Search results

A joke? I've taken Metro buses on a number of visits, and I've problem ridden Metro buses more times than I've ridden the MTA in my hometown of Manchester. I will admit that the MTA's buses are generally much cleaner and seem newer, but Metro buses come so much more frequently and the routes are...

Portland already has an excellent transit system for a city of its size, and this should (ideally) make it even better. Great to hear that there's no complacency, and that they're looking to improve on their strengths. Does anyone know the back story of why South Portland pulled out of METRO in...

The Union Leader today is reporting on some news regarding two historic structures in the city: the imposing Odd Fellows building (aka: Dearborn Hall) in the Hollow, and the underground restrooms (which look like subway entrances) in Veterans Park:

Welcome, OSU! As another Manchester native currently living away (in the Boston area, myself) and interested in planning, architecture and development, I can tell you that there's a lot of good stuff archived in this thread. And a lot of good ideas from elsewhere on other threads on the site...

That sounds like just about the ideal neighborhood to me. My mother used to live--and I grew up in part--in a small 1920s-30s house on a narrow lot with a wide front porch, in the North End, just a block north of Webster St. It was great and I loved it--enough space in the backyard for a small...

That's a good assessment, but I'm not sure where the idea that downtown Manchester has only three parking garages comes from. According to the Downtown Parking Map, maintained by the City of Manchester's parking department, there are three garages downtown with short-term parking, plus another...

I'm more of a rowhouse, or old house in a dense neighborhood kind of guy--I've been living without any outdoor space for too long now--but I can't say strongly enough how big of a deal I think these apartments are for downtown. They're just about perfect, and totally unique downtown--big open...

I'd personally reorder it slightly: 1. BOSTON, 2. PORTLAND, 3. PORTSMOUTH, 4. BURLINGTON, 5. NEWPORT Admittedly, I'm far less familiar with Newport than the other four, but it seems like the logical fifth. Downtown Portsmouth, to me, is more interesting and feels more immediately urban than...

A few exciting things in Manchester: Will Stewart, of GoodGood Manchester and the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, was just named one of only 40 members of the 2012 Next American Vanguard Class. It is a huge honor and very well deserved, and it's great to have such a highly regarded and...

I think you just summed up the problems faced by former mill towns, in general, better than just about anything I've read. That said, I think Manchester is unique in its size, prominence within its state, and location. I'm not too familiar with the Lewiston/Auburn, but unlike those cities, as...

I agree that Portland is much cooler than Manchester--in fact, Portland might be my favorite city in all of New England. And I've often made the Portsmouth comparison, myself. But what I think really makes Portland so great--if we can continue the NH comparison--is that it's really like a...

The top entry, entitled Boiler Green by Carl Pucci, has been named the winner of the Broad Street competition. That's exciting and encouraging, since I think it was the most ambitious and innovative, and probably the best from an pro-urban standpoint. I hope the city looks to implement some of...

Great news. That area has always seemed pretty dead in my experience--lots of offices and government buildings with little after-hours activity. Having a hotel and restaurant there should bring some activity around the clock. It's also a pretty handsome, understated building.

This definitely sounds like nothing other than NIMBY-ism and ignorance. I don't mean ignorance as an insult, but as in people who haven't considered traditional development patterns over the typical separated use zoning we see. I'm not surprised to see NIMBY-ism in a neighborhood like this, but...

That all makes sense, and I agree. Looking at the map, I think the empty storefronts I was seeing--which still weren't overwhelming by any means--were definitely on the western edge of town. One of the places that comes to mind specifically was the Bramhall Pub, but even that wasn't a...

Fair enough. I stayed at the St. John Inn on my last visit in April, and walked from there into town a couple times. I seem to recall several--not a ton or an unusual amount-empty storefronts along the way. I could very easily be mistaken though. I didn't mean to say that Portland isn't...

I agree; it's not great. Even the corner is kind of clumsy. I think something graceful and light would be a nice counterpoint to the old, heavy arena. Still, at least it's built up to the road unlike the Verizon in Manchester. At any rate, I'm not sure how jazzing up the exterior would...

Totally agree with all of that. It has come up before... it's just moving forward now.

The Union Leader is reporting that the City has found a new way to blow an unprecedented opportunity for urban restoration at Granite Landing. The city-owned (or possibly owned by the quasi-public MDC) land on Second Street off the I-293 interchange has the potential to be developed as a...

I saw that, too--the drive-thru was still up Friday night, and torn down by Sunday morning. I didn't get a good enough look, but it's obviously closer to the road than the current building. From what you could see, did it look like it would be pretty close to the road? In the site plan I saw...