What is TownUnderground, or the TU, as it’s come to be known? The TU’s goal is to encourage citizen participation in town issues, local government, and activities by providing information. The purpose of this site is to spark positive discussion and involvement in town activities in Londonderry, New Hampshire. The TU, was created in January of 2006, and is the longest running political forums in Londonderry, New Hampshire. The site first went online as TownUnderground in 2006. The name was changed to TownUpdate in 2010. Some felt the original name was to ‘dark’. The name was changed back to TownUnderground in 2016, You cannot escape your roots.
In 2000 I became very interested in how town government functioned. Since we were planning on staying awhile, I started to get more involved in town. I attended numerous meetings around town, Town Council, School Board, Conservation Commission, and several others. I also watched a lot of meetings on the local cable channel, LACTV. I quickly found that there just was not enough time to keep up with what was going on around town. The attendance at these meetings was also disappointing. Often there were only a handful of residents present.
Londonderry is commonly referred to as a “bedroom” community. It’s seems that a large number of residents commute to other towns and many journey south of the border to Massachusetts. After a long day it’s difficult to return home, catch a quick bite, and motivate yourself to attend a Town Council or School Board meeting. In many cases, I do not think it’s lack of interest, but a lack of time. For those of us who do attend it is disappointing to see the small number of participants. Let’s face it everyone today is busy.
In January of 2005 I thought about putting this site together. I discussed it with my son and we bounced around several ideas. After many months of tinkering, the site went online in January of 2006. It is my hope that this site will generate positive discussion concerning issues that interest Londonderry residents. The purpose of this site is to allow people to “click in” and see what’s going on. If you can’t get to a seven o’clock meeting, drop by the TU site when you can and see what’s new.
TU Forum:
The TownUnderground discussion forum was the primary focus of the TU. The forum quickly become a place to discuss issues or post items of interest. It was open to all residents and persons interested in Londonderry. In 2016 I decided to close down the forum as the primary source of information and move to this WordPress based site. Unfortunately the forum seems to have experienced a fatal technical error and is now off-line.
If you have suggestions for this site please drop me an email at Info@TownUnderground.com
Best regards,
Glenn Douglas