As residents look toward Keene’s future, their feedback shows the housing crunch is the number one problem they want fixed, Keene Senior Planner Mari Brunner said.
An updated version of the city’s master plan will reflect this, and includes examples of steps to be taken that align with measures experts say are needed to address the housing crisis affecting Keene and beyond.
“Housing was very, very clearly, by far and away, the top thing that everybody was concerned about; they felt that housing was the thing that’s going to have the biggest impact on our future as a city,” Brunner said.
More than 100 people attended a presentation of the final draft of Keene’s new master plan, on June 3 in the Keene Public Library. (Sophia Keshmiri / Keen Sentinel)
These findings came out of the roughly year-and-a-half process to update Keene’s master plan. The guiding document is not law, but influences city policies, initiatives and decisions. City officials use the plan, which gets updated every 5 to 15 years, almost daily, Brunner said. City councilors and the Keene Planning Board will likely approve an updated version this summer or fall.
More than 100 people gathered at the Keene Public Library on June 3 for a presentation of the final draft, to reflect on the elements achieved from the old plan and new goals for the next one to two decades.
The last version was drafted in 2010, and has influenced capital improvement programs and projects such as the downtown infrastructure project expected to break ground next year. All city budgets are also guided by the master plan, including the current $86 million proposal for fiscal year 2026.
“All of our policies that we adopt as a city, all of our zoning ordinances, it’s all supposed to be grounded and based in the master plan,” Brunner said, “… the city really does use it as a tool, which is great.”
The last master plan was completed shortly after the 2008 recession and the housing-bubble burst, the lingering effects of which some experts say contribute to the housing crisis today. Since then the stock of homes throughout the country has shrunk, and prices have risen significantly. The median price of a single-family home in Cheshire County 15 years ago was $162,000, according to data from the N.H. Association of Realtors. In 2024, it was $375,000.
Providing quality housing was a small part of the 2010 master plan, but a much less prominent goal than in the new draft. During the June 3 presentation, Keene Planning Board member Harold Farrington described policies, projects and initiatives from the past 15 years that worked toward the goal, including adopting a land development code in 2021, updating zoning and land use regulations meant to encourage housing development and soliciting a housing needs assessment in 2023.
The new plan calls for the city to prioritize generating livable housing, including by attracting new residents and meeting the needs of those already here.
“We have homeless people. We have people who are housing insecure,” Brunner said, pointing out the tremendous number of names on Keene Housing’s waitlist. The local housing authority helps people of low income with housing costs and needs, and the queue for one of the organization’s roughly 600 affordable apartments is about 2,000 households long.
Examples of steps the new master plan outlines to achieve more housing options include boosting infill development and redevelopment and removing barriers to housing development.
Another tool meant to address housing issues is a “future land use character areas map.” The graphic breaks Keene into eight character areas, including downtown, residential neighborhoods, corridor-oriented commerce, rural residential and working landscapes, downtown neighborhoods, neighborhood business areas, and conservation and low-impact recreation. Each comes with a description to guide development there.
“I think this breaks new ground” for Keene, David Beurle, a consultant who has been working with the city on the master plan, said of the map.
As for where affordable housing fits into the picture, Brunner said she sees a handful of areas it could go, including the “downtown” and “downtown neighborhoods” areas.
“Even the residential neighborhoods outside of the downtown neighborhoods, if it’s done in a really, like, thoughtful way, where there’s public input into the design of the project, I think you could see some affordable housing there as well, and that’s kind of like what the cottage court option allows for,” Brunner said.
“What we heard from, especially from the steering committee, is that they want to see more mixed-use districts in Keene, and so that’s why we focused more on the look and feel of the different areas in Keene versus the predominant use.”
Brunner also noted an appetite for more affordable housing, which she said is needed by several different groups of people. “[Affordable housing is] for people who just graduated from high school and want to go into the trades, or people who just graduated college and are looking for a job, or just have an entry-level or a part-time job,” Brunner said. “It’s so important. And we heard that over and over again.
The five other primary goals in the new draft of the master plan include a thriving economy, connected mobility, encouraging vibrant neighborhoods, an adaptable workforce and a flourishing environment.
Many more than the 100 people at last week’s meeting had a hand in crafting the update. During the meeting, Beurle said the way Keene came to this new plan was just as important to the community as the plan itself. Brunner said there was “a ton” of public engagement throughout the process.
“When we send out a survey, we’re like, super happy if we get 200 or 300 responses. That’s, like, a stellar response rate,” she said. A 25-minute survey for the master plan garnered roughly 650.
Feedback came in several forms, too. “Some of the most thoughtful comments I think, that we received were from people who just emailed us … there were maybe, like 20 or so people that just sent comments via email or through, like, our submit-a-comment form online,” she said.
“We heard from a number of people [with disabilities] … who were like, ‘Yeah, we don’t come to meetings. But here’s our thoughts on how you can make Keene more accessible.’”
Sophia Keshmiri can be reached at 603-283-0725 or skeshmiri@keenesentinel.com.
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