Tell me about Milton,NH we live in Barrington and are looking for Land to build on... (Rochester: credit)

[hollyrose]

Hi Everyone! Just wanted to know your opinion about Milton. We live in Barrington right now and love it. We can get more land for less in Milton. How are the schools? My daughter is 2. We might send her to a private school too. Milton isn't too far from dover and or portsmouth. My husband works in dover. We are looking for a nice small town with a good quality of life.

Thanks!

Oh I also forgot to ask about Strafford. That town is a little more "out there". Thanks!

[nicolem]

I don't know much about Milton-driven through it a few times-went to a friend's house once-there is not much there. My husband works in Dover and he know a few people who live there that work with him-they seem to like it. I would suggest you check out the Dam- I know in one of the previous floods they were concerned about the concrete Dam collapsing and evacuated a lot of people. I would do some research as to what has been done since then to make any improvements to the Dam and I would also do research as to where your land is in relation to it-at least that is what I would do if I was thinking of moving there.

Hopefully someone else can chime in and offer some information.

Good luck

Nicole

[hollyrose]

Thanks Nicole. I didn't know about the dam. I'll have to look into that.

Anyone else?

[steveusaf]

I'm also looking for land within 45 minutes of Portsmouth, but am staying away from Milton. The schools do not get good reviews, academically or facility-wise. Look on Greatschools and you'll see they don't perform very well. Their facilities are old, not well kept, and they use trailers for classrooms. A real shocker to me - they're not even accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. Sure, land is cheap, but in this case it looks like you get what you pay for. I'm sure there are bright spots to being in Milton, and a small school has its advantages with everybody knowing everyone. But it looks like the deck is stacked against Nute High. I look at the high school level because even though my son will be 8 when I relocate back to NH, he will eventually end up there and it doesn't matter how good the elementary and middle schools are if the high school is bad. I'm not betting on Milton and am staying away from it. I'm also staying away from Farmington for the same reason. I will say, however, that I have no personal experience with Milton and am looking at objective data only. I did grow up in the Portsmouth area, and Farmington and Milton did not have good reputations back then. Things may have changed.

Ironically, I'm looking in Barrington, but also Rochester (not the greatest schools but I think they're only going to get better, much like Dover did in the last 20 years), Epping, Raymond, Strafford, Lee, Dover, New Durham among others. Some of those areas are not cheap, I know, but I think the land market is about as good as its going to get.

Bottom line - I personally am staying away from Milton. I'm sure someone will come along here, call me crazy, and rave about the place. To each their own....