Best Place to raise a family (Manchester, Concord: spring break, home, private school)

[MelPel]

Good Afternoon,
I was wondering if anyone had any strong opinions on where the best place to raise a family is in NH. My family and I live in Asheville, NC at the present. As much as we love the mtns here, Asheville is growing at a tremendous rate.
I miss the small town feel that I use to get.
I have two daughters, one in 10th grade and one in the 7th. Both are "A" students, so a good school system is a must. One of my daughters is a dancer so it would be nice to be close to a dance school. The other is on the track team at school.
I am a surgical RN and my husband is a mngr for a high-end appliance company.
I have been considering Littleton but am not sure about the school system.
Any ideas?
We would love to live in a "typical" NE town but yet not too far to be able to do some shopping, etc (teenage girls :>) )
Of course, housing, land prices and taxes are a factor as well. Are the taxes that much worse the further south you get in the state?
I really appreciate any and all information.
Thank you!!!

[Mark S.]

We're in a similar situation to you. We are also considering Littleton and the surrounding communities -- Bethlehem, Franconia, and St. Johnsbury, VT. We're hoping to take a trip in the next few months to check them out.

Other places we are considering that you might investigate:

Plattsburgh, NY (we've heard mixed things; good and bad)
Keene, NH (more expensive than the northern communities)
Berlin, NH (we've heard mixed things: good and bad)
Bangor, ME (this is actually our top contender at the moment)
Presque Isle, ME
Ft. Kent, ME

Southern NH is getting pretty crowded. There are still nice places, but prices are much higher, and you're going to face a lot of the same congestion problems you're finding in Asheville.

[MelPel]

Thanks Mark S.
We too are planning to visit-hopefully over Spring Break (Apr 9th).
If you do not mind, what is making you consider Maine? Isn't it more expensive than NH?

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by MelPel

If you do not mind, what is making you consider Maine? Isn't it more expensive than NH?

It is. But at least for us, Bangor offers more hope of finding a job and making a living than the small towns of northern NH and VT. We've got some leads in Bangor. Littleton and environs look beautiful, but finding a way to make a living there is going to be tough for the kind of work we do.

[MelPel]

Mark S.
Do you have children? Do you know anything about the schools in Littleton or the surrounding areas?

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by MelPel

Mark S.
Do you have children?

Yup.

Originally Posted by MelPel

Do you know anything about the schools in Littleton or the surrounding areas?

Not specifically. Visiting schools is one of the things on the agenda for our visit.

New Hampshire in general has a good reputation as far as education goes. However, there are a few oddities. Many NH communities don't have kindergarten, simply because there isn't enough tax revenue to pay for it. There's a pretty prestigious private school around Bethlehem (near Littleton), I believe, but I'm sure it's pretty pricey.

[ddonaghe]

Check out Derry and Londonderry. Londonderry has a wonderful school system, although I'm a bit biased because I graduated from high school there.

The town has changed a lot over the past decade, but it still has an excellent reputation. Unfortunately, it comes with a high price tag.

[immster]

Keene is a great place to raise your children. My kids are involved in sports and I know of a good dance school in the area. We are in Southwest NH and it is still small town New England. We have decent shopping but it is about 1 hour to the mall in 4 different directions. We think it is a great place to live.

[gig harbor]

Hi, we are moving to NH in June, from the west coast. we have been out here 2 yrs and need to come back home to the east, originally from NY state.
We have a 16 yr old daughter who will be attending Exerter HS as a Jr and an 11 yr old son who is big into ice hockey and will be attending the MS.
I was wondering how the schools are and if they are clickie especially for the Hs as she is a little nervous to be starting over again.
Are there any new communties that are going up or any groups that form together in the summer?/
Thanks for any help you have
cathy

[Lincolnian]

The Lake Sunapee Area of Newbury, New London, Bradford, and Sutton are centrally located between Concord and Hanover/Lebanon. Many people commute 45 mins to Manchester. Newbury is a nice community of 2200 or so and has tons of recreational activities with Lake Sunapee, Mount Sunapee, hiking, biking, kayaking, etc. New London is an affluent community of traditional New England charm and home of Colby-Sawyer College.

My family and I are from Connecticut but love spending time in this area.