Salem New Hampshire Master Plan Update

April 2025

Salem, New Hampshire’s townwide plan update is fundamentally about understanding the gifts and curse of a “hot market” for development and being intentional about how to harness that development pressure for public benefit.

Salem is unique in the region in terms of both the diversity and volume of commercial and mixed-use development. Recently, with Tuscan Village, the pace and intensity of development has picked up and is attracting more out-of-town interest. While this development supports jobs and the tax base, it is also driving up housing costs and isn’t always delivering on some of the quality of life enhancements residents value most like extending the rail trail, expanding and improving sidewalks and crosswalks, and improving parks and community gathering places. 

The four pillars of the Salem plan framework are designed to guide development to the places that are most aligned with community goals and initiatives. For Salem, the best strategy to harness development for local benefit is to encourage thoughtful, compact development along the Broadway (RT-28) corridor and radiating out from the multiple Town Centers that have emerged organically over time. This framework is designed to reinforce and encourage investment in existing infrastructure and amenities, while allowing rural development patterns and conservation to continue elsewhere in the town.

Salem New Hampshire Pillars Map
The four pillars of the Salem Master Plan framework encourage mixed use and missing middle housing development along the Broadway (Rt-28) and rail trail corridor paired with investments in town connectors and gathering places in the parts of town that are not well suited to new development at scale. When all four pillars are considered together they help to create a more integrated and robust town center.
Pillars_All4 - 2
Salem's Recreation & Mobility Network
Shaping Growth - 2
Shaping Growth & Strengthening the Core: Three main factors will influence Salem’s future development patterns: (1) How to integrate and leverage the existing poly-centered core? (2)What land can support denser development?, and (3)What kinds of development are market-viable, and where?
Salem NH Engagement Snapshot
Visioning comment cards formed the basis of the townwide plan vision statements and helped to identify the key issues and opportunities that the plan framework responds to.