Living in Chester (Manchester, Derry, Merrimack: sex offenders, crime, houses)

[east2west]

Can anyone tell me about living in Chester, NH? How is the commute to the Manchester airport? I've read the crime statistics, but wonder is this a lock your door at night kind of place or do people still feel relatively safe? Anything you can tell me about the town would be appreciated.

[east2west]

No one has replied yet! Does anyone live in Chester or the area? Could you tell me what it's like to live in that area, especially looking for how safe it is.

[Pawporri]

The crime index is 118 for Chester...US average is 315 so it is safe. I don't think anyone should leave their doors unlocked though. It is a small town with 5 reg. sex offenders. About 12 miles from Manchester and 8 from Derry.


Carrie

[txinnh]

My husband grew up in Chester, so I know a little bit about the town. It used to be a very small town where everyone pretty much knew each other, but now it has turned into more of a bedroom community of Derry/Manchester. Most of the homes there are spread out on acreage, but there’s been lots of development there in the past five years. My husband has fond memories of growing up there. In the town there is a church, general store, and blinking light. It is home to the very small Chester College, and there is a newer school for kids K-8. High school is at Pinkerton Academy in Derry.

As far as location, it’s definitely commutable to Manchester, but there are no major routes directly connecting the two, so you’ll become very familiar with all the back roads. It might take you a little longer than the mileage suggests.

Chester is a generally safe, family-friendly place. But it’s not crime free. I remember my husband mentioning that most of the neighbor’s houses had been broken into at least once (this was in the 80s). The local cops said that thieves saw an opportunity because the houses were valuable, and spread out where it would be unlikely for neighbors to see the thief hauling stuff out, and the rural parts of Chester were pitch black (no streetlights). Break-ins are probably not as common anymore, but because Chester is a small town next to larger cities, you need to lock your doors when you leave your house/car unattended. Besides taking these normal precautions, I wouldn't hesitate to live there.

[GregW]

I live in Londonderry, NH and have a good friend in Chester. Chester is a very small old NH community with some recent growth. It has a very neat town center along rt 121/102 but that is about it. You can still see darkish skies from most backyards. There is a really good farm store on rt 102 with fresh seasonal produce. The commute to Mcstr is another 12 miles added to the commmute to Derry which takes about 10 minutes.

Commuting to boston is possible because of bus transit available at the I-93 Exit 4 park & ride. It takes about 1 hour each way.

[east2west]

Hey, everyone, thanks for the replies. We had looked up the crime statistics as well (city-data is great) and were also concerned about the 5 sex offenders in a town of 4700. We have also been looking in other surrounding towns of Manchester and noticed that per capita, Chester was higher in sex offenders than Londonderry, Merrimack, Bedford, Amherst and Goffstown. That concerned us, as we have children. We really love the house. Wonder if we're being overly paranoid or if it is a legitimate enough concern to keep looking until we find what we want in the other Manchester commutable areas. Overall crime was low in Chester. But the child sex offender list is concerning. Appreciate any of your thoughts.

[RevK9]

I live next to Chester and drive through every day.
Most sexual assaults happen from someone the family knows. A women is most likely to be abused in her own home not on the street........

I don't know of any town that will assure you of Zero sex offenders. Most offenders never are accused, those accussed are usually not prosecuted and of those that are prosecuted only the ones with a guilty verdict are registered sex offenders. My neighbor is a sex offender but he was found guilty in the mid 70's and there is a cut off date for registering so he does not have to register though he was convicted.
Yes I see him talk to kids and yes we have a bus stop across the street. Yes he stands outside and watches them.
I heard him offer a boy to come inside to use the phone. Y

Yes I have spoken to the police about him. He also baby sat for his landlord.Yes they know about his past. The police told them to think about what they were doing and the childrens saftey. They liked he babysat for free/cheap while they went to the bar.

We consder about 1% make it to the REGISTERED list. That leave 99% unregistered.

[buck naked]

Chester is a beautiful community with an easy commute to Boston or the seacoast. It's an easy half hour commute to the Manchester airport.

Chester is mostly farm country with some sheep farms and stately old homes near the center of town which features the classic New England church.

One of the first power ball lottery winners lives in Chester, but you'd never know it. He won 63 million dollars and chose to stay in the same old house he grew up in and still works at the same job he was at for decades. One big difference is he donated money to the town to revamp the fire station and the elementary school. He also made a sizable contribution to White Pines College wherein it became larger, had a ceremony and changed it's name to Chester College.


it's a small town with a small town feel and is a very desirable place to live for commuters.

[~Boo~]

buck, thanks for bringing this thread back!

I know there's a grade School in Chester (Chester Academy?) Is anyone familar with the grade school? I've looked at the website, but wondering if anyone has any other input.

We drove through Chester on the main road & it was a beautiful town. Does anyone know if there are areas where children just play in the neighborhood?

Thanks, Boo

p.s. maybe with the sex offender post in mind, I should be considering other towns!

[Valerie C]

Hey Boo
There are neighborhoods in Chester, they would be the newer homes (built in last 20 years) Otherwise the roads are of the long and windy variety OR main roads. Manchester Road, Chester Street and Haverhill Road are all Route 121. Derry Road and Raymond Road are Route 102, and Sandown Road is Route 121A, and Fremont Road leads to Fremont (and changes to Chester Road once you get to Fremont)

Chester IS a beautiful town, the elementary school I've always heard good things about, but the best thing is that Chester HS students go to Pinkerton Academy which is an EXCELLENT school.

Since the sex offender subject was brought up, here you go: National Sex Offender Registry