3.4 Demographic & Economic Analyses
Working with the City and regional partners, Utile and our team will produce high-level
estimates for population and housing that will shape the public understanding of actions
required of the City. These estimates will build on public datasets and proprietary data
where necessary, and look to calculate likely growth and the related demand for retail,
real estate development, real estate absorption, and demand for City services and on City
infrastructure. This target list of estimates will frame the needs and constraints placed on
the comprehensive plan’s actions.
More specifically, when locking at housing trends, Utile will reference the 2019
Regional Housing Needs Assessment alongside any updated housing studies the City is
undertaking. Utile will also show existing conditions of land use and the proposed
location, extent, and intensity of future land use as required. As with the existing
conditions analysis, the consultant team will frame its future land use and economic
development recommendations through the lenses of equity, resilience and climate
protection, issues that resonate with the public better than planning-specific topic areas.
Deliverable: Memo documenting analysis of future trends.
3.2 Needs Assessment & Regional Role
The consultant team will assess the projection analysis to determine the needs of the
City relevant to the comprehensive plan, as well as constraints placed by the market that
may inhibit certain policy goals.
Utile and Ninigret Partners will also consider the projections relative to Nashua’s role in
the metropolitan region. As a community that sits in between Manchester and Concord
to the north and the metropolitan Boston region to the south, assessing Nashua’s
trajectory through this master plan will involve situating the City’s future relative to both
sets of neighbors.
Deliverable: Memo summarizing insights gleaned from the projections analysis
in light of existing conditions.
Task 4; Public Visioning & Engagement
Nashua’s plan will gain approval from the City’s many constituencies only if it draws on
the voices of the community. Utile will bring Nashua beyond the traditional public
meeting and focus on building a broad coalition of support for the plan.
4.4 Steering Committee Meetings
Utile will help the City coordinate the plan with a steering committee of community
leaders who will shape the direction of policy and become external advocates for the
planning process. A diverse and thoughtful committee is key in developing a process
that is seen as legitimate and a plan that works for all. Utile will meet monthly with the
City and quarterly with this committee to help make important decisions and oversee the
process itself. As is necessary with respect to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and to
best accommodate the schedules of the committee, some of these meetings may be held
remotely, and some may be held in person at the City of Nashua.
Deliverables: Meeting presentations and minutes.
4.2 Listening Tour
Working closely with the City, Utile will conduct a listening tour at the neighborhood
and citywide scale. The precise scope of this tour will be set when crafting the
Engagement Plan, but could include neighborhood meetings, community events, public
Exhibit B
