Housing task force zeroes in on vacant and blighted properties to increase affordable rental units

Tuesday, June 11, 2024Saturday, October 24, 2020

High rents and low vacancy rates continue to plague New Hampshire’s rental housing market. The New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority recently released their New Hampshire Residential Cost Survey Report, which shows that vacancy rates in Hillsborough County remain low at 2.3 percent, a 5 percent rate is considered manageable. In Manchester, the median rent for a 2-bedroom apartment has risen from $1,406 in 2019 to $1,483 in 2020.

River at risk: Forest Society film explores vital need for Merrimack River conservation

Tuesday, June 11, 2024Sunday, September 27, 2020

Formed by the marriage of the mountain water of the Pemigewasset and the lake water of the Winnipesaukee Rivers, the Merrimack River winds its way 117 miles into Southern New Hampshire and Massachusetts and out into the Gulf of Maine. It is the fourth largest watershed in New England and covers more than 5,000 square miles of land that drains into the Merrimack River and its tributaries. Along the way it runs through the center of Manchester like an artery.

We have been making our way down this rabbit hole for more than 40 years, it’s time to vote for Volinsky

Monday, September 23, 2024Wednesday, September 2, 2020

We have been making our way down this rabbit hole for more than 40 years. Manchester reached the end of the tunnel a while ago, but now we have lots of company. Because of our adherence to “The Pledge,” communities up and down the state are having a hard time funding their schools. That means that a lot of New Hampshire kids will never become the people they are destined to be, and that is a shame.

Want a walkable, bikeable, shoppable Manchester? There’s a (Transit-Oriented Development) plan for that

Sunday, June 16, 2024Wednesday, August 26, 2020

After over a year of community engagement and planning, Southern New Hampshire Planning Commission has unveiled its Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Plan for the area South of the millyard between Granite Street and Queen City Avenue.

July 28 through August 2 is Census PUSH Week in the Northeast

Tuesday, June 11, 2024Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Manchester will be competing with other cities with more that 100,000 inhabitants including Lowell, MA, Hartford, CT, and Buffalo, NY.

Raise the minimum wage: NH workers are tired of getting left behind

Monday, January 20, 2025Thursday, July 23, 2020

New Hampshire has been without a minimum wage statute since 2011 and defaults to the federal minimum wage. If Governor Sununu fails to sign the bill, New Hampshire will find itself falling even farther behind our neighboring New England states. As of January 1, 2021, the minimum wage in Connecticut will be $12, in Vermont $11.75, in Massachusetts $13.50, in Rhode Island $11.50, in Maine $12 plus a CPI increase, and in New Hampshire a pitiful $7.25.

City mural artists painting the town beautiful

Tuesday, June 11, 2024Friday, July 3, 2020

The mural is one of half a dozen works commissioned by the Neighborworks Center City neighborhood group. Erica Brooks of Neighborworks reached out to Dittbenner based on the work she had done on a mural on the Rex Theater.

Fresh Start Farms: Rising to the challenges of growing a community around agriculture

Tuesday, June 11, 2024Thursday, June 25, 2020

Enabling New Americans to start and run their own small businesses as farmers is only one part of the mission of Fresh Start Farms. The organization is also committed to ensuring that people in low-income communities have access to affordable, nutritious, locally-grown food.

Memorial High School graduation A to Z

Monday, June 10, 2024Saturday, June 20, 2020

This was not a typical high school graduation, but it might not have happened at all. In March Manchester schools were closed because of the COVID crisis. As the spring wore on it became clear that Senior year rights of passage like Prom and Class Day would be cancelled. It was only six days earlier that the Board of School Committee was able to approve plans for the graduation ceremony.

Down for the Count: Census is mandated by the U.S. Constitution – here’s why it matters

Tuesday, June 11, 2024Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Bill Maddocks, a consultant to the New Hampshire Funders Forum, works with Complete Count Committees across the state. The stakes are high, because federal funding for Community Development Block Grants, healthcare, schools, and transportation will all be based on the census count. Maddox estimates that for each person we miss, the state will lose about $37,000 over the next decade for each uncounted person.

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