looking for a good place to move (Manchester, Nashua: low crime, homes)

[ecant200]

Hi, I am currently living in central maine having grown up all my life in a suburb of philadelphia. My husband and I are currently expecting our first child and we are looking for someplace to relocate too. We are looking for a place that is not too huge with a good school district and low crime. Finding a job is not a problem...both of are jobs are very portable. I was hoping to find someplace with a little downtown area that is removed from an urban setting but still close enough to some shopping. We spent the whole day today trying to find that in maine...driving for about 6 hours. Previously we have taken a trip to north conway and we seemed to like that except there was some poverty around that area. I was hoping someone could give us a little direction on where to look. We have no problem traveling to places to visit but we don't even know where to start. We end up just driving the highway but not knowing what exits to get off at. Any help would be greatly appreciated! thank you

[GregW]

Most anywhere. If you like small cities I would suggest Littleton or Lincoln for starters.

[BF66389]

I grew up not-so-far from Philly/NYC as well and my wife and I just relocated from Arlington VA to NH. One thing about NH is perspective...Nashua "the second largest city in NH" really isn't a city; and Manchester- while a city. Is not on the same scale as Philly/Boston/NYC or even close to it.

I would highly suggest looking into Hollis and Amherst NH; both are within 25 minutes of Manchester, an hour of Boston, and 5-15 minutes of Nashua. These are the two towns we settled on when we were looking- both are nice areas (a little pricey), both have a cute historic district (but don't expect a lot of "stuff"- more like a general store and cute area to walk around), and both aren't very dense with homes.

Of the two we settled on Hollis because 1) It was less dense (more farms & woods), 2) It was easier to get to "other" places from, 3) Schools are regarded as top-notch, and 4) We liked the plethora of little farm stands.

The other big plus to the area (as opposed to further north) is jobs. In a pinch Boston is accessible (hard, but accessible) as are many more dense areas of MA as well as Manchester and Nashua more immediately nearby. In the current economic climate- having some flexibility here is a plus (I know you said your jobs are portable, but having several places to "port" it too can be a plus).

I would highly suggest checking out Nashua (the older downtown area as well as the mall/big-box shopping areas), Hollis (downtown area & surrounding), Amherst (downtown & surrounding), and Manchester (downtown).

Figure on about a 4-5 hour drive from Philly if you can leave at a time that avoid traffic (may I suggest taking from NJ 287-Saw Mill Parkway-684-84-90-495-3...it lets you avoid 95 and the Merrit Parkway all together; the Tappan Zee can jam up- but that's the only place I've hit one so far). It always takes a friend of mine 6 hours...but he leaves during rush-hour, so go figure.

As Greg said though...NH is pretty awesome; we picked Hollis because it was a little of everything and close to everything...but there are plenty of places in NH that have a different mix of offerings.

[Valerie C]

Hi ecant
Welcome to the NH forum. I hope we might be able to help you find what you're looking for... You requested a town that isn't too huge, good schools, low crime. That describes much of NH We really don't have "huge" cities, even Manchester & Nashua are, by comparison, very small cities (but big by NH standards). You'll hear people talk about the crime, the drugs, the gangs, but honestly it's nowhere near the scale of Boston, Worcester, Philly, St. Loius, etc. That said, if you're not looking to be in the city, there are plenty of good towns to consider, and really depends on what size town you're looking for...

North Conway is a beautiful area, but very seasonal and tourist-driven. Downtown is great, but darn near impossible to get through on weekends.

One thing that you might consider is driving down along Route 101 (the east/west artery for NH) and checking out some of the towns along the way. Dover (very close to the Berwick ME) is a seacoast town that you might like to drive through. Not urban by any means, but also not a sleepy little town. Plenty to do, very active recreation department, schools are good. There are many towns that might fit your needs (BF66389 made the recommendations for Hollis, great schools, convenient locationa) but there are so many that might fit...

Here are some tools to get you started:
Town Info: NH Community Profiles
School Info: NH School District Profile
And if you have any interest in politics:
2008 presidential election results by town for New Hampshire - Boston.com

My recommendation would be to get off the highway, ANY EXIT, to meander around the towns. Enjoy your explorations, and I look forward to answering any of your questions...

Originally Posted by ecant200

Hi, I am currently living in central maine <snip>We are looking for a place that is not too huge with a good school district and low crime. Finding a job is not a problem...both of are jobs are very portable. I was hoping to find someplace with a little downtown area that is removed from an urban setting but still close enough to some shopping. <snip> We end up just driving the highway but not knowing what exits to get off at. Any help would be greatly appreciated! thank you

[fishnfool]

Exeter, Dover, Peterborough, Keene, Hanover....even Portsmouth for that matter.

[od_ads]

I spent most my life in Concord. YOu can live in the middle of the woods and still be 10 mintues from any store you want....

[Newdaawn]

My daughter and her husband and my gdaughter live in Dover and love it there.
Check it out. It has a nice downtown and is close to Portsmouth and not that far from Boston if you want to be in a bigger city just for the day.

[crewit11]

I currently live in the southeastern "suburbs" of Philly and am looking to relocate to NH! I am actually taking a trip for New Year's to visit the Durham/Newmarket/Portsmouth area to see if it is "the" place for me. I love NH but have not been near the coast and am inquiring regarding opinions about the areas I listed as a nice and small place to live. Thoughts? Opinions? Thanks!

[fishnfool]

Durham isn't much past UNH....very college town...but smaller.

Newmarket really doesn't have much either. It's sort of out of the way compared to the rest of the seacoast towns. It has a couple streets in its downtown but it's not nearly as nice as Dover, Portsmouth, or Exeter. You'll have to drive to another town to do any shopping, drinking, eating out, or just plain socializing. It has a few restaurants but the only time I spend there is passing through to go to another town.

Portsmouth is GREAT. Lots to do, tons of restaurants, bar, shops, gorgeous parks, close to the highway. It is exactly what most people picture when they think of an old historic New England coastal town. If you've never been you will love it. Make sure and drive the coast line from Hampton to Portsmouth. The coast rivals the mountains in terms of beauty. It's pricey though. You can live near by though and still reap it's benefits. I live 15 minutes south near the ocean and find myself in Portsmouth every weekend. The great thing about the seacoast is that everything is so close but each town maintains its own identity.

[Snafu]

Valerie C's recommendation to get off the highway at ANY exit and meander was spot on. I spent several days doing just that... got a map and took as many of the "major" backroads as I could (i.e. they were on the map) to get a feel for the towns and areas. If you go this route, make sure to take good notes and impressions of what you see. It's been three years, and I'm still trying to remember the name of a particular town that I wanted to go back and see, even though I ended up moving elsewhere in the state.

It was a lot of fun just checking out lunchtime at the local places and getting a feel for the folks coming and going. Just remember, don't judge a book by it's cover!!! Some of the more quaint places ended up being all show and no substance, and some of the more "downscale" places ended up being best!

I hope you enjoy the search as much as I did (I relocated from the DC area), and hopefully you will find exactly what you were looking for!

Good luck and happy trails!