I am sure this has been asked before (Manchester, Nashua: real estate, to rent)

[blessedme]

I need some info about Salem, Windham and Hudson. I read numerous posts about those towns and here is what I've gathered:
Windham - I couldn't find anything negative about the town
Salem - nice town, but congested with stores, close to MA though
Hudson - also nice town, but not as nice as Salem or Windham.

Am I getting the gist of it? We recently moved to New England and have been renting in MA. Both me and my DH like NH, but have to stay close to MA since that's where his job is. I narrowed down to those 3 towns as good value for the money and hopefully good resale value if we have to move again.

I would love to hear your thoughts.
Thank you much

[buck naked]

I would rate Hudson as nicer than Salem...


but it's all personal opinion.

Windham - lots and lots of luxury homes
Hudson - nice neighborhoods, less expensive homes (used to be home to Benson's Wild Animal Farm)
Salem - congested, strip malls

[Valerie C]

(sigh) Bensons... How I miss that place, and wish that it was still there to bring my kids to. Minutes away (it used to seem so far away when I was a kid!) But I digress...

Windham, Salem, Hudson...
Three very different towns, all with various amenities. Salem, as you probably know, is full of businesses, mainly along Rte 28 and 97. Big box stores (Home Depot, Best Buy, Super Walmart, etc) along with many smaller local businesses/restaurants, butcher shops, etc. Some really upscale neighborhoods, and a couple of nice lakes (one of which-Canobie Lake- is off limits to swimmers, and is shared with Windham...)

Windham is definitely the most upscale of the three. The only shopping in town is a couple of strip malls along Rte 111 (Exit 3 off 93) and just recently, a grocery store as well. Windham sends their high school students to Salem High (who has an excellent marching band, BWT) at least until their own HS is completed. The Rte 93 expansion will be affecting quite a few residential neighborhoods--something to be aware of when looking for a possible purchase.

Hudson has a great location because you can chose to get to MA via Rte 93 or Rte 3. Houses tend to be less expensive than either Salem or Windham. You're close to Nashua, which has even more shopping variety than Salem, and Alvirne High School offers a wide variety of programs in addition to the 'typical' HS classes (animal science, culinary arts, horticulture, welding, etc.)

OK, that's enough from me for tonight... Looking forward to more responses. Oh and BTW, welcome to the NH forum

[blessedme]

Thank you both very much. And Valerie, thank you for the welcome. My DH grew up in New England and couldn't wait to get back. I've only been here since March so far liking it. (Well, minus the crazy MA drivers and CRAZY MA taxes).
It is so so hard to find a house when you are not just looking for a house, but a town as well. I am terrified that we will buy something in a less desirable area or will over pay for the house, etc, etc
I know there are all stats out there, but I don't think anything beats an actual knowledge of people who live in the area.
So, thank you again

[notdancingqueen]

Originally Posted by blessedme

It is so so hard to find a house when you are not just looking for a house, but a town as well. I am terrified that we will buy something in a less desirable area or will over pay for the house, etc, etc
I know there are all stats out there, but I don't think anything beats an actual knowledge of people who live in the area.
So, thank you again

We were in your shoes earlier in the year. My $0.02 is to drive, drive, drive around! Lots! Explore as much as you can. Go to the library. Shop at the grocery store. Get familiar enough with the towns and roads that you understand where you are in relation to everything else. What realtors say about location location location really is true - the best house in an undesirable location is not a good thing. And I don't necessarily mean a bad town. We tried really hard to talk ourselves into a house that slightly edged out the one we wound up buying in terms of meeting our needs but we could hear the highway... I couldn't get past it. You'll also be able to better decode the sometimes overly-optimistic descriptions of real estate you'll come across... "walkable to Pleasant Lake" was something I saw a lot. Yeah, technically I could walk it distance-wise, but 1.5 miles across a major road with a 4 year old, carrying a cooler and beach chairs...

Good luck with your search -- spend lots of weekdays and weekends wandering aaround your potential new area - it will help a lot.

Jackie

[cali2east]

I agree with notdancingqueen. We moved out here from Cali and decided to rent. We spend most of our weekends driving around, going to open houses, checking out neighborhoods and we've really been surprised at what we've found. OUr first impressions were that Salem was too busy and kind of trashy, Hudson was nicer with some nice areas but convenient to a lot of stores as well, Windham is the nicest with very few stores. Now that we live in Windham, we've found that although there aren't a whole lot of stores in town, there's plenty nearby. We do our grocery shopping in Salem, go to the mall in Nashua or Manchester and can generally get to a decent shopping area w/in 20 min so it's not too bad. Everyone in Cali is so car-dependent, we're used to hopping into our car even to just pick something up quickly at the grocery store so the drive doesn't bother us. I do business in Boston 2 or so days a week and fly out of Logan (or Manchester when I can) about twice a month and it's more than a bearable drive. We've learned a lot in the few short months we've lived here but we've found that of the towns that we were interested in (similar to your list) we like Windham the best.