A lot has happened in Manchester while so many of us stayed inside

Manchester, the state’s largest city, has experienced the Covid-19 pandemic along with the rest of the state and nation. As the pandemic recedes and life hopefully returns to normal, what has been going on, and what is coming up?

Much attention was given to homeless camps in the Queen City, with a number of them set up in various public and private spaces, at the downtown superior courthouse, on private property along the Merrimack River, and under the Amoskeag Bridge, to name three. After either sponsoring, monitoring and protecting these sites, with visible police protection, ultimately the city removed people from these camps and tried to place them in facilities made available by nonrofit agencies, such as Families in Transition-New Horizons. The issues of mental health, substance abuse and economic deprivation all converge in such places, which are harder to solve than just by providing alternate shelter. It was touching at times to see representatives of the police and health departments speak with and get to know the residents.

Demand for single-family homes resulted in a sharp increase in prices, drop in supply and frequent bidding wars. In fact, one national story reported that the Manchester housing market was the “hottest in the nation.” Many wondered how long this will last after the pandemic is over, and whether many of those who left larger urban areas will return, or whether the hybrid model of work will keep demand strong, as people realize they can often work from anywhere that has internet access, which Manchester has.

Education, at the primary, secondary and college levels, all faced previously unknown challenges.

Learning remotely, or in a hybrid model, demonstrated the disparity in opportunity for those with and without internet access or computers. The number of students who previously thrived and now were not performing well was a constant worry. The different approaches in public and private schools was noticed and fueled the debate about a variety of choices for parents and students, with Catholic schools seeing great demand.

Higher education institutions adopted different models, with Southern New Hampshire University making the early decision not to operate its campus in person for the end of the 2020 second semester through the end of the second semester in 2021. Other institutions used hybrid models and alternated in-person and remote learning.

The Manchester School District, meanwhile, considered various options for closing certain schools, after different reports suggested different approaches. It was clear, however, that there is an oversupply of schools and some contraction will need to occur.

Covid or not, 2021 is a municipal election year. Two-term Mayor Joyce Craig recently announced she was running for a third term, and two other relatively familiar faces, former candidate Victoria Sullivan, who was defeated by Craig handily in 2019, and former alderman and school board member Richard Girard, who has been around City Hall since his early 20s, announced their candidacies. Sullivan and Girard are conservative Republicans, and Craig a Democrat, although Manchester elections use the nonpartisan form, and the top two vote-getters in the primary will face off in November.

In cultural matters, the Palace Theatre, movie theaters and other providers looked forward to reopening in person, having struggled to survive and provide opportunities during the lockdown. Many of them pointed out the value of state and federal aid provided by the various governmental programs passed by Congress or provided by Concord, without which many, if not all, of them might not be around to reopen.

Finally, some restaurants closed and will not reopen. Some, like the popular Republic, combined with others. Some closed for a time, promising to reopen. Many, like Mint, Cotton and the Puritan Backroom, combined sophisticated online ordering and phone-in orders, with various amounts of in-person dining, to survive. Surprisingly, during all of the crisis, several new establishments opened and developed a following. Two, Thai Food Connection, which opened in the former Republic space on Elm Street, and Elm Street House of Pizza, the impressive menu of which is more than pizza, prove the resilience of entrepreneurs.

While we have been inside, a lot has been going on. It will be great to see it in person.

Brad Cook is a Manchester attorney. The views expressed in this column are his own. He can be reached at bradfordcook01@gmail.com.