Study Circle 16: New Castle

Portsmouth Listens Study Circle

New Castle Group #16

Final Report

Participants in the group included Johanna, Connie, Robin, Maryka, Natalie, Meghan, Jessica, Alfonso, and Leah. Julie Haggerty provided facilitation for the group. The mean length of residency in Portsmouth was 10 years with the longest residency over 55 years and the shortest of 3 years. Participants lived or work near the core downtown area and were very familiar with downtown. Participants had a great working knowledge of the various neighborhoods and were active in neighborhood and community organizations. We met on Thursday evening, 7:00-9:00 pm in the city manager's office.

Six topics were identified as important to the study circle and the ranking of importance were;

  • Economic Outlook
  • History and Culture
  • Environment and Open/Green Space
  • Transportation
  • Services
  • School System

    Economic Outlook

    Themes Discussed:

    Individual concerns ranged between rising property taxes, affordable housing, preserving diversity, encouraging economic diversity and bringing back blue collar workers, attracting business that will pay affordable wages, and the high cost of living and housing.

    The discussion centered on the growth that Portsmouth has seen in the last ten years and the eroding of economic diversity within the city. The demand for housing is high (rent or own) which pushes the prices up. The redevelopment of Pease attracted new business, but there is no new housing for the workers attracted to the area. There was much discussion about having Portsmouth be an all-encompassing community, a community that encourages owner occupied housing that live and work in the community and are able to move through their whole career while living in Portsmouth.

    Areas of Common Ground

    The areas of common ground were affordable housing, diversity of housing, wages and careers, investigate the Living Wage effort, and evaluate existing structures to assess if they are underutilized or could provide a diversity of uses. There were no areas of disagreement.

    Recommended Actions

    The group agreed to the final statement: Economic Outlook - Taking great strides to make the community economically diverse at all levels.

    Inter-Related Themes

    Transportation: # of commuters coming from Dover, Rochester, Durham because they can not compete in Portsmouth housing market.

    History and Culture

    Themes Discussed:

    The group felt strongly that all efforts should continue to preserve Portsmouth's uniqueness including it distinct neighborhoods, history, cultural diversity and engaged citizenry. These efforts will preserve the quality of life in the community, support the arts and other cultural aspects. Another important aspect of Portsmouth's culture is the working waterfront, small businesses, older homes and the dense development.

    Areas of Common Ground

    After much discussion the participants wanted to prevent the downtown from becoming a museum and keep the working waterfront. The historical beauty of Portsmouth is the backdrop for the culture and industry, which is what makes Portsmouth so attractive, therefore the history and culture are intertwined. There were no areas of disagreement.

    Recommended Actions

    Many recommendations were developed by the group.

  • There needs to be a more formal link between various interested groups, boards, and agencies (zoning, historical, and planning boards, conservation commission) to provide and maintain the guiding vision of Portsmouth. They all act too independently and there needs to be some interdependency between them.
  • City should consider zoning regulations that promote small businesses in private ownership. Zoning limitations should be enforced to preserve the character of downtown.
  • Broaden the successes of arts and culture in the downtown area and spread to outlying neighborhoods (concerts and events in schools and parks).
  • Bring back "neighborhood night out" to encourage a sense of community.

    Inter-Related Themes

    Transportation: Keep Portsmouth a walk-able city.

    Open/Green Space

    Themes Discussed:

    The loss of open space has contributed to the urban sprawl and congestion in the city. Efforts to preserve the remaining open space and to look at reuse of open land were discussed.

    Areas of Common Ground

    The group decided to label this topic Open/Green Space because Portsmouth isn't in the same situation as other communities in that the city has limited undeveloped space, approximately 2%, however in keeping with the character of the city, small spaces kept open as small pocket parks was acceptable. Everyone agreed that open/green space could be public or private.

    Areas of Disagreement

    One member disagreed with the recommendation to link open/green spaces by a linking trail network.

    Recommended Actions

  • Make an effort to connect open/green space and the community by a trail system (the success of the Derry Pathways Project in Derry, NH).
  • Develop a funding mechanism for the Conservation Commission so they can quickly capitalize on open lands. There was a suggestion for a check box on tax bills to direct monies to the commission.
  • Require developers to include open/green space in plans.

    Inter-Related Themes

    Transportation: Trail network will provide an alternative transportation network to assist pedestrians and cyclists to move around the city.

    Transportation

    Themes Discussed:

    Public transportation, traffic, parking, and walkability were all themes discussed by the group.

    Areas of Common Ground

    The group agreed that the appeal to Portsmouth is the ability to walk to/from home and work and other places in the city. Need to decide as a community who gets to park where (employees, residents, visitors) in the downtown. Need incentives to use public transportation (no-cost/low cost rides or restructured parking program). There were no areas of disagreement.

    Recommended Actions

  • To change the lanes on Market St Extension so that traffic moves through there at a slower speed, and make a parkway along the river (to encourage alternative transportation network).
  • Improve the signage to direct visitors to and from Route 95 and map out the most effective routes for drivers and tourists unfamiliar with area roads (i.e. Rt 1, Rt 1A, Rt 1B). Encourage visitors to use Market Street Extension rather than city streets (Maplewood).
  • Review and reconsider incentives for using more public transportation and incentives/disincentives for not parking in the downtown area.
  • Create a gateway to the city; a transportation and visitor center on the outskirts of town where tourists/visitors could park, purchase tickets to local activities and entertainment, and use public transportation to get into the downtown area. (Newport RI was given as an example of a city similar in size to Portsmouth that uses such a center.)
  • Future parking garages should be underground.
  • Evaluate public transportation routes and linkages.
  • Improve the walk ability of the city by limiting parking to one side of the street on busy downtown streets (for example Market & Penhallow Streets). While this was voted down in the city's past, at that time there was no parking garage, therefore there may be a place for it now.

    Inter-Related Themes

    Open/Green Space: Linking net work that can serve alternative transportation walking and biking.


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