Worst places in N.H. (Manchester, Concord: rent, crimes, mortgage)

[GregW]

Texaslady - all of the things you mentioned are redily available in Londonderry, NH in southern NH. If you are still interested in the North Country. Please PM me for details.

[fords18]

After reading all the posts in this thread I am now afraid to move my family to Manchester from the Medford/Arlington mass area!

I had a house in Portsmouth from 2002 to 2004 but wanted to move to Florida for the weather and sold it, as much as I regret it. I moved back after only a year in South Florida because I felt there were too many illegals and it was to expensive.

I now have a wife, 2 children and a 3rd on the way and I want to move to a safe and affordable area with all the amenities and public services I am used to. I cannot come close to affording the Portsmouth area anymore and I was hoping to buy a 2 family in Manchester and rent one unit to help with the mortgage.

Is Manchester really that bad? I visit Manchvegas often, am I just blind?

[texaslady1]

Thank you Windchimes for all the info. It sounds like there are more stores in Littleton than there are in the larger town I live in now. I have an 8 year and a 20 year old. Not much into the night life thing...out grew that years ago. I have been looking at the website for the Courier for rent houses, but of course there isn't much chance that they would be the same when we will probably be moving next summer. My dream house would be an old farm house without many neighbors. Are the best rent houses handled through realtors, maybe?

[Valerie C]

You're not blind... not at all. I spend ALOT of time in Manchester, and there are very nice sections, and some not so good at all. Just like any other city. The north end has every imaginable style of home (Tudors, Victorians, Capes and Bungalows, homes with character and style...) and the West Side has nice neighborhoods as well. Are there areas that I'd stay away from after dark? Absolutely! Are there illegals? I would imagine that there are quite a few! It'd be difficult to find a city that doesn't have problems...

Anyway, don't discount Manchester because of the posts here--drive around some more, bring a map, get lost, get found and have fun. You might even discover a place that you could imagine living in And if not, there are lots of other towns that might work for you... prices on homes (even multi-family) coming down all the time, sellers finally willing to at least negotiate.

Originally Posted by fords18

After reading all the posts in this thread I am now afraid to move my family to Manchester from the Medford/Arlington mass area!

<snip>

Is Manchester really that bad? I visit Manchvegas often, am I just blind?

[DareToDream]

Originally Posted by texaslady1

Thank you Windchimes for all the info. It sounds like there are more stores in Littleton than there are in the larger town I live in now. I have an 8 year and a 20 year old. Not much into the night life thing...out grew that years ago. I have been looking at the website for the Courier for rent houses, but of course there isn't much chance that they would be the same when we will probably be moving next summer. My dream house would be an old farm house without many neighbors. Are the best rent houses handled through realtors, maybe?

Texaslady - When we first moved here, we rented an old farmhouse. We had neighbors around us, but the only ones we could actually see were right across the road <g>. We found it through a realtor. One thing to be sure of, if you do rent an old farm house is that there is insulation in the house and that the landlord pays for the heat! The one we rented had all new windows, but the insulation was terrible. Thank goodness we didn't have to pay for the heat. Even when it was in the 20-30 range outside,we had he heat cranked up because house was just plain cold inside! It was almost impossible to keep the house above 60 degrees, parts of it didn't get above freezing (a couple of times our dog's water dish froze in the kitchen overnight). We wore layered clothes inside the house just to stay warm.
I was NOT a happy camper.

Last year we didn't have much snow - we'd get a couple of 3-4 inch snowfalls a few times. The plows were going through immediately and we never had a problem getting around. The first "real snow" we had was Valentine's Day, when we got about two feet of snow - that was the day we moved into the house we bought (leave it to us for timing!)...again, we had no trouble getting around even during that snowfall. The house we bought has insulation and we were able to keep the thermostat set at 62 and be warm and comfy without layers of clothing inside, so I was MUCH happier <g>.

While we were in the farmhouse, we had about a week or so of -20 to -30 degree temps outside and I really was miserable living in the farmhouse - If I hadn't liked the town of Littleton and the people so much, I would have left the area....so.....if you want to see if Littleton IS the area for you, be very careful if you rent an old farmhouse - make SURE it's insulated! (we would light a candle in the living room of the rental, all the windows closed, and you could tell by the flame that the wind was blowing in through the walls!)

The house we bought is not a new one, has about the same amount of space in it, but it is well insulated and it makes living up here much nicer when it's cold.

During the winter you get used to wearing layers outside and it's really not too bad - it's cold, but definitely a "livable area" and we love it....I'm 54, hubby is 58.

On another note - I saw where you (or someone) asked about snowfall, temps, etc. in another post and asked about Bethlehem - Bethlehem got more snow than Littleton last year and we've been told it's the town with the highest elevation east of the Rockies (I don't know if that's true or not) - they were also colder than Littleton.

I guess I kinda wandered all over in this note (I tend to do that <g>).....If you have any other questions on Littleton, just let me know. I've only been in the area since April of 2006, so may not have the answers, but we really do love it here....and now I'll shut up

[nicolem]

Originally Posted by fords18

After reading all the posts in this thread I am now afraid to move my family to Manchester from the Medford/Arlington mass area!

I had a house in Portsmouth from 2002 to 2004 but wanted to move to Florida for the weather and sold it, as much as I regret it. I moved back after only a year in South Florida because I felt there were too many illegals and it was to expensive.

I now have a wife, 2 children and a 3rd on the way and I want to move to a safe and affordable area with all the amenities and public services I am used to. I cannot come close to affording the Portsmouth area anymore and I was hoping to buy a 2 family in Manchester and rent one unit to help with the mortgage.

Is Manchester really that bad? I visit Manchvegas often, am I just blind?

I too spend a lot of time in Manchester. Manchester still has good areas but it has gone downhill since I moved to NH in 1999. I used to work in Manchester and felt safe. There is a growing illegal alien problem and thus a growing crime problem and there has been violence from the illegals. One "episode" where they beat each other with hammers. I personally would suggest outside of Manchester or the edge of Manchester. There are still nice parts of Manchester, it is just sad because in 8 years I have really seen parts of the city become in my opinion unsafe.

Manchester does have good things to offer-the Verizon, The Fisher Cats, etc. For me I like to visit Manchester, but would not feel safe living there.

As Vakerie C suggested, you need to see for yourself. She will know a lot more about housing than I would Do a lot of driving around and see things for yourself first hand. Remember you will get all kinds of opinions on this board, take them into account, but make sure you visit a lot yourself.

[jthibodeau]

I've recently ran across this forum, found it very interesting and wanted, first of all, to say hello to all the regulars here.

New Hampshire is truly a great place to live. Yes, we have high property taxes due to our limited tax base in the state but, the over all quality of life far exceeds other locations which tend to hide their tax base among lesser known income producing tax options. We'll always complain how high our taxes are but few will ever relocate due to them. One of the problems seen by many of the residents in some smaller towns is they see their town expanding at a rapid rate. Many people relocating seek the peaceful country living that New Hampshire offers. Yet, on the other hand, many of these same people require or desire the same public services they had prior pushing the budgets of these towns higher and higher. And, in doing so, increase the tax rate.

I've been reading through some of the post to help me get my feet wet and understand what people are looking for such as smaller single floor housing. One of the problems we've experienced is skyrocketing land values and other developmental costs. Builders tend to put more square feet in a new home due to the high investment in the actual property. This way they can recoup more return on their money. The smaller ranch home can't deliver the numbers they are looking for. And, once this affect takes place, it tends to limit the type of home being built in the surrounding area, such as building a $250,000.00 home in a neighborhood of $350,000 to $400,000 homes.

Where is the best place to live in New Hampshire? That simply depends on what you require to be happy. If you require more nightlife and expanded shopping opportunities, then I'd suggest the areas between and surrounding Manchester, Concord and Salem. Should you consider a more tranquil environment, I'd suggests places east, west and north of Concord. For the true woodsmen, you'll have to head towards Plymouth and the surrounding areas. If you wear a plaid shirt, drive a 4-wheeler and eat bear meat raw, it the White Mountains and north for you.

[fords18]

I wanted to thank everyone for their input and I will have to take a drive up this weekend and talk to some local people and business in the area.

[30apples]

nhyrnut: I'm reading this long series of posts re: good and not so good towns in NH. Do you and the realators you've spoken to, still say that the housing prices will fall 15-25% by the spring of 2008? I notice your post was in oct 2006. I'm considering moving to somewhere between Concord and areas south and am interested in knowing how the market is fairing. Thanks.

[30apples]

Jthibodeau: Your post of Sept 07 is a good one. Do you have any recommendations for a place w/ a small-town feeling (could be up to 30,000 pop.), cultural activities, water nearby-lake, ocean or river, good library,libraries,peaceful atmosphere, beautiful architecture???