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You can use more discretion and inference than this.
Yeah, but so is Worcester lol. I think, I could be wrong, but a few years ago NH's drug rate dipped below MA's and has stayed there. However, I don't really think there would be much of a difference in drug use between Worcester and Manchester, city proper, right now. The worst I have seen in New England was Lowell and Boston (not on per capita).
It still holds true to me though. Worcester is a bunch of decrepit triple decker's with roads that haven't been paved this century and an incohesive downtown with not much activity. It has a good food scene. But thats where it stops. Neighborhoods are very run down. Manchester despite all its faults, has a better downtown strip than Worcester and its much more easy on the eyes. Worcester reminds me of an even more run down Scranton. Manchester gives me Upstate New York vibes.
Where did you go? I’ve been taking classes on and off at WPI for the last 3 years. It largely online, but I’m in-person a handful of times per year. The whole city has a very “worn” look to it, but I’ve never seen anything that looks like a “horror movie”.
Fair. The airport and the two highrises make it seem bigger even though it isn’t. I also imagine it has more SFHs than Lowell.
Lowell’s also squeezed from all sides by equal-sized or larger cities in a way that Manch isn’t.
That is a man who thinks Waltham is a dump so you can kind of ignore his opinions on most New England cities, he’s very dramatic
Any small urban area in NH has its share of drug problems but no worse than any of it's similarly sized counterparts in Massachusetts.
I grew up in Worcester, I had a good childhood, I have friends and family there(though many have moved away) so I will always be partial to it, but now I live in NH and visit Manchester more often. My quick comparison would be that if you are young and looking for night life Worcester is the better choice but if you're older and night life is not really a concern then Manchester is the better choice. For me, well in to middle age and who values nature over night life, I prefer Manchester(and the whole Concord to Nashua corridor) because it has all the amenities I need and is a quick trip from my home out in the woods. Though truth be told even my exurban location has enough amenities to get me by. I visited Worcester over the summer and took in a Woo Sox game with the kids and we all had a great time though. Worcester does look better than when I moved away 10 years ago and I would agree it is making more progress than Manchester.
Good points.
I'm in my mid 40s, so barhopping and clubbing are less of a thing for me these days as well. However, I do like trying different types of foods from around the world and I do like having access to different cultural amenities. I feel Worcester would be better in those areas.
Manch seems to be lacking in any of those areas.
However, Manch has a small casino, and that can provide some somewhat passive adult fun for grump middle-aged fellas like my self
Any small urban area in NH has its share of drug problems but no worse than any of it's similarly sized counterparts in Massachusetts.
I grew up in Worcester, I had a good childhood, I have friends and family there(though many have moved away) so I will always be partial to it, but now I live in NH and visit Manchester more often. My quick comparison would be that if you are young and looking for night life Worcester is the better choice but if you're older and night life is not really a concern then Manchester is the better choice. For me, well in to middle age and who values nature over night life, I prefer Manchester(and the whole Concord to Nashua corridor) because it has all the amenities I need and is a quick trip from my home out in the woods. Though truth be told even my exurban location has enough amenities to get me by. I visited Worcester over the summer and took in a Woo Sox game with the kids and we all had a great time though. Worcester does look better than when I moved away 10 years ago and I would agree it is making more progress than Manchester.
It never ceases to amaze me how much the local attitude towards a city can be contagious and have a big impact on the place. I definitely think Worcester is the better city in this comparison. And Manchester certainly has its problems. But if you talk to a lot of people from the Manchester area, they're mostly not going to have nice things to say about the place. Given the reputation it has, I think a first time visitor to Elm St. would be pleasantly surprised that it's not the addict infested wasteland it's often made out to be. No, it's not an incredibly vibrant place. But it's an active street, there's not an unusually high amount of vacancies, and there are some good shops, restaurants, bars, etc. It's not on the Portland/Portsmouth/Burlington level when it comes to active/attractive Northern New England cities, but it's definitely better than the reputation would have you believe.
I'm guilty of this. I grew up in the South Coast of MA and my wife is from Vermont. The first time we went to New Bedford was for an event at the Whaling Museum and she asked about hanging out getting dinner or drinks nearby after. I like New Bedford, but apparently my response made it seem like I was reluctantly accepting and that it wasn't a great place. Well, we went to the event (the museum itself is really nice), had a great seafood dinner at a waterfront restaurant, and walked to a couple of different nearby bars. She fell in love with the downtown area, cobblestone streets, and the cluster of good bars/stores/restaurants and was borderline mad at me for not taking her down there sooner. She liked it to to the point that she was browsing houses on Zillow. We've since spent time in more of the city and her enthusiasm has waned - like Manchester, there are plenty problems in NB. But it was a pretty big reminder that local cynicism is often a bit harsher than outside perspective. If that were to shift, I wonder how much better the city would get.
TL/DR, Manch doesn't get a pass on it's problems and isn't better than Worcester, but I do think the local attitude hurts it and is somewhat self-fulfilling.
It never ceases to amaze me how much the local attitude towards a city can be contagious and have a big impact on the place. I definitely think Worcester is the better city in this comparison. And Manchester certainly has its problems. But if you talk to a lot of people from the Manchester area, they're mostly not going to have nice things to say about the place. Given the reputation it has, I think a first time visitor to Elm St. would be pleasantly surprised that it's not the addict infested wasteland it's often made out to be. No, it's not an incredibly vibrant place. But it's an active street, there's not an unusually high amount of vacancies, and there are some good shops, restaurants, bars, etc. It's not on the Portland/Portsmouth/Burlington level when it comes to active/attractive Northern New England cities, but it's definitely better than the reputation would have you believe.
I'm guilty of this. I grew up in the South Coast of MA and my wife is from Vermont. The first time we went to New Bedford was for an event at the Whaling Museum and she asked about hanging out getting dinner or drinks nearby after. I like New Bedford, but apparently my response made it seem like I was reluctantly accepting and that it wasn't a great place. Well, we went to the event (the museum itself is really nice), had a great seafood dinner at a waterfront restaurant, and walked to a couple of different nearby bars. She fell in love with the downtown area, cobblestone streets, and the cluster of good bars/stores/restaurants and was borderline mad at me for not taking her down there sooner. She liked it to to the point that she was browsing houses on Zillow. We've since spent time in more of the city and her enthusiasm has waned - like Manchester, there are plenty problems in NB. But it was a pretty big reminder that local cynicism is often a bit harsher than outside perspective. If that were to shift, I wonder how much better the city would get.
TL/DR, Manch doesn't get a pass on it's problems and isn't better than Worcester, but I do think the local attitude hurts it and is somewhat self-fulfilling.
It's all relative too. I remember when I first moved to NH from Mass and people told me about towns and neighborhoods to avoid, I'd go to one of them and think OK it's not exactly upscale but this is nothing compared to neighborhoods I've seen in Worcester and other MA cities. The drug issue in particular gets highlighted because so many of the other urban issues are not present or barely present, such as the gangs and violence.
It's all relative too. I remember when I first moved to NH from Mass and people told me about towns and neighborhoods to avoid, I'd go to one of them and think OK it's not exactly upscale but this is nothing compared to neighborhoods I've seen in Worcester and other MA cities. The drug issue in particular gets highlighted because so many of the other urban issues are not present or barely present, such as the gangs and violence.
Oh definitely. I experienced the same exact thing when I moved from MA to ME. There were places in Portland people told me I should avoid at all costs. Compared to some of the neighborhoods I was familiar in Fall River and New Bedford, they were downright quaint. And compared to some of the neighborhoods I've experienced in Baltimore or Richmond, the rougher Fall River and New Bedford neighborhoods don't seem as bad.
The drug/junkie/homeless presence in Manchester is certainly visible. But it's not much worse than any other New England city I've spent time in. Portland, ME, which is very highly regarded (for good reason), actually has a worse homelessness/drug problem to my eye. The difference is visibility. In Manchester, it's apparent right in the heart of downtown. In Portland, you won't really see it in the Old Port. You'll see a little on Congress St/Monument Square, but the worst of it is on the periphery of downtown (Deering Oaks, Franklin St/Marginal Way, Fore River Parkway Trail) and not where most visitors will see. And in spite of that, I've never felt unsafe in Manchester, and I can't think of a pocket of town that I'd be afraid to walk (not saying there isn't one, just that I can't think of one).
It never ceases to amaze me how much the local attitude towards a city can be contagious and have a big impact on the place. I definitely think Worcester is the better city in this comparison. And Manchester certainly has its problems. But if you talk to a lot of people from the Manchester area, they're mostly not going to have nice things to say about the place. Given the reputation it has, I think a first time visitor to Elm St. would be pleasantly surprised that it's not the addict infested wasteland it's often made out to be. No, it's not an incredibly vibrant place. But it's an active street, there's not an unusually high amount of vacancies, and there are some good shops, restaurants, bars, etc. It's not on the Portland/Portsmouth/Burlington level when it comes to active/attractive Northern New England cities, but it's definitely better than the reputation would have you believe.
I'm guilty of this. I grew up in the South Coast of MA and my wife is from Vermont. The first time we went to New Bedford was for an event at the Whaling Museum and she asked about hanging out getting dinner or drinks nearby after. I like New Bedford, but apparently my response made it seem like I was reluctantly accepting and that it wasn't a great place. Well, we went to the event (the museum itself is really nice), had a great seafood dinner at a waterfront restaurant, and walked to a couple of different nearby bars. She fell in love with the downtown area, cobblestone streets, and the cluster of good bars/stores/restaurants and was borderline mad at me for not taking her down there sooner. She liked it to to the point that she was browsing houses on Zillow. We've since spent time in more of the city and her enthusiasm has waned - like Manchester, there are plenty problems in NB. But it was a pretty big reminder that local cynicism is often a bit harsher than outside perspective. If that were to shift, I wonder how much better the city would get.
TL/DR, Manch doesn't get a pass on it's problems and isn't better than Worcester, but I do think the local attitude hurts it and is somewhat self-fulfilling.
Great points.
After reading your post, I now wish I had added New Bedford to the comparison as it would represent another often misunderstood medium sized New England city. Maybe I'll do that in another thread in the future...who knows.
After reading your post, I now wish I had added New Bedford to the comparison as it would represent another often misunderstood medium sized New England city. Maybe I'll do that in another thread in the future...who knows.
Please do!
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