Where We Live Tours
This new initiative seeks to demystify housing attainable to our workforce one visit at a time! Far too often workforce housing opportunities and zoning changes designed to increase diverse housing options are met with resistance spurred by misperceptions. We are working to change that.
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In our Where We Live Series, we hit the road for tours and discussions available to anyone who wants to learn more and see potential housing options for themselves. These events help debunk misperceptions and allow for increased sharing of potential solutions across communities. We were excited to partner with incredible organizations and municipalities to make these events possible.
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Check-out our events page to see what's next!
Resident Owned Manufactured Home Community Bus Tour
In June 2022, we partnered with the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund for a bus tour of resident-owned manufactured home communities in Dover and Newmarket. Attendees learned about the history and economics behind resident-owned manufactured home communities. We also heard from residents about how this housing option works for them and received a tour of a manufactured home.
In resident-owned communities, the residents form a cooperative with help from the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund to jointly purchase the land beneath the manufactured homes. In non-cooperative owned communities residents own their homes, but an outside company owns the land and charges rent, which puts the homeowners at risk for sudden, unexpected rent increases. Manufactured homes are a key part of the attainable housing solution — where else in New Hampshire can you access home ownership for $75,000?
Ruth Lewin Griffin Place
In September 2022, we partnered with the Portsmouth Housing Authority for a tour and discussion about the funding mechanisms behind their 100 percent workforce housing Ruth Lewin Griffin Place in downtown Portsmouth. At this event, titled “Making The Math Work”, we were joined by representatives from New Hampshire Housing to discuss the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and other programs that help affordable housing developers afford to build below-market rate units.
Ruth Lewin Griffin Place set a new standard for workforce housing developments in New Hampshire, but the need is bigger than any one project. Portsmouth Housing Authority Executive Director Craig Welch shared that within the first few weeks, they had over 350 applications for 64 units.
Downtown Exeter Walking Tour
In our second September 2022 Where We Live event, we partnered with the Town of Exeter, the New Hampshire Planners Association, and the Rockingham Planning Commission to host a walking tour of diverse housing options in downtown Exeter. This mile-long walking tour highlighted the attainable housing options hiding in plain sight and how these housing options fit in perfectly with the character of the community.
We often hear that workforce housing and increased density will change the character of a community, but this tour demonstrated that the downtown communities we love are also the ones populated with diverse housing options. As local officials think about their communities, they would be well served to look at how Exeter uses an innovative value-per-acre lens when looking at the economic productivity of their downtown. Increased density in certain zones allows for increased conservation in their rural zones, which limits sprawl while providing much-needed housing.
Sophie and Banner Drive in Dover
In August 2024, we partnered with Rob Baldwin of Central Falls Realty and Ryan Pope, Housing Navigator with the City of Dover, to provide a tour of Rob's new development at Sophie and Banner Drive.
This development, made possible by Dover's Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) Ordinance, is 31 units on 7.79 acres. The units are a mix of single-family homes (for sale), and townhouses (for rent). Some of the rental units will be permanently available at HUD fair market rates.
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We often hear concerns that rental housing projects will not fit into the overall character of a neighborhood, or will alter the architectural style of a community. This tour was a great way to dispel some of those myths while also learning about how innovative land use policies, such as TDR, can be used to make projects like this possible!
