Relocating in a month or 2 considering these NH towns, advice please! (Manchester: hardwood floors, condo)

[twinmum]

We are moving from Southern California (you can see my original post in the Boston forum) to New England in a month or two. We have narrowed down our search after a recent week long visit, to areas outside of Boston. However, we only traveled to Nashua (which we didnt care for) & Portsmouth (which we LOVED) in NH and spent most of our time exploring the Boston area. We narrowed down our search in MA. but are now being told that we should consider NH and here are the suggestions

We are now considering Manchester, Bedford & Portsmouth....
possibly other towns I don't know about yet.

We are wanting to be within a hour to airport, a place where we can get a nice (read: updated kitchen, hardwood floors, at least 2 car garage, luxurious, 2000 sq ft) house/condo for under $600k.... a place where our children can go to decent schools (although I have a feeling coming from California our perceptions may vary greatly ). Some place that is not too rural, has a walkable downtown, is safe & welcoming and has a Whole Foods type healthy grocery store.... Is there such a place in NH?

[Brave Stranger]

Sounds like the Portsmouth/Dover area is for you. $600,000 will go a long wayyyyyy these days.

[Annabelle]

Check out Exeter as well. Decent, walkable downtown, a wide variety of housing/neighborhoods, good schools (public and private), easy access to beaches, Routes 101 and 95. Amtrak train to Boston too.

[Valerie C]

Hi Twinmum
I don't know if I read your post in the Boston forum or not, but wanted to respond here.

First I want to address your wants and needs:
location:
1 hour to airport
good schools
not too rural
walkable downtown
safe & welcoming
a Whole Foods type healthy grocery

house:
updated kitchen, hardwood floors
2+ car garage
luxurious, 2000 sq ft
house/condo < $600k

All I can say is that 600K will buy you a very nice home in any city or town in the state, either new construction or resale. Given what you are accustomed to in SoCal, I'm thinking Hollis, Bedford, Amherst, Exeter/Stratham, or of course Portsmouth. All of these are doable to an airport (Boston Logan or Manchester).

Towns with walkable downtowns are a bit limited. Portsmouth, Exeter & Dover come to mind. Add in the the neighing towns like New Castle, Greenland, Stratham. While you might not have cared for the city of Nashua, Bedford, Hollis or Amherst might interest you. All have school systems with excellent schools. Another area with good schools (but no walkable downtown, and somewhat more rural) are the towns of Lee/Madbury/Durham, that make up the Oyster River school district.

New Hampshire does not have a Whole Foods yet (slated for Nashua in the Nashua Landing project) but there are many health food stores throughout. I shop at Trader Joe's fairly regularly, and there is A Market in Manchester. Blue Moon Market in Exeter, Granite State Natural in Concord, etc. While none of them are as huge as Whole Foods, if you're in the southern part of the state, the Andover Whole Foods isn't too far of a trip...

I have to make this reply short, as I have homework to check (good thing, or I could go on all night) I just want to close with a couple of towns in MA that you may or may not have seen: Newburyport & Amesbury both have nice walkable downtowns, are safe, welcoming, etc. I'll try to check in later w/ more info... TTFN

[BF66389]

Hollis (because its awesome).

My wife and I hated Nashua the first time we visited too (we bought in June)...it ended up being because we missed 90% of the town as well as all of the surrounding towns and everything that was easily accessible to it. While we still decided not to live in Hollis...we wanted to live close enough to have all the stores readily available.

Not during rush-hour I can be in Boston in an hour, Manchester in 20, Portsmouth in an hour, Keene in an hour, White Mountains in 2...very happy where we settled (and these are "honest" times, sometimes takes less, I've made it to Logan in 40 before to catch a flight- but I wouldn't suggest trying it)

We love Portsmouth too but it seemed less convenient (shooting up/down 3 is easier than shooting up/down 95) and having Manchester airport only 15 minutes away is great...so we went for central/southern NH around Nashua (Hollis- best schools, nice houses, nice farm stands, love it).

[twinmum]

Super, thanks for the info!
I have read that Nashua is nice, & have to admit that we did not see much of it....I had the feeling that we didn't give Nashua & NH in general enough viewing time as we were more focused on the Boston area and checking out Portland. We are planning a trip back in a few weeks to focus just on NH.... so we can hopefully find a place.
I will add all of those places to the list.
thanks again!

[JFRRACING]

i'll tell you the same thing i tell everyone else moving cross country research research research. so many people don't and then they hate the state and come on here and bash it.

[fishnfool]

If you loved Portsmouth then I was second the idea to check out Newburyport and Amesbury. Newburyport is a lot like Portsmouth but has a walkable water front, Plum island is just down the street, and there is a nice park and town center where there is always something going on. Portsmouth does seem to have more restaurants though, but not much waterfront access for being right on the river. Everyone who comes and visits thinks Portsmouth is great and then I take them to Newburyport and they think it's even better.

Newburyport is $$$$ but for your price range I think you'll be fine.

[seamusnh]

I like being near Manchester and Nashua, but not in them. I like our small town feeling here in Amherst. The schools are fine; we have a combined 29 years of experience with the school system between the three kids... Bedford and Hollis are nice as well, but we bought before they built their high schools.... Most of my friends in MA send their kids to private school, particuarly from grades 7 or 9 onward. And this is in towns with supposedly good school systems... I lived in MA for many years before NH and the difference is amazing... Unless you are going to work in MA there is no way one would not consider NH....

[rmcewan]

Originally Posted by JFRRACING

i'll tell you the same thing i tell everyone else moving cross country research research research. so many people don't and then they hate the state and come on here and bash it.

I only know of one or two bashers. Most of the recent forum migrants are still glad they moved.

OP: I wonder if the OP wants a walkable downtown, or be able to walk TO downtown. To me, on the Seacoast only Portsmouth fits the latter being compact enough to be walkable from your front door. Exeter and Dover are more spread out. You'd be lucky to find a nice home within easy walking of those downtowns (by which I be 5 or 10 mins - in snow). Portsmouth has a larger number of homes on a 1/4 acre or less, near downtown making denser, but still very pleasant neighborhoods. And you will find supermarkets and REAL shops (not gift stores and tourist havens) in those neighborhoods, meaning you can carry your shopping home. However, if you mean - drive a bit, park and walk - then any town on the Seacoast fits the bill as nothing is more than 10-20 mins drive away.