Communities & Consequences: The Unbalancing of New Hampshire's Human Ecology, and What We Can Do About It

by Peter Francese

Shows how a relatively small segment of the human ecosystem--the state of New Hampshire--is being altered to its economic and social detriment.

Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Nicole Benson]

I read books Slower that all of you Great Bookworms...But I am liking this so far...It really gives some good answers as to why locally education and recreation is not high on the list of priorities.

[Becky]

I actually read a newer edition of this book published in 2020. Communities & Consequences II by Peter Francese and Lorraine Stuart Merrill. Very eye opening. Makes me willing to get involved in politics (and feeling bad that I moved into a 55+ community.

[C]

A short, thoughtful look at what is driving the graying of New Hampshire and the exodus of young people.

This book had a good mix of facts & figures as well as stories from real people, and laid out a compelling case for investing in affordable housing in order to keep the state vital.

As a young person (under 30) living on the Seacoast, the most expensive area of NH, I could relate to the problems of housing and jobs that don't pay enough to afford to live in the community. I've watched as friends had to move farther and farther inland to be able to raise a family, and it's scary to watch property taxes go up and up while incomes stay stagnant.

I'm a little concerned about the accuracy of the book, however. One of the anecdotes mentioned was something I was involved in: what use to put the Doble Center in Portsmouth, NH to once the military pulled out. The book states that neighbors took a NIMBY approach and didn't want affordable housing.

I was one of those neighbors, and the proposed use wasn't necessarily for affordable housing: it was for either a homeless shelter/transitional housing OR high-density low-income housing. As a small residential neighborhood, we weren't crazy about the idea of 60 houses being built on a very small parcel of land, let alone bringing the homeless population - and their problems - into a neighborhood with lots of kids.

So it made me doubt some of the other stories told in the book - and how clear cut they were.

Despite that, I highly recommend this book to those interested in New Hampshire's future. It opened my eyes to the real need for workforce housing and also the struggles so many of my peers face in just trying to live in the communities they grew up in.

[Sarah]

Great book for anyone interested in learning how policies shape our population, and how our population shapes our policies. It covers the housing crisis, the aging population, public schools, environmental degradation, and our tax structure.