Building by building, block by block: Neighborhood Group Works to build Community

Melanie Plenda

April 29, 2022

Invisible Walls

Building by building, block by block: Neighborhood Group Works to build Community

In Manchester, center city is notorious for its high crime rate and low-income, high-density housing. But a nonprofit and a neighborhood initiative are trying to change that with community engagement and beautification initiatives that include installing artwork throughout the neighborhood.

Melanie Plenda

April 29, 2022

Invisible Walls

Is there a relationship between zoning and crime?

Melanie Plenda

April 29, 2022

Invisible Walls

Is there a relationship between zoning and crime?

The persistence of center city’s crime issues is easy to spot in the last decade of crime data from the Manchester Police Department (MPD). According to the collaborative’s analysis of calls for police service between 2006 and 2020, the number of crimes reported per resident was significantly higher in center city than anywhere else in Manchester (see map). Compared to the suburbs in northwestern and northeastern Manchester, parts of center city reported roughly five times as many calls for service.

This article is part of Invisible Walls, an ongoing investigative series examining how exclusionary zoning practices impact NH’s communities and reinforces inequities. Through data and zoning maps, reporters and editors were able to show how exclusionary zoning laws in Manchester have reinforced areas of persistent poverty, impacting many aspects of community life, including crime, public health, affordable housing, and access to economic opportunity in the city. The team used Manchester as a case study, but the same sorts of exclusionary zoning practices present in Manchester are common across the state, and likely have had similarly-broad effects.

The edit team leading the project included Matt Mowry, editor of Business NH Magazine, Johnny Bassett, data editor at Granite State News Collaborative, and Jeff Feingold, editor at NH Business Review. Editors Carol Robidoux from Manchester Ink Link as well Daniela Allee and Cori Princell from NH Public Radio also contributed input, reporting, video, audio and editing to the project. Reporters on the project include Kevin Andrade, Johnny Bassett, Kelly Burch, Judi Currie, Jeff Feingold, Nour Habib, Ryan Lessard, Gabriela Lozada, Matt Mowry and Dave Solomon. Bill Wilkinson also contributed research to this story. More stories in the series can be found at collaborativenh.org and through partner outlets.

The team recently explained the genesis of the project and what’s next on NH PBS’s The State We’re In. Watch to learn more.