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The Union Leader has an article today about Hooksett getting a grant to establish a historic district around its village. I think the more interesting part of the article, though, is this is only one of 22 grants issued by the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority to cities and towns...

Between the scale (superblock), lack of ground-floor retail, first-floor residences facing what is essentially an urban highway, mish-mashed facade, jagged massing, and seeming lack of regard for context, this project seems to be doing everything wrong. I'd rather see some of the existing...

Not meant to be a real proposal, just the quickest way I could see to connect a streetcar/light rail with the major cities nearby. Obviously, they light rail would need its own tracks, and the service to Biddeford/Saco would be duplicating Amtrak to some degree. Really, I think Patrick's point...

Sounds great. Awhile ago, I quickly drew up a two-line light rail system that I think could work as a single-line streetcar in the city center.

I definitely agree with all that. Far too often buildings are designed and rendered as though they were standing in a field. And I'll agree that progressive architecture doesn't necessarily mean modern architecture. I also completely agree about the project you mentioned in the last paragraph...

Sounds like a good move. Looking forward to hearing more.

I respectfully disagree--I think this building (from the one elevation shown, at least) looks pretty respectful of its surroundings. In general, Portland does a much better job than Portsmouth of balancing contemporary design trends and building methods with respecting context and history. There...

It looks like the "Proposed Office Building" is next to the Smile building. Anyway, it's great to see the ongoing development in Concord. The downtown has so much potential, but currently seems pretty dead on the weekends. Adding density and market-rate housing will be a big help to improving...

Just wanted to share LivableMHT's Favorites album from Flickr, showcasing some of the best images of urban Manchester and the surrounding area, including a great shot of the fireworks from a few years ago.

I just wrote about this on LivableMHT yesterday. And according to the UL today, it sounds like it was very warmly received and eagerly given initial approval by the two committees last night: The police and fire departments have to sign off, and the full Board of Mayor and Aldermen must...

Part of the reason Manchester Street has struggled is definitely the concentration of social service agencies, particularly those catering to the homeless, on the street. I don't mean that to sound callous--just that people generally don't want to open up shops or wander down a street lined with...

Agreed. One thing I forgot to mention from the UL article is that the new police station is going to include meeting space for neighborhood groups and the like. I think that's great. A number of neighborhood watch groups--Oak Park near the North End, and Eagle Eyes in the area right around the...

The UL has an update today on the progress at the new Municipal Complex on Valley Street. Sounds like it's all on track for completion around December. Here are some updated photos. Without seeing them in context at the site, I think the buildings look pretty good--I'm glad to see the City doing...

I think Knightville is about perfect in terms of density for a sub-urban village/neighborhood center right outside of a downtown. It's not suburban in the conventional sense, but works as an excellent secondary node in the orbit of a larger one. I'm assuming the old bridge went right through...

Where did you find out about the no minimum requirements for downtown Manchester? I knew the city had some good zoning in the downtown area, but I was quite sure what. Did you just glean that from the Zoning Ordinances? I agree--I'd love to see some max parking, max lot size and so on in the...

I really think this is still an idea worth pursuing, though it needs more planning and, as Patrick pointed out, it needs more input from neighboring businesses and others affected. I don't think downtown Manchester has the presence yet to have any sort of festival atmosphere, the kind of thing...

An update on possibly making Hanover St pedestrian-only on certain nights during the summer from today's UL:

Will Stewart, of the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce and goodgood Manchester, has written a guest post on LivableMHT about William Fulton's keynote, "Pursuing Prosperity: Smart Growth in Manchester" at yesterday's Intown Manchester luncheon. It sounds like the keynote will be available on...

All good points. I just wish the city would have made them comply with the arena zoning overlay, which I believe applies to the Market Basket site, and build a new building--even the exact same building--up against the sidewalk. That would have really changed the feel of that area of Elm Street...

While it's not what I would choose, I wouldn't mind so much if the Market Basket building was built up against the sidewalk with parking behind/underneath. I know that they were able to rehab an existing building, which is why there's a huge parking lot out front right outside downtown, and I...