Founded along the Merrimack River in the early 19th century, Manchester, N.H., sprang from a utopian vision: create an industrial center to rival its English namesake, complete with sprawling, red-brick textile mills, workers’ quarters, schools, libraries, theaters and parks for all who lived and worked there. But as manufacturing sagged in the latter half of the 20th century, the city lagged as well.
Today, in a transformation that has spanned the past several decades, the city’s business core has repositioned itself for the 21st century. Manchester has evolved into a mid-sized city, and Elm Street—its main thoroughfare—has become a thriving urban hub with trendy restaurants and coffee shops. A few blocks away, long-vacant mill buildings are now home to tech startups, loft condos and two universities.
Now this city of 110,000 people is applying the same resilience and determination that sparked the mill-yard comeback to what may be an even tougher challenge: Revitalizing health and well-being throughout Manchester’s neighborhoods, many of which struggle with common urban afflictions such as poverty, violence, homelessness and the impacts of the opioid epidemic that has brought national attention to Manchester and other New England cities. Manchester’s health promotion efforts focus on building and bolstering neighborhoods, an approach that harkens back to a time when the city’s earlier immigrants created tight-knit communities and strong support networks. In this context, block parties, schools, community centers, homes and fire stations have become tools for growing trust and delivering services while boosting health and well-being.
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