Manchester Infill & Small Developments

Just a political note: Ward 12 Alderman Patrick Arnold has announced his candidacy for mayor of Manchester in November's election.

Here's Arnold's announcement, as published in the Union Leader:

I'm running for mayor because I believe in the city of Manchester and our bright future. I believe our city has countless opportunities to attract innovative new businesses and create good jobs. I believe our schools have the potential to be the best in the state, and that our quality of life should attract people and businesses from all over the country. What we need are leaders at City Hall who are willing to put politics, personal agendas, and ego aside and make the best decisions for the people of Manchester.

Unfortunately, Mayor Ted Gatsas is allowing these opportunities to slip away. Growth and development have stagnated. Our schools rank near the bottom in the state. Our city’s young families are choosing to raise their children elsewhere. In spite of these realities, Mayor Gatsas continues to tell us that everything is just fine. He's wrong.

Furthermore, Mayor Gatsas has led our city into one financial boondoggle after another. That's why I'm running for mayor: to capitalize on the opportunities we have to improve our city while keeping property taxes low. We need a new type of leader, a new way of doing business, and a new vision for Manchester.
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I think Mayor Gatsas cares a great deal about the city, but I think he lacks the vision and priorities to guide it toward realizing its potential. I'm reserving judgement about the best candidate until I hear more about Arnold and anyone else who may enter the race, but Arnold's youth and commitment to improving the city are promising. Now, if Manchester had a mayor who advocated a strong vision for urban growth, rather than giving away city-owned land to suburban-style developments, and tried to compete for development with other cities rather than the city's own suburbs, I think Manchester could really take off.
 
Do you think Gatsas would run again? If not who do you think the GOP would put up.

Also I was in my planning studio class and I decided to write down a platform if I ever ran for mayor of my homecity. I'll have to send it to you sometime and see what you think.
 
OSUPhantom said:
Do you think Gatsas would run again? If not who do you think the GOP would put up.

Also I was in my planning studio class and I decided to write down a platform if I ever ran for mayor of my homecity. I'll have to send it to you sometime and see what you think.
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I think Gatsas will probably run for a third term, but I'm not positive. He won pretty handily the last time around, I believe he has a lot of money to run, and he's obviously got the name recognition. I do, however, think things have changed a bit since the last election. The biggest change is the state of the schools, and I think Gatsas is getting a lot more flak about the schools than he did in the 2011 race. A lot of the issue with the schools has to do with state funding, which the mayor has fought, but it also has to do with a tax cap, which the mayor has supported and refused to override. I wrote on LivableMHT in July 2011 about all the reasons why I oppose the concept of a tax cap. Obviously, the school situation isn't entirely his fault, but I'd say his handling of it will be more of an issue if he decides to run for a third term.

I'm not sure who the GOP will put up if he decides not to run. City elections are officially nonpartisan, but it's safe to bet that the city GOP will line up behind a candidate if Gatsas doesn't run. Except for Bob Baines' time as mayor from 2000-2005, Republicans have held the mayor's office since 1990, despite Democratic super-majorities on the Board of Alderman for most of that time.

If Gatsas decides not to run, I wouldn't be surprised to see Ward 10 Alderman Phil Greazzo run. He's one of only two GOP alderman, a former GOP state representative, and he unsuccessfully ran for State Senate last year against long-time Senator Lou D'Allesandro. I don't often agree with Phil Greazzo on issues, and I think his attempt to unseat fellow Manchester state Rep. Mike Brunelle in 2011 was blatantly political, but he seems to be very involved in the West Side and could be well-positioned for a run for mayor. I don't know enough about his positions on issues facing the city, such as education funding, commuter rail, and land use to say whether I think he'd be a better advocate for the city and promote a stronger urban vision than Gatsas has. He did initially oppose the proposed liquor store at Granite Landing, which would have been a huge waste of a prominent piece of land, but I think that had less to do with supporting urban development patterns than thinking that his constituents opposed the idea.

The only other Republican who comes to mind is Joseph Kelly Levasseur, the bombastic alderman-at-large, who was perennial loser in city elections until 2011. I have to admit that I've been impressed by some of Alderman Levasseur's positions relating to the city, and his willingness to take on the mayor, a member of his own party, as well as fellow aldermen on issues that concern him. But he's known for nasty rhetoric, vitriolic attacks and recently maligned the police department, so I'd say he's shaky when it comes to reelection to the BOA, let alone becoming mayor.

It's early yet, and the election will be a lot different depending on whether Gatsas runs for a third term. I've said before that I think Gatsas is a fine public servant who cares a great deal about Manchester, but he wholly lacks the vision to make the city a strong urban alternative to other cities in the area. He's too open to suburban-style development and doesn't seem to be doing anything to make the city more attractive to young people and families. Nashua Mayor Donnalee Lozeau is a great example of a Republican who is pushing to make her city a stronger, more dynamic urban place. Even as a Democrat, I'd be very happy with a Republican mayor along the lines of her.

So while I don't know a ton about Alderman Arnold, it's promising to see someone under 30 making a strong run for mayor, and I wouldn't be surprised to see other young people like Alderman Garth Corriveau consider a run as well. Other than that, I'm not sure who will throw their names in, but the idea of a young mayor with a strong urban vision for the future of the city is very exciting.

I'd love to hear your ideas for a platform.
 
Commuter rail is back on track in the Merrimack Valley. The Executive Council voted yesterday to move forward with the study of the Capitol Corridor commuter rail project, which will help determine startup and operating costs, as well as the economic benefits of commuter rail.

And on Tuesday February 12, Intown Manchester is hosting the Downtown Next Step Summit to help envision the future of downtown and craft a guiding vision for the city. The Summit is open to the public--I'll be there, and anyone else who is interested in helping to shape the future of downtown and can get the day off should also attend.
 
Man! I got work, I wouldn't mind going, but this snow has pushed tomorrows work to Tuesday. Hm...
 
Yes! I've been following the rail news a lot recently. I want nothing more than for NH to get a commuter rail.
 
Hopefully that spurs some development in that immediate area -- there's an empty lot on the corner of Chestnut and Pearl that's an eyesore.

I do have to wonder about that 21,000 student number though...
 
SteveB85 said:
2 10 story towers planned for Manchester college students:

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20130528/NEWS02/130529307
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That would be huge--having some student housing downtown, especially on this scale, would really transform the feel of the area. I saw last year that the president of SNHU said that ideally he'd like to see some student housing downtown, but that the city would need to offer better (more frequent and longer hours) bus service between downtown and the campus. It's a perfect example of how the city could invest a bit in better infrastructure, including targeting a few bus routes for longer/more frequent service, could lead to more development. The Pearl Street lot isn't quite an eyesore since it's hidden from Elm & Bridge, but it's a huge waste of space, and filling it with student housing will be a much better use for the area.

It's especially good news on top of the recent growth in apartments in general downtown, including the Lofts at Mill No. 1 (at the base of Market Street) opening a few months back, and apartments going into Mill West just across the Bridge Street bridge. Restaurants and bars downtown are pretty packed, and downtown Manchester is definitely a dining/nightlife destination as well as the financial/business center for the state, but there need to be more residents downtown to give it a 24/7 vibe, and to support more retail.

Hik0 said:
Hopefully that spurs some development in that immediate area -- there's an empty lot on the corner of Chestnut and Pearl that's an eyesore.

I do have to wonder about that 21,000 student number though...
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I think that number includes students at St. Anselm and SNHU, both of which are almost entirely outside the city, but on the city line and use a Manchester address. It probably also includes the mostly commuter students at UNH-Manchester, MCPHS, MCC and a handful of others, as well as NHIA, which as far as I know is currently the only college with residences downtown. Even if there aren't 21,000 traditional college students in Manchester, there are very many scattered around the city, and offering them some downtown housing will definitely be a win-win for the city and the colleges. Now, the city needs to offer direct, frequent and late night bus routes to St. A's (maybe through Rimmon Heights) and SNHU (through the North End).
 
Cool. It is sad to see when there is a HUGE paved parking lot like that and yet the city still has parking issues. Something like this that also provide public parking spaces is a win win win win. More parking, more business, at the expense of developers (hopefully who do well with this) and I would assume it will look nicer in the end and at least some sort of streetscaping will be done around there as if I was a student there, I would hate walking around shitty streets.
 
MonopolyBag said:
Cool. It is sad to see when there is a HUGE paved parking lot like that and yet the city still has parking issues. Something like this that also provide public parking spaces is a win win win win. More parking, more business, at the expense of developers (hopefully who do well with this) and I would assume it will look nicer in the end and at least some sort of streetscaping will be done around there as if I was a student there, I would hate walking around shitty streets.
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I agree, and it always bugs me when I hear people complain about parking in downtown Manchester. There's plenty of parking, as long as people can walk a little bit. Of course, it's tougher during the weekday, when downtown really is pretty packed with professionals and workers, but I never get it when people complain about parking downtown, and then go to the mall where they're parking just as far away from their destination inside.

That's why I think the Green DASH is such a great idea, even though it will take a long time to get people to change their habits and get decently high ridership. But providing a transit shuttle throughout downtown allows people to park anywhere, then easily and reliably hop on a ride (that comes every 10 minutes during peak hours, which is pretty impressive) to wherever they're going. Downtown Manchester doesn't really have a parking problem: it has a perception problem: people don't see a spot in front of their destination, and they think there's no parking. But if you go a few blocks in, or if you use a garage (which there should be more of to replace surface parking), then there's really no issue. And when the city offers a free ride to get around downtown, then there's really no issue. I wish the buses looked more like typical city buses, which I think people recognize a bit better, rather the truck front, and I wish the shuttle ran at least into the later evening on Friday nights and maybe even on Saturday nights as well, but again, it's a perception problem.

Sorry for that rant! So the idea of replacing a huge surface parking lot with student housing, probably a bit of retail (though it will have to be either a draw or targeted to residents given that the area is hidden a block back from Elm & Bridge) and a parking garage represents a huge improvement for the city in so many respects.

Developer has basic proposal for block of Elm Street across from Market Basket
As a side note, there was an article Wednesday in the UL about a developer's proposal for some of the buildings across from Market Basket between Auburn & Grove Streets along Elm Street. The article was very short on details and unfortunately the proposal doesn't include replacing the car dealership at the corner of Elm & Auburn, but it sounds interesting. The developer is asking to close off the one-block long cross-street Summer St as well as the alley between Elm & Willow Street for that block, which could mean that they're thinking of something big there. I just hope, however, that that doesn't mean that they're planning to replace street-fronting buildings with a setback strip mall or something. Ideally, I'd like to see the old warehouses on the block fixed up and reused, but there are nicer buildings in that area, and if they're replaced by something big, urban and appropriate for the area, this could really help extend the downtown area.
 
The Union Leader is reporting on a study recommending a 500-car parking garage for the Millyard on the city-owned Bedford Street parking lot. This is the same site that could also possibly be used as a transit center, including a train station, MTA bus hub, intercity bus station and a park-and-ride garage. The study also specifically mentions that the City could work with a private developer to build apartments, condors or a hotel on top of the garage, which could add a new tower to the downtown skyline. The combination of a transit center, parking garage and hotel/apartments on this site could be very exciting.
 
Very exciting news on all fronts! I just graduated from The Ohio State University in Columbus, OH. A lot of people don't know it but Columbus is thriving right now and just surpassed Boston in terms of population and what you're seeing is that a lot of students who go to school at OSU or one of the other 10 schools in the city are spending their disposable income (student/loan refunds) by going shopping or bar hopping downtown. Restaurants and shops are flocking to the areas around the University because they know they can tap into a large population and I think if Manchester gets some downtown students housing it could be a huge influx of demand in the area.

I have always hoped the UNH Manchester would start expanding rapidly and give New England some more opportunities for affordable urban colleges. It would provide NH students a place to get a degree where they can more easily connect with Manchester's growing number of businesses and it would also provide the city with an academic center which would bring plenty of investment in the city.
 
Are there any pics of the proposed 10 story towers or the large parking garage? Nice to see some big developments proposed in this thread.
 
Haven't seen this posted here, but according to their meeting minutes last month, Manchester Moves will replace the old rail trestle over the Piscataquog river this fall. They feel good enough to hang banners on the trail so hopefully this is a sure thing.

This will link the Piscataquog trail with the Goffstown Rail trail and eliminate the need to undertake a rather steep climb up to the Pinard St. bridge and find the rest of the trail behind an apartment complex on the other side of the river.

Also of note, they've also revised their time frame for continuing work on the South Manchester trail, with construction continuing in summer 2014

They don't seem to have posted any minutes/news to their site other than the meeting agenda, so their facebook has the information.
 
At the rate the bike trails, paths, and non existent lanes are moving in Manchester, I do not see getting my hopes up to have any complete network in my life time. It is not only Manchester, but southern NH in general.
 
There was some mixed news out of the Board of Aldermen meeting last night. Ted Gatsas vetoed the aldermen's approval of the existing offer for the Pearl St. parking lot from VMD Companies. Apparently two other developers have expressed interest in the property and it will now go out to bid. Hopefully the process doesn't drag on too long.

In more favorable news, Anthem Blue Cross will be moving its headquarters to the former Bank of America building on the corner of Elm and Bridge. Always a good sign to see a large employer move to downtown!
 
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Yea I'd like to see these 10 story college building proposals in Manchester. I thought SNHU was in Hooksett though
 
SNHU is right on the Hooksett/Manchester line and is only about a 10-15 minute drive from the Pearl St. site (I think SNHU runs downtown shuttles as well). I'm assuming they, NHIA, and *maybe* St. Anselm would be providing most of potential residents. SNHU's president has spoken on record about students' desire to live closer to downtown, but I wonder if they could fill up a 1,200 person tower.
 
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