👋 Hey everybody,
Rae here from the Freedom Village team.
Thanks for following on the journey. If you want the confidential, super juicy updates that are not shared publicly, become a Monthly Insider, Annual Member, or Founding Patron (also get access to our member-only events).
Upcoming Events
FV Insiders Brunch | Oct 25
Insiders only, hosted by Ryan & Rae: We will be hosting a monthly meeting for insiders (in-person and online) to discuss FV progress & plans. For those in-person we will serve coffee and lite brunch bites.
To join, become a paid supporter
Latin Dance Night on Halloween | Oct 31
Free, open to the public. I help lead Fluere, a Latin dance collective in the Seacoast. We host a monthly free Latin dance social, and this time it happens to fall on Halloween. Should be a fun night!
Friendsgiving | Nov 14
We will likely host a Freedom Village Friendsgiving potluck for members — become a paid supporter.
Join upcoming events on Luma: https://luma.com/nhstartups
We submitted our plans to the City Clerk - read it here
Read the submitted proposal here. A few news publications coming out next week covering the proposal.
What’s next in the process
Finalize the Freedom Village formal plan for submission byOctober 12DONEFV Team present the proposal for consideration & take questions at the October 20th Lands and Buildings Committee meeting
If the Lands and Buildings committee recommends the proposal to move forward, it will move to a vote of the full City Council where we will need to secure at least 8 of 14 council’s votes
The Land Location
Google Maps pin — Hackett Hill, Manchester NH
Surrounded on 3 sides by Cedar Swamp Preserve
Recent Press
First full public podcast & episode #1 of Yankee Dynamism with Andy DeMeo of Granite Goodness: A Village for Tech Optimists
This article from New Hampshire Bulletin took its obligatory pound of flesh, but was well researched, accurately quoted, and fairly written: A tech-forward future imagined for New Hampshire at ‘Freedom Summit’ by Molly Rains and William Skipworth
Freedom Village aligns perfectly with Manchester’s Master Plan
Manchester’s Vision: “A next generation smart city with Manchester’s innovation leading the way”
A Plan for Manchester Our City, Our Future
The story of Manchester is one of optimism, entrepreneurship, and hard work.
From its earliest days as the frontier town of Derryfield, to the era of industrial development, to the economic and societal challenges of the 20th Century, to today— Manchester has moved forward in a spirit of innovation.
Since Manchester’s last Master Plan was adopted in 2009, the City has attracted more businesses and people than anywhere else in the region. Now, the citizens of Manchester have once again come together to plan for the City’s future. We hope to build on our past successes and attract an adventurous, driven, and innovative population.
Our vision for Manchester is to lead Northern New England in innovation and entrepreneurship while maintaining high standards of amenities, livability, culture, education, and environmental stewardship.
How you can help
We would love introductions to:
Businesses that might want to open or relocate operations at Freedom Village
Founders and operators interested in becoming part of the community
Strategic partners & investors who believe in our vision
Please reply directly if someone comes to mind.
Why I believe Freedom Village will work
There is enormous demand for places built around founder energy, ambitious people, and genuine community—but not everyone wants to live in San Francisco, New York, or the Texas heat.
Manchester, NH offers something unusually powerful: access to Boston’s immense concentration of talent, capital, and history, while sitting in a different state with a more business-friendly regulatory, tax, and political environment. It’s the San Francisco–Silicon Valley relationship, but with a meaningful change in jurisdiction less than an hour away.
We also have the right team: Jeremy knows how to build and deliver in New Hampshire; Ben combines world-class architecture with faster, more affordable housing construction design; and Ryan and Rae have a proven ability to create communities and bring remarkable people together.
Finally, Freedom Village sits directly in the bullseye of Manchester’s master plan: an innovation district that attracts businesses, opportunity, and tax revenue—not another conventional development. The demand, location, team, and city vision are all converging at the right moment.
Got questions?
Reply with your questions here. It will help me understand what should be included in future posts.
Thanks for reading!
— 🤘🏽Rae & the Freedom Village Team
P.S. I send a weekly dispatch with confidential information to paying Freedom Village members. Become a supporter here.