Transit-Oriented Development Plan for the South End of Downtown Manchester Now Complete
After a year-long planning effort to envision an ambitious revitalization of the South End of Elm Street, the final Transit-Oriented Development Plan is now complete. You can DOWNLOAD THE PLAN HERE.
The TOD plan creates a framework for new places to live, work, and play with convenient options to walk, bike, or take transit to many daily destinations. The plan envisions $588 million of real estate development in the form of new condos, apartments, offices, shops, parks, and plazas all within a 5 to 10-minute walk of a new shuttle service, new bus hub, and a future commuter rail station in the South End of Downtown.
The resulting plan provides a framework for over $100 million of infrastructure investment in new streets and paths designed to facilitate walking and biking in a compact, attractive, and well-signed new development. The investments in infrastructure are anticipated to leverage private dollars at a ratio of four private dollars of real estate investment for every dollar of infrastructure investment. The project is designed in phases to increase the feasibility of implementation. At full buildout, the project programs has the potential to generate $14 million dollars in new property tax revenue for the City of Manchester on an annual basis.
A Plan for Everybody
The plan envisions a livable community for all ages and would provide inhabitants an improved quality of life through access to jobs, shopping, healthcare, parks, and entertainment. By including everybody in this planning effort, a growing number of senior citizens, young adults, & people who are seeking transit-oriented lifestyle options have a plan to realize new choices within the City.
The City of Manchester, Manchester Transit Authority, business owners, property owners, and citizens came together to develop the TOD Plan announced today. The Plan create an achievable vision for the South End of Downtown Manchester. We invite you to read the TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT PLAN, and attend the upcoming presentation to the City of Manchester's Board of Mayor and Alderman during the October Administrative Committee meeting. The design team will also be presenting the plan during public meeting of the MANCHESTER DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION at 8:30am on Friday, October 9th and to the MANCHESTER TRANSIT AUTHORITY BOARD OF DIRECTORS at 5:30pm on Tuesday, October 27th.
Please note, although PROJECT WEBSITE content creation has come to a close. The project will remain in place in the links above as an archive of the planning process, engagement, and products created throughout the project. To learn more about the planning process and discover what others have said about Manchester’s Transit-Oriented Development plan, feel free to visit the PROJECT WEBSITE at any point in the future.
Reach Out
For questions, comments, or more information about the Transit-Oriented Development Plan, please contact James Vayo, Project Manager for the Southern New Hampshire Planning Commission by email at jvayo@snhpc.org or by phone at (603) 669-4664.
PRESENTATION OF THE TOD PLAN TO THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE THIS WEDNESDAY, 8:30AM
After one year of intensive visioning, community engagement, and analysis, Manchester’s TOD Plan is now ready. The TOD area, reaching from Granite Street to the Elliot at River’s Edge, is an extraordinary 250-acre opportunity for significant real estate development to bring new jobs, housing, retail, and public spaces over the next two decades. The TOD Plan creates an innovative and practical roadmap to unlock the value of this part of the city and to ensure that public policy, investments, and other initiatives support a future vision on how to best capitalize on the available opportunities.
The evidence is clear…Wise public investment coupled with real estate development will unlock much more private capital within the city. The plan lays out clear phased steps to begin the process now, without having to wait for rail transportation improvements or major grant awards. These recommendations will help the City assure that investments, timing, and major policy decisions are all supporting both long-term and immediate ambitions for the future.
If you are interested in attending Wednesday's virtual meeting hosted by the Chamber of Commerce, please contact Mike Skelton by email at: mikes@manchester-chamber.org to request meeting information.
NEXT STEPS...
The Final TOD Plan will be posted to the INFO tab on the CoUrbanize Page this week. Along with Wednesday's Presentation of the Final Plan, we will be presenting the plan in month of October to the Manchester Development Corporation, the Board of Mayor and Alderman's Administration Committee, and the Manchester Transit Authority. We’ll follow up with more updates as soon as we can. If you have any additional feedback, visit the FEEDBACK tab on the project website.
Thank you again for participating and having an impact on your community!
Sincerely,
James Vayo, AICP
SNHPC Project Manager
DRAFT TOD PLAN PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD COMING TO AN END
A RECAP...
It’s been a true pleasure to see the widespread support of the Draft Transit-Oriented Development Plan over the last month. The Draft TOD Plan has garnered support and positive feedback by city staff, elected officials, and most importantly those of you out there in the community. During the public comment period we have heard lots of great feedback. We noticed a theme and we wanted to let you know that we heard from you over the past month. Highlights include the need for zoning amendments, housing production, good aesthetics, and improved transportation infrastructure. We will be incorporating your comments as revisions to the Final TOD Plan over the next few days.
In-fact, the DRAFT PLAN PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD CLOSED YESTERDAY! We know live is busy, if you have not already, I encourage you to skim through the DRAFT TOD PLAN and leave your thoughts on in the FEEDBACK section of the project web page by the end of the day tomorrow.
NEXT STEPS...
The design team, led by Goody Clancy, will be providing the Manchester Planning Board with a 20-minute (virtual) presentation of the Draft TOD Plan TOMORROW at 6PM. For those of you interested in viewing the TOD Plan presentation to the Planning Board, you will be able to view and hear the meeting on Manchester Public TV, either on Channel 22 or on MPTV’s website. If you wish to be able to offer public comment to the Planning Board, you can do so by calling 603-792-6737 or by emailing planningboard@manchesternh.gov. You may also attend the meeting through the City of Manchester's webinar software by sending an email to the aforementioned email address on the day of the meeting and requesting an invitation to participate.
MORE TO COME...
The Final TOD Plan will be ready next week, and we will be scheduling public presentation of the final plan. We’ll follow up with more updates as soon as we can. If you have any additional feedback, visit the feedback section of the project website.
Thank you again for participating and having an impact on your community!
Sincerely,
James Vayo, AICP
Greetings from the TOD Design Team,
Thank you to everyone who came out to Tuesday's Draft TOD Plan Presentation we had great questions from attendees and Manchester Ink Link wrote up an article on the meeting which you can READ ONLINE . If you missed the event, don’t worry, you can still tell us your thoughts! There is a second presentation TODAY AT 2PM. You have not seen the Draft TOD Plan yet? Find is online as the THIS LINK HERE. The public comment period for the plan is open until September 15th if you want to leave comments. Please continue to share your great feedback and questions in the FEEDBACK SECTION of the project web page or via email to jvayo@snhpc.org.
We hope to see toy today at 2pm! Join us at the following ZOOM MEETING LINK
Meeting ID: 889 7287 6420
Passcode: 2PzE!
Regards,
~ The TOD Project Design Team
REMINDER: TOD Presentation TODAY at 6pm
We are looking forward to presenting the Draft Transit-Oriented Development Plan to you this afternoon. The meeting is TODAY AT 6PM ON ZOOM, where we will present the DRAFT TOD PLAN. We’ll be going over FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE PLAN. The design team looks forward to continuing the conversation and GATHERING YOUR FEEDBACK.
You can register for the event on Eventbrite at the following link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/manchesters-draft-transit-oriented-development-plan-presentation-tickets-117451760377
Alternatively, if you have any issues with registration, please feel free to join the ZOOM Meeting directly using the following ZOOM LINK and/or CALL-IN information:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84845732142?pwd=cHMyYzZSLzB0dWVST0t6Vm1CR3pzQT09
Meeting ID: 848 4573 2142
Passcode: 5AnTAe!
You can also Dial-in on your phone at the following number: 1 (646) 558 - 8656 ( keep in mind, if you only dial-in, you will miss the great visuals in the presentation)
Lastly, if you’re not able to attend today's meeting, make sure to register for Thursday's similar presentation event: MANCHESTER ON THE MOVE: TRANSIT'S ROLE IN BUILDING THE CITY. We’ll also be posting a meeting recap so you don’t miss out on any new details. Thank you!
With Anticipation,
~ The TOD Design Team
Hello Friend!
I am excited to announce we will be hosting two meetings on Tuesday at 6pm and Thursday at 2pm next week to discuss the DRAFT TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT PLAN for the South End of Elm Street in Downtown Manchester. We’ll be talking about how this plan envisions the creation of 1,800 new residential units, new employment opportunity and retail destinations and starting/continuing a conversation on the introduction of a People Mover Shuttle to connect the area to high quality jobs in the Millyard and the Millyard to future commuter rail service. Due to the current situation and limits on in-person gatherings, the meeting will take place online using Zoom Meeting Platform You can register for the two upcoming virtual meetings at the following the links:
Register for the Tuesday, 6pm event here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/117451760377
Register for the Thursday, 2pm event here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/117656362347
If you’re not able to attend the meeting, make sure to add your ideas and comments on the project site at: COURB.CO/MANCHESTER
We’ll also be posting a meeting recap and recording shortly after each meeting so you don’t miss out on any new details.
Thank you!
Regards,
--- Manchester Transit-Oriented Development Design Team
Manchester Friends,
Thank you all for the insightful input and ideas you’ve shared with us throughout the transit-oriented development planning process. Thanks to you we had excellent direction in crafting this development plan.
We are excited to announce that the Draft Transit-Oriented Development Plan is now available for review and comment. You can REVIEW THE PLAN HERE or from the INFO tab of the interactive project web page.
Your participation during this process has been more than helpful and we are proud of the plan the design team has produced as a result. We encourage you to review the plan and provide your input on the FEEDBACK tab of the project web page.
Please keep an eye out for another project UPDATE post shortly. We will be sharing dates and times for four upcoming public presentations by Goody Clancy on the draft TOD plan.
With such a milestone for the TOD project, I leave you with this memorable quote from Daniel Burnham:
"Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency."
Regards,
Project Manager - James Vayo, AICP
Hello Manchester TOD friends,
We are excited to announce that the design team has published an IMPLEMENTATION MEMO on the INFO tab on the interactive project website (courb.co/Manchester). The design team has documented the following milestones within the implementation memo:
- Project phasing for real estate, infrastructure, and transit investments
- Analysis of the cost-benefit of investment at each project phase
- Identification of financial vehicles for proposed infrastructure
- Guidelines for land use and zoning changes to aid implementation
The transit-oriented development plan program is an ambitious vision but a vision grounded in a realistic, market-based approach to investment. Below is a summary of the plan's program impact across several metrics, including the total value of development and the number of new residential units in the study area. The memo content is in-depth so please give the work of the design team a deeper dive by reading the full IMPLEMENTATION MEMO.
The next step in the TOD planning process is publishing the draft TOD plan as well as presentation of the draft plan by the design team. The design team, led by Goody Glancy, will present the draft plan in multiple digital public forums.
Here is a quick outline of the anticipated next steps.
Your participation throughout the planning process has been critical to creating a plan that will produce successful outcomes. Please continue to share your feedback and questions in the COMMENTS SECTION of the interactive project page. Once again, thank you for all of your participation.
We look forward to scheduling the public forums in August. Please keep an eye out for an email from us once the draft plan is live and dates for the public forums have been set. We look forward to all your great feedback on the TOD plan when it is published. For now, please give the IMPLEMENTATION MEMO a read!
Regards,
James Vayo, AICP - TOD Project Manager
Happy June Everyone! We have appreciated hearing everyone’s thoughts and ideas on the Manchester Transit-Oriented Development plan. The project design team is currently hard at work developing a draft TOD plan to share with you. We are currently talking with the City of Manchester, the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, the Manchester Millyard Museum, and Manchester Public Television about collaborating to bring the draft TOD plan presentation to the public in several formats.
We hope to have virtual meeting dates available shortly for you to put into your calendar. In the meantime, enjoy this teaser illustration of an "Activated Alley" in the Gaslight District!
Regards,
The TOD Design Team
Thank you all for the insightful input and ideas you’ve shared with us during this rigorous Transit-Oriented Development planning process. Thanks to you we have accomplished so much already!
We are excited to announce that we have now the Transit-Oriented Development Plan has advanced into the DRAFT TOD planning phase of work. This phase of work began with the selection of a planning scenario for advancement. The design team has been hard at work developing planning documents and preparing materials to share during one of the upcoming public presentations of the draft plan. In addition to the TOD plan, the design team has been coordinating the City of Manchester as they prepared their submission for a BUILD Grant. Now more than ever, the work of the City to connect the people and goods of our city to the broader economy are aligned with the planning for investment in the TOD study area.
Your participation during this process has been more than helpful. Please continue to share your feedback and questions in the COMMENTS section on the CoUrbanize Page. We will be in touch soon with information on the public meetings to review the draft TOD plan shortly. Thanks!
Thank you all for the insightful input and ideas you’ve shared with us in the visioning session and online. Thanks to you, we have accomplished so much already!
Since we are all stuck in the house, the design team is hoping to put our collective nervous energy to good use. We have happy to announce that the TOD PLANNING SCENARIOS for real estate development around future transit services in Downtown are now published. We published the scenarios on the INFO tab under "Steering-Comm_Scenarios_Apr-19" on our interactive CoUrbanize website but you can also link to the slides by clicking the bold text in this message.
We hope you find the planning scenarios as compelling as we do. After reviewing the presentation slides, please consider sharing your thoughts with us. Here are some questions to consider:
- What scenario is most compelling to you from a positioning standpoint, in terms of long-term development?
- What scenario seems most do-able to you in the short-term?
- What scenario has the greatest benefit to your organization/interest? The larger city?
- What scenario do you think will be most successful?
- What should be the preferred scenario?
Your participation during the planning process has been so very helpful. Please continue to share your feedback and questions with us. If you would like to have a conversation with a member of the design team? Consider setting up a chat with us by visiting the REQUEST A CHAT SECTION on the CoUrbanize page. We look forward to talking with you soon!
With Care,
The Manchester TOD Plan Design Team
COVID-19 is impacting every aspect of our community. We wanted to give you an update about how the Manchester TOD design team is addressing COVID-19.
The Manchester TOD project is in the "Planning Scenarios" phase of work. The design team is planning to present the draft TOD plan during public meetings in the May/June time frame. The City of Manchester is currently revising their procedures for public meetings in order to hold them in a virtual format. It is likely that the draft TOD plan will be presented to boards and committees in this virtual format. We will be sure to keep you up to date with the latest information about how to log on to public meetings as they are scheduled.
Even in this uncertain time, we want to stay connected with you and want to hear about your feedback and questions. Even though we can't meet up in-person, the project team is available to talk one-on-one or in small groups virtually. If you want to connect, please visit the REQUEST A CHAT tab on the CoUrbanize platform so we may to continue the dialogue.
We look forward to talking with you soon!
Regards,
Manchester TOD Design Team
Thank you to everyone who has commented so far! Your ideas and feedback have helped us shape a comprehensive idea of the community's priorities for and interest in the study area. As we begin to think about implementing your comments and ideas in drafting our plan, we’ve moved over to a new comments section and have added some new questions about: Housing distribution, trail and transportation investments and more!
Click through these new topics in our comments section and post your ideas to help us continually improve our project. We can’t wait to hear from you!
KUDOS!
It’s been great to see community participation in this Manchester TOD planning process. Residents and employees alike have met with the project team members, attended the visioning session, or completed our Transit-Oriented survey. Because of your wonderful participation in planning process, we have critical information that will shape the future of development for the South End of Elm Street.
NEW INFORMATION
We wanted to bring you up to speed on the progression of planning efforts by letting you know the design team has completed their EXISTING CONDITIONS REPORT and CHARRETTE AND SURVEY REPORT and posted the information to the INFO tab on the project web page.
Through your participation, we now know that there is strong support for a shuttle service that would connect new housing development south of Granite Street to high-quality jobs within the Millyard. Investments in such a service would provide superior access to millyard jobs for people who choose to live in the project study area.
We’ll follow up with more updates as soon. The project team is currently drafting changes to the comment section of the project web page. If you do have any final comments you would like to leave on the map, now is you last chance to do so. We will be archiving the map section of the project website next week.
NEXT STEPS
Thank you again for participating and having an impact on your community. Stay tuned over the next few weeks as we look forward to sharing the three scenario plans with you at the beginning of April.
Regards,
James Vayo, Project Manager
We had a great public event on Friday, January 31 discussing priorities and scenarios for transportation and development in the Southern End of Downtown as it moves from rail-ready to all-aboard!
THERE'S STILL TIME TO TAKE THE PUBLIC SURVEY!
The survey asks questions about your experiences in Downtown and the South Elm area, your experience with transportation and parking, and your priorities for the future. There are open-ended questions to capture a wide variety of viewpoints. Based on the public input at the charrette event and the survey, we will be developing scenarios for future development. Thank you for your contributions to this important project!
Hello and Happy New Year! We are reaching out to let you know about an upcoming public event on JANUARY 31st, 3pm - 7pm. The event will take place in SNHU's Millyard Facility on the 3rd floor of 186 GRANITE STREET. The meeting will be your opportunity to help set the direction of development for the Southern End of Downtown as it moves from rail-ready to all-aboard! During the event we will hold a ROLE PLAYING EXERCISE to start a community conversation about the LOOK AND FEEL OF FUTURE DEVELOPMENT. We know everyone has busy lives so we have designed the event to allow people to drop by for 20 minutes or stay for the entire event!
LOOK LIKE FUN?
PLEASE RSVP TO THE EVENT HERE
If you’re not able to attend the meeting, make sure to check out the latest project information or add your ideas to our interactive website at COURB.CO/MANCHESTER
We’ll also be posting a recap of the event on the website shortly after the event so you don’t miss out on any new details. Thank you!
Hello Once Again Project Followers, The project page has been live for about three months and there has been an outpouring of interest and input from you, the community members, on the INTERACTIVE MAP. There are now over 150 comments and 800 unique visitors to the project website.
Thank you for engaging in the planning process, The Design Team hitting milestones and preparing for our upcoming charrette!
We are excited to share with you that the Manchester Transit-Oriented Development Plan reached another milestone just before Thanksgiving. The design team presenting their existing conditions analysis during technical committee meeting #2. During the meeting, the design team provided committee members with new information across topics including transportation systems, land use, market economics, and development opportunities.
Some highlights from the presentation include bike & pedestrian crash data, road diet options, asset inventory, opportunities for corridor development, and placemaking options. Committee members were also asked for feedback on the on the three options provided for siting of a train station. Selecting a site for the future train station will be an important step in anchoring development and infrastructure improvements. During our January Charrette there will be lots of discussion about these options!
Documents: TECHNICAL COMMITTEE MEETING #2 PRESENTATION SLIDES
Join us for the Charrette
We invite you to join us in late January as we come together to plan for a better future for the South End of Downtown Manchester. Please plan to attend this charrette event where new ideas and concepts for development will be posed to participants. The charrette will include a series of activities that will provide participants with the opportunity to steer the design process and help select the best solutions for development of the study area.
Link to Event: REPLY TO THE FACEBOOK EVENT LINKED HERE
Thank you for all your interest in this project, we look forward to seeing you in January to create this development plan!
WOW!
It’s been great to see all the NEW COMMENTS roll in on our site. We’ve been noticing a theme and we wanted to let you know that we hear you on pedestrian and bicycle accommodations, housing needs, riverfront connections, aesthetic improvements, and transit access to jobs.
You may be aware that the City of Manchester submitted an application to the federal government for a "BUILD GRANT" back in September. The grant application identified solutions to many of the issues raised in your comments and the City will know by the end of November if they received the $25 MILLION in funding they requested in their application. Grant funding or not, the comments you provided raised the awareness of existing opportunities and challenges of the project area. The themes of your comments will be incorporated into the overall plan for Transit-Oriented Development in the South End of Downtown Manchester.
SAVE THE DATE, UPCOMING PLANNING CHARRETTE IN LATE JANUARY
Please save the date! The TOD planning team will be on-site all day at SNHU'S MILLYARD FACILITY for a planning charrette (a fancy term for public engagement and design event) in LATE JANUARY. This will be the best opportunity for you to engage the design team in person and contribute to the planning process. There is an event page available on FACEBOOK and you can register to attend on EVENTBRITE. We don't mind if you show up for 20 minutes or 4 hours, we just want you to share your interest in the planning process.
We’ll follow up with more updates as soon as we can. If you have any additional feedback, visit our map or comments section AND ADD YOUR COMMENTS Thank you again for participating. Your engagement is leading to better planning outcomes!
Thank you for taking the time to participate in the launch of the Manchester TOD interactive website. The project page has been live for about three weeks and there has been an outpouring of input from community members on the INTERACTIVE MAP. There are now over 100 comments and 70 people who have subscribed for project updates since the launch.
We are really excited to see how engaged the community has been so far and we look forward to seeing your vision for Transit-Oriented Development in Manchester!
If you have not been to the project website yet, don’t worry, the comments section will be live for a few more weeks before the design team shifts focus to plan development. So be sure to tell us your thoughts BY VISITING THE INTERACTIVE MAP!
In addition to the press release and website launch, the design team also held a kick-off presentation for the Chamber of Commerce. During the meeting we explained the concepts of Transit-Oriented Development, shared examples of different types of transit modes, and talked about how this type of development applies to the project study area.
If you are interested in seeing the slides from the presentation, they are available in the link below or on the INFORMATION PAGE of the project website where we will archive all project documents for the public to see.
Thank you for all your interest in this project, we look forward to working with you to create this development plan!
Documents: Kick-Off Presentation Slides
The purpose of the Manchester Transit-Oriented Development web-page is to share information for planning efforts underway and collect your ideas on how we can improve the southern end of Downtown Manchester through development and transit investments.
You may be asking yourself, What is Transit-Oriented Development anyways? Well the project team for Manchester's TOD project found a short video that nicely describes the various components of Transit-Oriented Development and how investments in TOD improve our daily lives.
Check out the short video here: https://youtu.be/xzyuI9Bqjaw
Once you have had a chance to watch the video, be sure to come back to our project web-page and share your ideas on how we can improved the southern end of Downtown Manchester on our Interactive Project Map. The design team will be sure to review you comments and incorporate ideas into scenario planning for the first phase of design.
Regards,
The Manchester TOD Project Team
Planning Effort to Develop South End of Downtown Manchester Begins Today
Constantly dealing with traffic can be stressful. What if you could live, work, and play in an environment with safe and convenient options to walk, bike, or take transit to most of your destinations? An effort to provide this kind of living option is underway right now in the South End of Downtown Manchester.
Things to Do
The City of Manchester is starting a planning effort to provide new places to live, work, and play. Over the next 10 months, Manchester’s Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) planning effort will explore ways to add new apartments, condos, offices, shops, parks, and plazas all within a 5 to 10-minute walk of a new bus hub and rail station in the South End of Downtown Manchester.
New Ways to Travel
The resulting plan will outline ways to build streets and paths designed to encourage walking and biking though safe intersections and on compact, attractive, and well-signed city blocks. Because TOD places an emphasis on walking, biking, and transit to get around, parking takes up less space. The result is a compact neighborhood where fewer people need to drive for everyday trips.
Include Everybody
Transit-Oriented Development also provides livable communities for all ages. TOD communities give residents an improved quality of life through better access to jobs, shopping, healthcare, and entertainment. By including everybody in Manchester’s planning effort, the growing number of senior citizens, young adults, and people who cannot or prefer not to drive can help shape the City’s TOD plan.
Get Involved
The City of Manchester, Manchester Transit Authority, business owners, property owners, and citizens are coming together to plan for a better future for the South End of Downtown Manchester. Please join us on the project website (courb.co/manchester) to learn more about the planning process and how you can get involved in Manchester’s Transit-Oriented Development plan!
With Excitement,
The Manchester TOD Planning Team
Thanks for visiting our new website. We're using this interface to help you follow and participate in the Transit-Oriented Development planning process for the City of Manchester.
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