Relocating to Salem, NH Area (Concord, Windham: houses, to buy, pre-schools)

[dianashapiro]

Hi Everyone,

My husband is most likely going to take a new job in Salem, NH. Our family lives in Southwestern Florida now. I am originally from the Boston Area so am excited to move back to New England. I am however completely unfamiliar with New Hampshire. I have a 3 1/2 year old girl and a 5 1/2 year old boy and want to make sure we choose a surrounding town with a good school system for both. I read a message in this thread that said there are no Kindergartens there, what do families do? Where are the good pre-schools located? We definately need to be near shopping, good restaurants, in an upscale neighboorhood, and with public water supply and sewer. My family lives in Wayland and Medfield, MA so I would like my drive to visit them to be under an hour and to stay close to Boston for some good date nights with my husband. Windham looks interesting from the houses I saw on realtor.com. Any suggestions for us? I know I am very picky

[motherof1]

Check out greatschools.com and schoolmatters.com. That should give you an idea of what towns nearby have good school systems. Good Luck!

[NeverTooLate]

Hi,
I am a Realtor in the Concord area so obviously I am partial to Concord

We have friends in Cambridge and it takes about 1hour on Rt.93 to get there from Concord. Concord has excellent schools! Ther are also many private pre-schools and Concord does have kndergarten...it is a local determination!Not a State one.

As a rule of thumb...the closer you get to the Southern Mass. border (Windham for example) The more $$$ it will cost!

Here is a link to NH towns . It may help narrow things down for you...hope this helped!

http://www.nhes.state.nh.us/elmi/communpro.htm

Good Luck!!

[RPC1125]

Hi I was raised in Salem NH and I am moving to South FL but I will tell you this North Salem is where you want to be the area is great for children the N.Salem Elementry school is the best around you are one hour from the beach, mountians, Boston. Dont let anyone tell you different. You should look in the Arlington Pond area if you have to work in town you might as well enjoy where you live water front property is the most rewarding

[FreckleFace]

I live in Plaistow NH which is only a few miles from Salem. Although Plaistow has many stores, Salem definitely has more. Route 28 has stores from one end to the other. I go to Salem when I want to buy computer stuff because you will find CircuitCity, Best Buy, CompUSA, etc all in Salem, and a Mall on Route 28. You don't have any of those in Plaistow. We have Staples, Wal-Mart, Home Depot.

But as of Tuesday vote we now have a Kindergarten in our school system.
It took 7 years on the ballot. Schools???? If your kid is smart no problem. If your kid has a learning disability of any kind then move to MA and commute north to Salem. My daughter who is 24 now graduated from Timberlane Regional High School 3rd in her class and aced college. My who is 18 is 3rd from the bottom and hopefully will graduate in June. He has a learning disability in reading and writing. All we got was lip service from NH schools. He'd be a different person now had he been in a MA school system. We believe they would have taken care of him and educated him.

Look at Plaistow and Atkinson also they are only about 5 miles from Salem via Rt 97. I would either of those two any day over Salem.

My 2 cents. Good luck.

[New Hampshire]

Originally Posted by dianashapiro

Hi Everyone,

Windham looks interesting from the houses I saw on realtor.com. Any suggestions for us?

Windham is an good choice.

[atpeace]

I live about 30 min. north of salem and yes windham is a nice area to consider. Good luck

[unknown stuntman]

To be blunt, Salem is possibly the last town I'd want to live in the state of NH. I swear this place was modeled after Warwick, RI minus the Green Airport. Try nearby towns such as Windham and Atkinson which have much more a NH and genuine New England feel. I've always joked the only reason why they don't give this place to Mass is the fact that Massachusetts already has a Salem of its own. Salem, NH: the people, the atmosphere, the safety, the mannerisms makes it all feel I'm simply in the heart of Massachusetts. The traffic is lousy, not by alot of standards, but by NH standards it is, much ado to infrastructure. Speaking of, be prepared to spend plenty of time at your local mechanic shop if you spend alot of time in town on Rt 28 within city limits: one of the worst maintained routes I have ever traversed.

[WannaComeHome]

Originally Posted by unknown stuntman

To be blunt, Salem is possibly the last town I'd want to live in the state of NH. [snipped].The traffic is lousy, not by alot of standards, but by NH standards it is, much ado to infrastructure. Speaking of, be prepared to spend plenty of time at your local mechanic shop if you spend alot of time in town on Rt 28 within city limits: one of the worst maintained routes I have ever traversed.

Is Canobie Lake Park still in operation? If so, I would think that would add a lot of summer season congestion to the roads and anything around it.

[flu189]

I lived in Windham from '76 to '83 and my folks lived there until 2000. The congestion is not from Canobie Lake Park, it's from all of the new developments, houses, and three or more vehicle families that now live in the area. Windham is nice if you can afford it, but it's New England small town feel has been gone for quite some time.