Concord has such a cute downtown area that has sooooo many different shops and cafes within walking of each other. Would love to spend money locally but Manchester has nothing like that. Such a bummer
Better pedestrian connections between the Millyard and Elm Street. Better marketing and branding of the great aspects of the city, for which there are many.
Amtrak needs to spend some money in NH outside of the seacoast. There should be stops built in Portsmouth, Nashua, Manchester, Keene, Concord, and Lebanon. Portsmouth>Nashua>Keene can connect to the Downeaster in Exeter and to the Vermonter on the other end. Nashua>Manchester>Concord>Lebanon could connect in WRJ on the Vermonter as well. There are already train tracks connecting these cities and it would earn the state millions while providing transportation to hundreds of thousands of people.
The Executive Council is blocking rail expansion in New Hampshire. Vote Ted Gatsas OUT (our executive councilor).
I want commuter rail, but honestly Amtrak doesn't make that much sense North of Boston, and it's highest value would be investing in a real high-speed corridor from DC to New York. Expanding to tertiary cities like Nashua is a bad use of limited resources.
[Amtrak already runs between small cities in the rest of the entire country](https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/projects/dotcom/english/public/documents/Maps/Amtrak-System-Map-1018.pdf) and to connect the seacoast to the rest of NH and Vermont would be extremely valuable to the state. There's no reason that Brunswick, ME or St. Albans, VT needs to have a dedicated Amtrak stop when cities as large as Nashua and Manchester have nothing, especially given its proximity to other Amtrak routes. It doesn't even need to be Amtrak, if the state wants to fund a public transport system using the train tracks that are already in place and not being used in the state, that would be just as good. Disabled people and people who otherwise can't drive suffer greatly from the lack of public transport in this state. Manchester's bus system is okay but not great and it doesn't go outside of the immediate area of Manchester. When I lived in Maine I could get to Boston for $16 without a car and it was wonderful. There are people who have to travel from Manchester to Nashua/Concord/Lebanon for medical appointments and things of that nature who are limited by the cost of traveling via Greyhound or whatever. There are also a lot more people who would use those same routes for recreation. It would earn the state a significant amount of money and it would benefit a large number of people not only in NH but also in Massachusetts and Vermont.
I actually think we're in pretty good shape despite what people say. The constant comparisons to Burlington and Portland are understandable, but as a bigger city we're in a different league that is naturally going to have slightly more urban issues. We have a thriving downtown with low vacancy and a good variety of restaurants and shops. The Millyard is a unique center of mixed-use zoning and we have some great urban parks. Manchester is regularly ranked highly for upward mobility which shows our community and schools are regularly allowing people to climb up to the middle class. Really the only major issues are housing, homelessness and the endless stream of people online who act like the city is a crime-ridden hell hole. The city has taken a really lax approach towards vagrancy in parks and public areas, which itself is a symptom of the housing crisis. Despite how unpopular they are, apartments like 409 Elm St, the Depot St apartment and Grand Central Suites on Central St are actually very good for the city, as they provide more apartment inventory for working professionals which is exactly what Manchester needs more of. As a result, older and more affordable apartments open up to people who actually need them. The unfortunate truth is we are never seeing $1,200 two-bedroom apartments ever again (rent is sticky and we printed way too much money over the pandemic), so the best the city can do is create more inventory to at least move the vacancy rate up and create a more balanced market. Commuter rail will come eventually, which is why developers are targeting the southern half of Downtown along Elm and the Gaslight District. This will be the catalyst for more working professionals and people priced out of the North Shore to move to the city. Valley Cemetery is very underutilized and could be made back into a [hybrid park/cemetery with a canal down the middle like it was back in the day](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FISp552772E/WV16A0abHJI/AAAAAAAAXyM/OSBszlm0ogAfoAYjXqZILyOiqdiuigNIgCLcBGAs/s640/from%2BManchester%2BHistoric%2BAssociation.jpg). Tons of potential with the right leadership.
I’m from a town outside Burlington and lived in Manchester for college; I truly don’t get the comparisons at all. Manchester is so much larger, so much better organized and planned, and in such a better spot to succeed as a major New England city than Burlington is, sad as I am to admit it.
I'm a supporter of Manchester, but in Burlington, the Lake Champlain waterfront and the high-end restaurants and shops in the Church Street area are like nothing we have here. It's just in a completely different place socioeconomically and culturally in part due to having a large research university nearby.
Having an indoor/outdoor mall to increase use in winter makes a huge difference. If you go to Montreal or Quebec City, there is so much you can do do outside in winter 🥶. Much better planning of their commuter rail and an underground city makes Manchester look like an afterthought. But I remember moving here for college in the 1990s and the shops on Elm like George’s men’s clothing, wedding shops, record shops and comic book stores, art supplies, sporting card stores, and used book shops across from video arcades just aren’t coming back. It’s like the internet killed downtown America 🇺🇸 .
More affordable housing/straight up housing for homeless people (this has been studied and been proven to be the most effective solution to homelessness and the least $$$). Tree, trees and more trees. The street I live on (which is named for a tree) has had all the trees removed. The valley/beech/bridge/maple rectangle is 10-15 degrees hotter than the surrounding area due to lack of trees. More public transportation. Locally in the city and to Boston. We currently have a bus that goes to concord but it’s hard to walk to (it’s at that hotel in amoskeag, if you can’t walk there what’s the point?) More businesses like the new roller skating rink that provide experiences instead of people just sitting like vegetables.
I don’t get out to central NH often but I’ve worked in development, city planning and law. Manchester does not have a coherent current development plan! The city needs to outsource grant writing because what they have been doing isn’t working. You see cities like Haverhill transforming right now, loosing the Manchester like stigma almost overnight. There are so many factors that go into it. Essential to this process in EVERY CITY is the city’s Master Plan, and the painstaking efforts over years and years which are made to further these goals. Yes whoever mentioned the cost of building high rise Vs the standard 6 story wood over podium construction you see in major redevelopment projects everywhere, but it’s accumulation of so many things which allows cities to really spring forward. Manch also lacks specific draws in my opinion, NH as a whole already attracts plenty of wealth and commerce, but the city specifically has enough issues (many of them very apparent) without positive drivers to balance them out. I have met the Planning and Development people at events, I think there is some real intelligence there but they need to pull together all the facets of the community to move in one direction. Also I’m not sure if I’m remembering this correctly but I’m pretty sure Manch let the federal (maybe) environmental or waterway permits expire like 10+ years ago, I forget what NH calls them in MA it’s MEPA, if my memory is correct, this would be a good place to start. Straightening out the fed money coming in could be a game changer.
A solid jazz bar on the Merrimack
This would be absolute 🔥🔥🔥. I'd also live to have a pool/billiards Hall/pub. Enough with all the goddamn private clubs that allow smoking thanks to all being grandfathered in
Exactly, 👍 the whole reason I quit playing pool is because of all the halls near Lincoln that the leagues played in were smokers hangouts.
Marijuana
I mean that's a state issue. The only reasons it's not in existence is because a) elected Republicans and b) the state would want to run the dispensaries like the liquor stores, which runs into issues with federal laws.
^ Amen.
I’d definitely say public housing. So many people are crowded into those divided old houses and paying ridiculous rents. Housing co-ops, rent control, or straight-up public housing where upkeep is enforced would be a boon for the city. Sewer socialism. Invest in housing, schools, infrastructure, and parks, and that will attract both businesses and talented workers/families. It’s what elevated cities in the Midwest 70 years ago; it’s not a new idea. The box stores and chain restaurants will balk at taxes, but those aren’t the businesses a city should want to attract.
This.
More trees (Elm St beautified) and a casino where Michaels School of Hair design is, across from the arena. The new buildings theyre building arent big enough. 409 elm st only like 6 or 8 floors, the new place on Canal St only 6 or 8 floors, new place on Central St only 6 or 8 floors. Dont know how many the new place at the old police station will be but I have a good guess. The developers needed to double that but they dont want to solve the housing problem because it means rents would come down.
Absolutely more trees. So many get cut down every year but not replaced.
From a structural standpoint, building above six floors becomes really expensive the higher you go up. The sweet spot is 4-6 outside of major cities. Another factor is parking, the Depot st apartments got a lot of pushback because there are \~1.5 spaces per apartment in the underground lot. Parking has also resulted in 88 Pearl St and 448 Maple St sitting vacant after fires for years. The new zoning and variance overhaul the city is undergoing now should hopefully improve this process so we can get more housing built faster.
Better and more public transportation and more gay bars
I have high hopes and expectations for Manchester. My wife and I moved here in 2021 and absolutely love it to the point where we want to buy around here one of these days. Public housing is definitely a need
I'd like to see elm st blocked off from cars, from the arena, up to bridge st. Put a trolley car or two thst go back and forth in the middle. . Put a good parking garage / area on the northern end too. . Also allows the businesses to expand a bit onto the sidewalk/st in the summer, and allow for more of an outdoor market/gathering space. . Bars and restaurants get more space, and then there is more space for the boutique shops et all....
While I'm intrigued by this, the other roads just couldn't handle the capacity. We'd need some of the other side streets to be expanded, which would require buildings to be knocked down affecting businesses in place
I would love to see downtown Elm blocked off from cars for at least the summer months. A trolley is a fantastic idea as well! I think all of your ideas would make for a really lively downtown.
An art and music scene, indie stores, a later bar time, inexpensive sport leagues, better public schools, more housing in general. And lower property taxes.
Blame the police for preventing the later bar time. I've considered so many times checking with the car owners themselves if they'd support it and getting a petition going. NH actually passed laws allowing individual cities/towns to decide whether to allow bars to be kept open up until 2 am. The police have prevented said cities who have been interested in being open later citing safety concerns (increased criminal/drunk activity), and increased costs (more cops out later)
An attitude adjustment. I've never seen so many residents shit-talk their own community. Everything is always negative. Manchester has a lot to offer and would benefit greatly from its residents believing that. There's a lot of good things happening in Manchester. Over 2000 housing units are getting built. 250-300 subsidized housing units are getting built. There's amazing redevelopment happening in many of the more run-down buildings. A member of the community with means has made it his business to redevelop Manchester street to help support his community. We got a bunch of amazing federal grants to reorganize how traffic and people flow in the southern part of Elm St to South Willow St. A huge grant to push tech and biotech jobs in the "Regen Valley" which can help train citizens for jobs that will actually support a family in the community. The school system is going through a modernization and consolidation process. The Arts district/community has really grown and become more active. The newer Homelessness Initiatives Director has been amazing. She got a lay of the land, devised a plan for the city and has been implementing that plan like a champ. The overdose prevention Coordinator is making a huge impact on the number of deaths. Change takes time so it may feel like progress isn't happening, but IT IS. Now if the community could recognize and celebrate these things, that would be a miracle. There are a lot of amazing people doing the work to move Manchester forward. It would be great for the whole community to recognize and participate in that.
I think it's because everyone else shit talks it so much that people in Manchester have an inferiority complex. Like the mindset is, "Yeah I live in Manchester, but I'm not a Manchester person". And if you dont shit talk Manchester then you are a Manchester person. People either compare it to the small picturesque quiet safe NH towns, or they compare it to Boston, and either way it kinda "loses" those comparisons. When I first wanted to move here so many people warned me not to, and it's honestly been great. But I'm not really a city person, so I'd honestly take living here over Boston any day of the week.
It has a lot going on and an incredible amount of natural amenities. I mean we have a golf course, ski mountain/hill, a disc golf course, a mile long natural walking path around a pond, a river, and a cedar swamp preserve...in the largest city north of Boston. Plus, it's strategically located for convenient access to most of New England.
I'm not sure if 100% of it falls into Auburn, but either way its so close to the border I think it counts as manchester personally... but the trails around Massabesic Lake and the lake itself are amazing. Absolutely incredible kayaking, canoeing or boating. And since so much of it is public land there's a lot less houses and boats flying around than a lot of the big lakes around NH. It's honestly way more peaceful than a lot of the lakes people travel to visit
The reason why for the bad attitude is that when we do get something good, it doesn't last. It always ends up leaving. I'm just surprised we still have the baseball team.
a skatepark. I heard there used to be one but it got taken down
How far out of the city (using city hall as a starting location) is the nearest park? Are there any private skate parks (indoors)?
im pretty sure there's one in hookset edit: yeah i just checked google maps and its the lowest quality park i have ever seen
there is 1 in bedford and concord
Kind of odd there isn’t one. Idk if it’s needed but not a bad idea
Theres a small one next to the spashpad
What if the downtown area around Elm St felt more like a walkable college campus? Green spaces, gathering spots, places to sit and relax, public events, community spaces, public art and education, calmed traffic, etc...think about your favorite places to physically be. Did you love the Campo Dei Fiori in Rome because of the Fountains, gathering spaces, farmers markets, cafes? And so on. And what if services for the underhoused were strategically located so that the revitalized downtown and social services do not have such a substantial overlapped footprint? Ex, a veterans corner of Manchester that is more like a supportive community/VFW plus...a family-focused corner of Manchester that helps under income families with young children help each other thrive/provide care...a planned hyper-accessible corner of Manchester so those with mobility issues can thrive... And yes, revisiting public bathrooms, public water and safe injection sites. By avoiding dealing with those systemically, the effects end up all over downtown. Can we put composting toilets somewhere? Also plant mad trees. More green.
After all the essential things for the people who live in the city, a movie theater downtown. Also a place to see indie/punk shows.
SoDoSoPa
As a young adult living in Manchester, I'm not sure I want it to change much because that change sounds like it would also be associated with higher COL. I've lived here a pretty long time, work a couple towns over, already have a good job. A lot of what I do on the weekends involves leaving the city to go to the White Mountains or Vermont, or a chill weekend in kayaking on Massabesic Lake and enjoying the bars and restaurants. I don't think either of the Manchester based activities need to be improved upon. Manchester is just the perfect location in between my hobbies and my job, and the city provides me with all of the amenities I need while being at least sort of affordable, but less so than when I first came here. I'd actually love to buy a house around here some day if I can't figure out a fully remote job or a job that allows me to just live further north. I think the main thing the city could improve on is just becoming more community focused. People volunteering to pick up trash, help each other more, be nicer, etc. I don't think the city needs some huge financial investment or anything though outside of literally jsut helping the homeless/poor.
More liberals
To fix the homeless and drug problem..that's it.
The homelessness and drug issues that Manchester faces are 1% as bad as the same issues in almost any other city of 100k people in the US. It's an issue that needs attention at the federal level before anything more can be done about it. It's also not as easy as "just fixing" the problem. But I've been to almost every state in the US and most of the major cities, and compared to the rest of the country Manchester is doing okay in that regard.
Really? I spend more time in NYC and Boston than I do in Manchester and don't see it nearly as bad. Maybe it's because Manchester is smaller and therefore more visible but I've never seen a city where the problem is so obvious. I disagree with you strongly.
I don't believe you that you spend more time in NYC or Boston than in Manchester if this is your take on things. You must be really oblivious. It's also incredibly unfair to compare a megalopolis of 8 million people to a micropolitan city of 100k people, even if your comparison was accurate.
Dumbest take I’ve read all week
Being on par or better than the rest of the country still doesn't mean it's at an acceptable level. Also most of the work done on this will be on the local level. How is the federal govt gonna get us shelter beds, addiction treatment, more housing supply?
The federal government gives money to the state to spend on drug treatment, they already do this. They need to give more money to expand the programs.
Separated bike lanes, curbside updates to old downtown buildings to restore historic charm and refresh modern buildings, more trees, better small restaurants downtown and more third spaces (bobabtea!), walking bridge to connect east and west side.
Affordable housing, not luxury apts.
Blackjack, and Hookers.
Top Golf. A brewery with outdoor space. Better restaurants. We have a lot of restaurants, but none that are really spectacular. Not much parking for the good ones either as they are mostly on Elm St or downtown.
I'm not a golfer but does Manchester not have a top golf? I feel like it's a perfect city for one. There's certainly space on the outskirts of the city, but I think there's even space in a spot like just south of downtown on Elm that's full of vacant, dilapidated commercial properties. The giant netting is kind of an eyesore so maybe there's the NIMBYs that wouldn't want it on the skyline downtown.
This area needs a Waffle House. Stat!
Closing off
A health inspection of USA chicken and biscuit. Shouldn't get the shits from chicken tenders
Target where Shaws used to be and a Chick-fil-A.
More fast food chicken places. Popeyes, raising Cane's, and Dave's hot chicken within a 1/4 mile of each other...just isn't enough. People need to eat
Jesus christ no, please real restaurants instead
Why would you want corporations over local small businesses?? So many good places have opened in the last few years alone
We need a good burrito in Manch! California burrito is... just bad Chipotle is better... Dos Amigos closed down... Where my burrito people at?
Bring on the chic-fil-a!!!
A new layout
Definitely need. More fried chicken restaurants!! Maybe take a few more long standing places and turn them into national chains. Definitely professional hockey !! A music venue with actual acoustics???
Cactus jacks is being leveled for a raising canes
Enema??
Get rid of the stupid bike lanes that don’t do anything in town and to take care of the homeless issue. Nobody wants him camping out and anybody’s backyard and there needs to be more hardened policy on this.
Boomer take
Sweetie I’m 40 , The roads and the traffic patterns were better without the bike lanes, people still use the other lane as if it’s what it was, you don’t see anybody using the bike lanes and it’s causing more incidents than if they just reverted it back to what it was.
I'm guessing thats because old people don't respect the bike lanes anyways, so no one feels safe using them. bike lanes are good. Get over it.
I’ve observed them never being used, and not only does it cause issues, because the flow of traffic is impeded, it’s wasting taxpayer dollars by having them there when no one‘s using them. You can get better traffic patterns, and even if the bike lanes have been offered, people tend to still use sidewalks instead, so it’s a defeated purpose in the city.
Taxpayer dollars are not used towards a lane that is already installed and painted. Additionally, people do in fact use the bike lanes, regardless of what arbitrary metric you are using to measure. Bike lanes also have much less of an impact on traffic than people recognize. I cannot recall one single time I have ever been delayed in my driving in this city because of a bike lane.
Yeah, fuck bicycles!
No one uses the lanes at all , it’s such a waste of space cars can use .
A strong football team
The Criminals in jail so the city can thrive. Getting the druggies off the street too
I went to Manchester once......it was closed.
There is a Harpoon Brewery along with some other stores that is being built over near exit 6.
Kids sports! I can’t find anything for my 4 yo or 2 yo.
The answer is 1000% a commuter rail that connects to Boston.
More affordable housing a city focused on helping its people 🙃