What is a great So. NH town for a young married couple? (Manchester: homes, neighborhoods)
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Valerie, your reply is so helpful to me. Everyone's replies have been, actually. I really appreciate the time everyone's taken to offer their advice to me. I'll try to address each person's post right now if I can.
WannaComeHome, I actually (ashamedly, perhaps) have to admit I'm truly not up on my full spectrum of politics. I suppose this can actually be addressed to anyone who mentioned a political aspect in their reply. Like I said, I don't want to get into any heated political discussions (please please I'm begging you!!) but I appreciate the information and I will openly admit that I am not fully educated about either side of the fence. So that said, I think it's best to probably leave that part of the discussion out of this thread and I can make a note to myself to read up about it before any decisions. Fair enough I think! : )
As far as having to do your own thing (i.e. trash pickup, etc) that is totally fine with us! Where I grew up, we did have to bring our trash to a transfer station. I thought that was how it was everywhere, so when we moved closer to Boston I was like "whoa! They pick up your trash right outside of your house for you??" haha (it's the little things, apparently). So no worries about things like that. I actually like being able to take responsibility and not feel like a government is hovering. Being able to make our own decisions is part of what makes a life worth living, I think.
Valerie, I think you are spot on in your assessment that the southern-most or southeastern-most towns would likely suit us best. My fiance grew up in a very rural area in Western Ma and I think we'd get a bit stir crazy if we had to move to an area so removed any time soon. But we're also looking forward to settling in and 'making a nest' for ourselves somewhere. We've moved every year for the past 3 years, and can't seem to find the right place. I don't expect everything to be perfect, of course, but there always seems to be a big drawback (rent is astronomically too high, or there are no artsy/cultural activities nearby, or people put lawn chairs in the area of the street they shoveled to prevent you from parking there....*sigh*)
As far as 'the drama', I guess that may have been a weird word for it. Perhaps the winter weather is taking its toll as well haha. But the more I'm out and about around here, the more I notice that there isn't a warm friendliness in general. Of course it depends on outlook and where you are, etc. I always make a point to be pleasant to anyone I meet if I'm at a store, restaurant, etc. These narrow city streets make driving a nightmare and people are very ruthless around here. It means I have to also be ruthless in order to just get around! But it'd be lovely to not feel like driving around is like swimming in a pool of sharks at any given moment. I don't think all of Massachusetts is this way, certainly. And it was our choice to live so close to the city, so I don't want to make it sound like I'm just a debbie downer and whining about things that technically I could control by moving. I'm open minded and I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. But it'd be interesting to see how another state lives.
From what I've read here and looking at my fiance's and my lifestyle, I don't really feel that if we moved to NH we would throw our arms up and say "oh god what did we get ourselves into? this is horrible!" haha. We thought we wanted to live closer to the city to reap the convenience of places being open late, having a lot of 'things to do', etc. but we realize that we spend most nights inside with our pets listening to music, playing videogames or watching TV,...not exactly making the best use of the conveniences that we're paying such high rent/living in an old apartment for.
We wanted to look into an area of Massachusetts like Beverly or Salem, sort of a midpoint between Rockport and Woburn, closer to the water, etc. But the prices are high even there, and with very dense living quarters. Unless you have a good half a mil, getting a yard where you're not looking out the window on 3 (or 4) sides right into your neighbor's is pretty hard.
Ok I'm supposed to be working from home today and I haven't gotten on task! Thank you all again for your support. I may not be able to reply for awhile so if the posts pile up and I go missing, you'll know why. Take care everyone!
Ocean, just wanted to address the "drama" portion of your last post. When we looked into moving to New England, we were looking at both MA and NH because that's where the jobs were. It just happened that Dh got a job in NH. For a while we looked at living in MA anyway and commuting, because we have a lot of family in MA. But this was last summer, when gas prices where insanely high. We were able to reassure ourselves Manchester is still within commuting distance of our cousins, and that that the schools here are just as good if you know where to look (schools was our top consideration in moving). That's pretty much how we ended up in NH.
However, since we've arrived we've found people to be very friendly, MUCH friendlier that we were led to expect. I don't know about MA people, because we only know our cousins and a few random friends, but in general, I've found the roads to be very sane, no signs of road rage, very friendly checkout people even when the lines are crowded. People here seem to be pretty laid back. Now since you and your fiance tend to stay indoors for recreation, NH would probably suit since many people seem to hole up for the winter. Not to say you couldn't find plenty of snow sports if you wanted
The difference in attitude here *may* be due to lack of population density. When you're not jammed up against each other 24/7, you're probably in a friendly mood when you see other people, more often than not. That's just imho, of course
If you are looking for a lots of cultural activities (you mentioned theater, art galleries & restaurants) I'd stick with the Seacoast. Portsmouth is a beautiful little city with a very sophisticated arts scene and probably as much nightlife as you'll find anywhere in NH. Right on the ocean, and an hour's drive to Boston (minus rush hour traffic.) If schools are likely to be an issue in the future, try Exeter, which is about 15-20 minutes outside Portsmouth and also has a nice downtown, some cultural life stemming from Phillips Exeter Academy, and an Amtrak Station that will drop you right in downtown Boston.
Your money won't go as far in either of those towns as it would in Nashua or even the more upscale towns around Nashua, but it sounds like you're looking for something a bit more urban. Nashua is a city but imho it doesn't really feel like one. Nightlife in Hollis and Amherst is nil. If you're trying to find something that feels like an upscale suburb of Boston without the Boston pricetag, I think you'll be happiest on the Seacoast. (Of course, this is why we DIDN'T choose the Seacoast
Hi Ocean,
first I want to apologize if I came off a little too strongly! I really don't usually jump in like that, but there's been so much lately about some really dumb things happening in the legislature that the liberals up there are pushing, it's making some of us a little cranky. And so many (certainly not all!) people from Mass move up and then want to make NH just like Mass. And you may not, it's not for me to know or assume. So I apologize for coming on kinda strong. The two state both have their strong points, I've seen some lovely town in Mass, and for people who like all the services (or need them) it's a great place.
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My fiance grew up in a very rural area in Western Ma and I think we'd get a bit stir crazy if we had to move to an area so removed any time soon. But we're also looking forward to settling in and 'making a nest' for ourselves somewhere. We've moved every year for the past 3 years, and can't seem to find the right place. I don't expect everything to be perfect, of course, but there always seems to be a big drawback (rent is astronomically too high, or there are no artsy/cultural activities nearby, or people put lawn chairs in the area of the street they shoveled to prevent you from parking there....*sigh*)
that's why I was thinking that Salem might be a good area to check out. It's seacoast region - but not on the coast, there are some rural areas, but it has stores (heck, it has Canobie Lake amusement park!), it's close to Portsmouth or Derry for other shopping and amusements, and it's close to the Mass line. I don't think it's listed with the top schools around, but you mentioned that schools weren't a priority for you at this time.
BTW, I had to chuckle about your lawn chair comment: parking where I live in MD is on the street, and if I had lawn chairs, I'd be one of those! Heck, if we went to the trouble of shoveling out our part of the street and had to run out for some reason, by gum I want my spaces still there when we get home!
No worries! I'm appreciative of all of the information on here. I don't think you came across too strongly. I understand where you're coming from and there's no hotheadedness, no problem. : )
i'm young and soon to be married and my future hubby n i will soon be settling in the seacoast area... he lived in boston for many years but i got into school in NH so it was sort of a good compromise for us. tho i think we'll be living a little too far north for what you're looking for...
we'll probably rent for a year just to be certain that the area we've picked is what we're looking for then buy a home once we are more familiar with the area... i really reccomend this as the real estate market isn't the kind of market were i'd want to be looking to sell a home upon deciding the town isn't for you.
You might consider one of the smaller towns on the North Shore....perhaps Amesbury - small town feel, some arts, some shopping, convenient to commuting; Newburyport would be out of your price range, but has a lot to offer for shopping and eateries.
On the NH Seacoast....Portsmouth would be perfect - lots to do, plenty of restaurants and shops, big box stores as well, but the price of homes is pretty steep and finding something with a yard at a reasonable price may be a challenge.
You might consider Dover NH - strong downtown, enough good restaurants, plenty of shopping nearby, less pricey than Portsmouth, and it has overflow from UNH, so the demographic feels a bit younger than you would expect, which may be right up your alley. Easy for commuting. (Only 10 minutes to Portsmouth & I95)
Exeter would be my next recommendation. It's near enough to UNH too, smaller downtown, but real close to big box stores in Stratham, more of a family-oriented town. Not sure what homes go for. Getting to I95 from Exeter not as easy as Portsmouth.
Thanks NH-ite! Everyone is arming me with some great information to think about. We may take a visit to Nashua to poke around and see what it's like. We've been to the mall up there once or twice and drove through the town center once, but it was awhile ago. It may be a good mix of what we like in terms of a more urban feel but not as urban as where we are right now. I would miss the ocean a lot though. I know it's not terribly far, but growing up within walking distance makes it hard to live without it for too long!
I went to college in Worcester and I would look out over the hills sometimes and be like "where is it? where's the blue line?" haha. Like homesickness for the sea...but not seasickness! *bad pun*
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Seacoast NH or North Shore MA Good Bets
