Nicest town within one hour from Manchester airport (Nashua, Concord: home, neighborhood)

[StepRN3]

We are looking for a beautiful area to live in New Hampshire. We are looking for a town with excellent public schools, conveniences and within an hour from Manchester airport. We would like an upper middle class area. We can spend at least 1M on a home. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Jennymcb]

Bedford- pricey, great schools, very convenient, some traffic issues
Hollis- seems nice, I always liked going there for sport events...
Amherst- close to Nashua, good schools
Bow- bedroom community, good schools, rural
Concord- need to be neighborhood specific

[Valerie C]

Some of the most recommended schools in the state are located in towns well under an hour to the airport, and would include Amherst, Bedford, Bow, Hollis and Windham.

Bedford recently build it's own high school (previously attended Manchester West HS) and you can get more info here: Bedford High School

Windham's new high school is scheduled to open September 09, and you can view pictures, info here: Welcome to the Windham, New Hampshire High School

Amherst's Souhegan High (shared with Mont Vernon students) is a member of the Coalition of Essential Schools, and I would recommend that you read up on CES vs. traditional schools. The school is highly regarded, but may not be for everybody.

Hollis shares their HS with neighborhing Brookline, and like Amherst, has easy access to the shopping/dining conveniences of Nashua and also Route 3 into Massachusetts.

All of these towns are solidly upper-middle class, and for more unbiased demographic information:
NH Community Profiles
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

Looking forward to seeing more responses

Originally Posted by StepRN3

We are looking for a beautiful area to live in New Hampshire. We are looking for a town with excellent public schools, conveniences and within an hour from Manchester airport. We would like an upper middle class area. We can spend at least 1M on a home. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[NH2008]

Amherst and Hollis are both upper middle class towns within less than an hour of MHT. Hollis has more farms, Amherst has a gorgeous town center but also has a commercial area on the outskirts of town with a lot of icky yet necessary big box stores. I believe these are the only two cities in NH whose schools made the Newsweek list of top schools in the country a few weeks ago.

Bedford is also an upper middle class community and would be the closest to MHT but it has a very different feel - more of a typical modern suburb than a small town. A lot of people prefer that but I'd miss the history, walkable town centers and charm of the classic New England towns.

[roerinaci]

Hi Val,Just checked out your zip skinny great site,I'm putting that in my favorites

[rmcewan]

1M would buy you a nice home in Exeter, Hampton or Rye and you'll be 1 hour from Manchester AND Logan.

[BF66389]

Hollis is amazing.

For 1M you can get a nice home with a wonderful view up on one of the hills, or build your own... Great schools, great town, close to Nashua and the conveniences provided, close as in 5-10 minutes (though there are basics in town right here of course...which is about a 2 mile walk for me...which I just did to get a sub for lunch).

Amherst is a little more "suburban" in feel, and Bedford is definitely suburban. We preferred Hollis; but its up to you...

I can get to Manchester airport in close to 20 minutes and Logan in around an hour- both very reasonable.

[recovering yank]

North Hampton or Rye are my picks. I lived in HF, and couldn't get out fast enough, but those towns seem to have held up in the past 5 years.