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I believe PILOT stands for payment in lieu of taxes, like those of university or other tax-empt entity. What are those photos from? An apartment above the public market?

Nashua, at least, is taking steps toward commuter rail. The city is currently considering purchasing property for a downtown station:

I think Church Street works incredibly well and there are other examples, but it seems like there are just as many--maybe more--examples that fail. Wharf Street in Portland and the much smaller Commercial Alley in Portsmouth are really different animals than Church Street, or Exchange or Hanover...

Burlington's very successful Church Street aside, I'm not sure of the wisdom of pedestrian-only streets. Burlington's works for several reasons, in part because that city's grid is even more uniform than Manchester's so moving traffic one block over is no big issue, it has a large car-less...

Manchester and Lowell definitely have similar roots--I believe the same investors were involved, and Manchester is based on a Lowell plan, as opposed to a Waltham plan, given its size and scale. Unlike Lowell, though, the development of Manchester was entirely controlled by a single entity...

Wow. So it sounds like this is really happening now. I hadn't heard much about it in awhile, so I was wondering what the status was. This is incredibly exciting, both for Providence, and to show that mid-sized cities can support strong public transit. Really, though, this will be huge for...

Is the Portland North transit study/plan still going on? I don't know a ton about the area, but with the Downeaster continuing up to Brunswick, this seems like it could be a good complementary, maybe smaller rail line between Portland and L/A. Given the colleges in both Portland and L/A and the...

In this week's "Looking Back" column in the Union Leader, Aurore Eaton, executive director of the Manchester Historic Association, explains the history of the layout and design of Manchester. Here are some highlights: It would be great if those ponds still existed, especially the one in...

Yeah, it was a really fun project. That was several months before I was aware of this website, and just as I was beginning to get into the more urban side of design. It was great to have an excuse (not that I need one--my girlfriend and I love going up) to take a trip to Portland to take photos...

More interaction would be good for sure, but it looks better in this rendering than previously. I'm not sure if the design has changed, or just the perspective, but it looks less like it's turning its back to the street than before. A retail spot on that corner would be better, but that...

I love the thread idea. A friend and I submitted an entry to a competition for a bath house design for East End Beach a few years ago, and I'm always hoping to find similar, practical design competitions in New England. I wonder if the idea behind this thread could ever turn into something like...

I've driven through the North End of Burlington--last about a couple years ago--and I'd say it seems about the same as you describe it. Not a "ghetto" compared to some other cities, but definitely down and out. Still, it seems like an interesting area with all the weirdly angled streets and...

I agree--the Riverwalk needs to be the priority, and it should be complemented by a re-designed Arms Park at its heart. And things like adding bike racks, as well as painting "sharrows" or real bike lanes, are such a cheap and easy way for the city to promote biking and make itself a little bit...

I forgot to mention in my last post that development in the upper portion of the North End is almost entirely fairly typical post-war suburban, with some old farmhouses and mansions scattered in, as well as two Frank Lloyd Wright houses, one open to the public and one not. This upper area...

Deering Center does look nice--it's funny that it's not at a major intersection, at least in the same way that Rosemont is. I'd heard of Deering Center before, but could never locate it on a map. Looking at a map of Portland, I'd never guess that there would be a neighborhood center there. The...

Yeah, I think there's some real debate over the exact boundaries of the North End. I kind of like the idea of defining neighborhoods by what neighborhood center/square they're around. In Cambridge, the official neighborhood boundaries are defined by rather than around squares. For instance...

The North End is largely residential, and its exact boundaries are disputed. The city defines it as basically everything north of Salmon Street (two blocks south of Webster). I guess that makes sense, though I'd divide it into lower and upper, with the lower portion (maybe south of Carpenter St)...

I think you and Sean are right on about the schools. Bedford, until recently, sent its high school students to Manchester schools. I'd consider Manchester and Portsmouth real cities--I should have put that differently--but on a much smaller scale than Manchester. While Nashua is fairly close in...

Sean, no need to apologize. I grew up in Bedford (in a small house that my dad grew up in, not a McMansion) and in the North End of Manchester, and I'd choose the North End any day. I think part of what makes Bedford appealing to the affluent is that it feels like you're out of the city but...

It is kind of on the way from downtown to the mall, depending on how you get there. Your wife's prom dress--is she from Manchester? I think I've also heard/read somewhere that the North End is Burlington's densest neighborhood. It also goes to show how both population density and overall...