Destination: Downtown

The Downtown functions as a destination for residents and visitors. The core area of Downtown supports a compact development pattern with a mix of land uses (horizontal and vertical), high-quality architecture, plazas and public spaces, and civic spaces that promote social interaction and celebrates Manchester and the Merrimack River.

Uses and buildings are located on small blocks with streets designed to extend a grid network in all directions. Buildings may stand two to five stories tall and include civic, retail, office, restaurant, or other entertainment uses with condominiums or apartments above storefronts. Non-franchise architecture is encouraged in Downtown as a way to maintain unique character, and historic preservation should be a priority. The design, scale, character, and intensity of development in Downtown should be compatible with, and transition to, adjacent residential neighborhoods. Parking is satisfied using on-street parking, structured parking, and shared rear-lot parking strategies.

Residential neighborhoods in Downtown offer different choices for residents to live near and experience downtown amenities including the Millyard and the Merrimack River. Preserving the character of existing homes is a high priority in this area, though some existing large-lot neighborhoods may be subdivided or redeveloped to introduce more housing units (including single dwelling homes on small lots, townhomes, duplexes, cottage dwellings, multi-unit houses and accessory dwelling units) and to increase the number of residents living near both the downtown core and adjacent employment and transit opportunities. New or improved parks, plazas, streets or other public spaces in the neighborhoods are important elements for unifying neighborhood character and making connections between the Downtown and it’s adjacent districts.

The Downtown serves as the heart of the City boasts an eclectic mix of buildings organized along a connected network of gridded streets. Together, the buildings and a wide variety of parking facilities form the highest intensity of development in the City’s built environment. An evaluation of the existing parks within the development pattern revealed opportunities to improve the collection— and the public realm overall—with additional parks and stronger connections between all parks. The links, which include the streets designed as enhanced public spaces to expand the function of each beyond moving vehicular traffic, may also provide comfortable pedestrian connections to various destinations within downtown.