About Our Coalition — Manchester Neighbors Welcome

The Manchester Neighbors Welcome Coalition is a new coalition effort convened by 603 Forward and New Hampshire Youth Movement. We are coming together to support common-sense municipal zoning changes that will bring about more attainable housing choices for all Manchester residents.

We support building more starter homes, backyard cottages, and workforce housing in the right places close to jobs and opportunities. Our coalition will be asking the Manchester Board of Alderman to support zoning changes that remove barriers to creating more attainable housing choices in our community.

What We Believe

Housing is a basic human need, and everyone should have a safe and affordable place to live
More housing and more neighbors are a benefit, not a cost
A diverse community requires a diversity of housing choices at all price points
Fairness requires every community to do their part to provide more housing
Our housing challenges are solvable – our city’s policy decisions can help build more homes of different sizes and prices.

The Problem

Manchester and New Hampshire are facing a shortage of housing all across our city and state. This shortage is harming our economy and the livelihood of our communities.

According to the 2022 ‘Housing Underproduction’ report from Up for Growth, Manchester has a housing gap of around 8,500 housing units due to cumulative underproduction since 2012.

This housing shortage is causing young Granite Staters to look further and further away for homes they can afford, or to move away from New Hampshire entirely. This lack of attainable homes creates cascading social problems for Manchester and New Hampshire residents, and requiring urgent action from our elected officials.

Rising housing costs are eating up workers’ wages as they spend more and more of their paychecks on mortgage payments and rent
The shortage of housing close to job centers results in longer commutes, wasted personal time, and more unnecessary pollution
Seniors can’t find quality housing that meets their needs to age in place in their communities
Empty-nesters can’t find housing in their communities to downsize from larger family homes
Young families can’t find housing close to their parents and grandparents
Young adults can’t move out of their parents’ homes, and delay starting their independent lives
Even the cheapest housing available is becoming too expensive for the lowest earners, contributing to rising homelessness

The Solution

The housing shortage persists in large part because of exclusionary zoning and land use rules designed to suppress the construction of less expensive housing types.

With widespread knowledge of these common policy barriers, it’s time to take action to challenge these laws, and to pass meaningful municipal zoning standards to raise the standard for everyone.

We are calling on the Manchester Board of Mayor & Aldermen to amend their zoning code to:

Restore ‘Missing Middle’ housing choices by re-legalizing duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes in larger municipalities across the state.
Liberate starter homes by allowing houses to be built and sold on more modest plots of land.
Allow more housing near jobs by legalizing apartments and mixed-use buildings in commercial areas.
Remove barriers to building accessory dwellings aka ‘granny flats’ and make it easier for homeowners to build and rent them out in their backyards.
Remove unnecessary and expensive parking mandates to make it easier to build more homes.
Remove housing veto points, streamlining approval processes that currently add years and huge costs to building needed new homes.

These policies would create common-sense standards for Manchester, instituting workforce and affordable housing best practices that will meaningfully impact our supply of homes.

We believe that by legalizing homes of all shapes and sizes, especially in places like Manchester with existing infrastructure and public transportation, we can improve residents’ quality of life, grow more jobs and population, reduce the inconvenience and impact of long commutes, reduce pollution from transportation and buildings, boost the economy in older walkable downtowns, and increase access to housing in high-opportunity neighborhoods and school districts.

Join us!

Complete the form below to join our coalition. Manchester Neighbors Welcome members will be invited to participate in regular meetings, Days of Action in Manchester, media appearances, and smaller group meetings with decision makers and other coalition partners or prospective partners as needed. If you're not sure if your organization can sign on, please let us know so we can discuss it together.