Board of Aldermen — 2/20/18 Page 7
families. The community center was developed under the direction of the MBK board, which includes
representatives from many organizations: the Nashua School District, YMCA, Boys and Girls Club, the
Adult Learning Center, Lamprey Health, United Way, Nashua PD, Nashua PAL, Maverick Technical
Institute and various city divisions. Our Building and Risk Management Departments also dedicated
many hours to this project.
The community center is already alive with activity: an Early Learning Readiness program, teen
leadership groups, yoga, story time and puppet shows, ESL classes and more. Our aim is to bring about
a healthier, better connected, more striving and thriving Crown Hill neighborhood with stronger families
and improved student learning.
Our Age-Friendly City
In our inclusive city, one of the most pressing concerns for our seniors is property taxes. | am proud to
say that Nashua is New Hampshire’s most age-friendly community. We offer the largest senior property
tax credit of all the cities and towns of our state. The city also provides strong support to our Senior
Activity Center. Alderwoman June Caron and City Treasurer David Fredette are active on the board of
the center. | am looking forward to our first senior cookout, which the city and the Senior Activity Center
will be holding at Holman Stadium this summer.
More Affordable Homes for Young People and Families
For the young people and young families who are building the Nashua of the future, we need additional
housing options. Certainly many in the millennial generation will find the hundreds of new apartments in
the downtown mill conversions an attractive choice. However, we also need more choices for those
young families who want to own a home but cannot afford the $400,000 or $500,000 price tag carried by
many of Nashua’s new single family homes. We need to encourage the development of smaller homes
of 1,000 to 1,200 square feet on smaller lots that our young families can afford. Right now, such houses
are being built under density bonuses that are awarded to senior-only housing.
Tonight, | am announcing that | will propose to the Board of Aldermen, and to the Planning and
Economic Development Committee, chaired by Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja, a change in our zoning to
allow people of all ages, including young families, to buy in density-bonused developments of smaller
homes.
Commuter Rail for Nashua
We are also working to bring commuter rail to Nashua. Our preferred approach has been the proposed
Capitol Corridor Project, which would have established another transportation link to Boston, the engine
of New England’s economy. Amazon’s requirement of accessible commuter rail in its search for a
second headquarters shows how important rail is to 21* century businesses and employees. In 2016,
the legislature stopped the Capitol Corridor project. But in Nashua we didn’t give up.
So, we began working with the Boston Surface Rail Company to try to establish a privately-funded and
privately-run commuter rail service to Lowell and Boston. There are a number of obstacles to overcome,
but we are optimistic that this P3 could bring rail service to Nashua.
