Lowell, MA vs Manchester, NH (living, cost, state, better)

[bolehboleh]

I wanted to compare these two fairly similar Merrimack Valley cities to see what the rest of you think. Manchester is a bit bigger, but I thought it was a better comparison than if I through in Nashua. So, which is better?

Criteria

Quality of Life:
Cost of Living:
Transportation:
Nightlife:
Urban Core:
Safety:
Things to do:
Access to outdoor activities:


Cheers!

[btownboss4]

Manchester has much larger city limits, about 2.3 times larger than Lowell. So their similar population does not reflect the urban cores, Lowell's urban core is larger.
That said, Manchester is closer to the mountains and lakes of New Hampshire (obviously), and is safer.

[btownboss4]

This may be better in the MA or NH forum, I wouldn't expect most people to know anything about Manchester and not much about Lowell outside of the Lowell Girls from History class.

[bradjl2009]

No one really outside of New England really knows enough about either city to make a fair comparison about these two cities.

[bolehboleh]

I wanted to avoid putting it in a NH or MA forum because I thought the results might be skewed.

[Champ le monstre du lac]

They both have some similarities as they are both old mill cities that happen to be on the same river. I'm not really big on either as in New England I prefer the coastal burgs to the inland mill towns. Lowell would be a better choice if you're more of a city person that appreciate more ethnic diversity (one of Lowell's strong points) and being closer to Boston with commuter rail access to it. Lowell also has the UMass Lowell campus so there is a some of that college town element there as well.

Neither city really has a great downtown though I'd give Lowell a slight edge there as it has Beer Works which is great if you're into craft beer. Manchester feels like a very average workaday kind of place. I guess the advantage to Manchester if your working in NH is no state income tax, NH also has no sales tax (Lowell has easy access to that with nearby malls in Nashua). If you like the idea of having easier access to NH lakes and mountains and not having to deal with 93 or route 3 traffic coming up from Mass (can be brutal at times), Manchester would be a better choice for that.