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A letter from the project chairmen
April 3, 2003 Dear Seacoast resident, All of us find Portsmouth an asset to the Seacoast. It has become a highly desirable place to live and work. It is a place to see great plays, live music, stroll through Prescott Park or soak in 375 years of history. In 2004, Portsmouth will complete a newly revised Master Plan, encompassing all elements of land use, recreation, transportation, housing, economic development, arts and culture and city services. Many of us who care about our city volunteered to help the City of Portsmouth and its Planning Board make the next Master Plan the best ever. We want to sustain Portsmouth's quality of life now, and enhance it for the future. To this end, we created Portsmouth Listens, an all-volunteer effort to get the voice of those who live and work here into the Master Plan process. This winter, nearly 300 area citizens came together in 26 groups called Study Circles to deliberate on one question: In this section, you can read their answers. We think you will be inspired by their recommendations concerning stewardship of our history, culture, open space and views, and their commitment to making Portsmouth a place everyone can afford and travel through with ease. Democracy is about ordinary people stepping forward to do extraordinary things. We think that's what you'll find in these pages. In the back of this section, you'll learn about Phase II of Portsmouth Listens. In this phase, citizens will tackle the specific topic areas mentioned above and recommend action steps to the Planning Board for inclusion in the Master Plan. As in Phase I, participation is open to all. Take a look! We thank all the citizens of Portsmouth and the dozens of volunteers, our sponsors and the City of Portsmouth - those named in the summary report that follows and any we may have omitted -- for making this project possible. Jim Noucas
John Tabor
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