Is Derry, NH a nice place to live? (Manchester, Nashua: for sale, affordable apartment)

[CaliforniaGirl2009]

I'm moving from Central California, which has two seasons, winter and summer. I'm a single mother and work from home so i can live anywhere in the US. I have an 8 year old and we want out of the California rat race and he has bad allergies due to the pollution and all the farming near where we live.

Is Derry a good town to live in for a little family such as mine?

Basically, we want good schools, an affordable apartment to rent (I have been negotiating with The Fairways complex on Forest Ridge Road near the Derry Village Elementary school), 4 seasons, things to do on the weekends that don't require us to sit in 4-8 hrs of traffic, cleaner air, nicer people, no gangs or drug problems in the schools or at least minor compared to rampant as they are in Calif. and a beautiful place to live, like the New England countryside; unlike California that is over built and have billboards everywhere; and public building and freeway sound barriers have gang markings spray painted on them. Not to mention the state is mismanaged and broke and carrying a huge deficit and was threatening to send out IOUs instead of tax refund checks.

We want a relatively safe and a less stressful life, but not so isolated it takes us 30 minutes or more to go to the movies or grocery store. We like people and civilization, but we don't want to live in NYC.

Oh and we love to visit Boston; there's so much history to appreciate so we want to stay on the lower end of the state of NH. And, is there public transportation, a train near Derry that would take one into downtown Boston during non-commuter hours?

All thoughts, comments and suggestions would be appreciated.

[iclyde]

Derry sounds like a great fit for you - great schools for your children and low taxes in NH!! There is an excellent bus service with free parking from exits 2, 4 and 5 off of Rt 93 - check out Boston Express — Connecting Nashua, Manchester, Londonderry and Salem to Boston and Logan Airport for more details on the schedule

Maybe you should consider buying a condo, rather than renting? It might be cheaper nowadays...

[Brave Stranger]

Derry is having gang and crime issues. It used to be nice......about 20 years ago. There's a LOT of traffic. Not quite the New England town you think it is. There's a bus, but no train.

[WannaComeHome]

How about Bedford? It's busy enough to have a lot of shopping in-town (most towns in NH are 'bedroom' towns - you go elsewhere for shopping and employment).

There's only a few buslines that go to Boston, there are no T-stops that come up to NH that I've heard of.

[GregW]

Check out the Rolling Meadows Condominium in Londonderry. I think there are several units for sale or rent. Great setting in an old sheep meadow with 35 acres of lawn and a few ponds on the property. Londondery schools are just about the best in the area.

[Valerie C]

Gee, how did I miss this thread? Derry is right next door to me... I'm usually better about answering local posts (I'm in Londonderry, one town west of Derry) Oh, I see... the original post was made on 4/24 which was a super busy day for me (my bday, among other things!)

ANYWAY... please try to do a search to see the MANY posts on Derry here at City Data. It's got very good schools, Pinkerton Academy (Londonderry's arch rival!!) is set up more like a college campus and less like a traditional high school. Excellent music & arts programs, etc. I'm in Derry at least 3 or 4 times each week, and I've yet to see true "gang problems". There are a number of apartment buildings in town, all somewhat close to the downtown area (or along 28 OR 102) and of course you might see some trouble-makers from time to time, it's not like Hell's Angels & The Crips (or whatever gang name is in the news these days...) are marking up neighborhoods. Like anywhere, you have to watch your area. Derry (except for the areas along 102 and 28) is largely single family property on .75+ acre (that's POINT 75) And the outskirts of town are rural, bordering Hampstead, Chester, Auburn, Windham, Londonderry. Personally I love shopping downtown, with a music store, decent bakery, ice cream, couple of 'antique' (2nd hand) stores, steak house, and a couple of decent grocery stores (Shaws and Hannafords) Love the Thursday night concert series in the park next to the library (can't for the life of me think of the name right now) Very family oriented, have never seen safety issues...

CaliforniaGirl, I will be back later to answer some of your questions (this is more of a response to Brave Strangers post, no offense BS )

Originally Posted by Brave Stranger

Derry is having gang and crime issues. It used to be nice......about 20 years ago. There's a LOT of traffic. Not quite the New England town you think it is. There's a bus, but no train.

[GregW]

There is a small resturant in Derry where a bunch of bikers go for breakfast. These folks are a subset of sober bikers. Not a threat.

[Brave Stranger]

Originally Posted by Valerie C

Gee, how did I miss this thread? Derry is right next door to me... I'm usually better about answering local posts (I'm in Londonderry, one town west of Derry) Oh, I see... the original post was made on 4/24 which was a super busy day for me (my bday, among other things!)

ANYWAY... please try to do a search to see the MANY posts on Derry here at City Data. It's got very good schools, Pinkerton Academy (Londonderry's arch rival!!) is set up more like a college campus and less like a traditional high school. Excellent music & arts programs, etc. I'm in Derry at least 3 or 4 times each week, and I've yet to see true "gang problems". There are a number of apartment buildings in town, all somewhat close to the downtown area (or along 28 OR 102) and of course you might see some trouble-makers from time to time, it's not like Hell's Angels & The Crips (or whatever gang name is in the news these days...) are marking up neighborhoods. Like anywhere, you have to watch your area. Derry (except for the areas along 102 and 28) is largely single family property on .75+ acre (that's POINT 75) And the outskirts of town are rural, bordering Hampstead, Chester, Auburn, Windham, Londonderry. Personally I love shopping downtown, with a music store, decent bakery, ice cream, couple of 'antique' (2nd hand) stores, steak house, and a couple of decent grocery stores (Shaws and Hannafords) Love the Thursday night concert series in the park next to the library (can't for the life of me think of the name right now) Very family oriented, have never seen safety issues...

CaliforniaGirl, I will be back later to answer some of your questions (this is more of a response to Brave Strangers post, no offense BS )

You are aware of the two recent shootings in Derry, right ? One was indeed gang related.The situation in Derry is going downhill fast.

[GregW]

The situation that drove a couple of individuals to shoot other individuals is not related to the entire community. Derry and the rest of southern New Hampshire is still a safe and good place to live and bring up kids.

[Valerie C]

Truly, I don't consider these shootings to be "the norm" in Derry. In both situations, the shooter did not live in Derry, and one of them occurred at one of the rental property areas that I mentioned earlier. Speaking for myself, I still frequent downtown on a regular basis, show property there without hesitation, attend various goings-on. I don't look over my shoulder when in Derry, and while it's not the quiet little town that it was 20 years ago (then again, what is??) it's still a nice place to live. I know doctors, lawyers, nurses, teachers & firefighters who live there and love it for what it is...

Originally Posted by Brave Stranger

You are aware of the two recent shootings in Derry, right ? One was indeed gang related.The situation in Derry is going downhill fast.