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my sister lived there. she feels the schools are very good.
there are many friendly people and local activities but my sister said many people are snobby and stuck up it is mainly upper middle class with some real snobbery meshed in.
very nice scenic atmosphere and rather rural looking. clean, little to no crime and very small populace and small town.
there are many businesses though and you are driving distance to derry a much larger town and you are right next to manchester the largest city in New Hampshire so everything you cant get in london derry is right near by.
you will also be very close to the mass border and concord NH the state capitol so there are many places you can easily drive to.
My wife and I have lived here for 26+ years and still like it. It is a mixture of the very and not so affluent. it has very good, and expensive, schools. a great little library and good fire and police services. It is mostly big lot suburban but we have worked very hard to preserve the farms that once dominated the place. We have big apple orchards (Moose Hill aka Mack’s Apples was started in 1732) and smaller general farms. We buy fresh eggs from a local farmer and Maple syrup from Hank Peterson’s Farm.
Londonderry is minutes from Manchester airport with domestic and international service (Montreal is International) and Boston Logan is only a hour away by car or bus. There is commuter bus service into Boston, and the airport, that takes about an hour each way.
The only thing that irritates me is the relatively heavy traffic on weekends and sometimes traffic noise from I-93. Notwithstanding, I think Londonderry is a very good place to live.
My wife and I have lived here for 26+ years and still like it. It is a mixture of the very and not so affluent. it has very good, and expensive, schools. a great little library and good fire and police services. It is mostly big lot suburban but we have worked very hard to preserve the farms that once dominated the place. We have big apple orchards (Moose Hill aka Mack’s Apples was started in 1732) and smaller general farms.
Well, Woodmont Apple Orchard, 280 acres (haven't been there in many a year, as I moved far away) got sold for $7M, to a real-estate developer, because the town was too cheap to buy (and preserve) it. About 3/4 the size of Macks. Expect a lot of new houses.
The 'flood' northward of development has been happening for years in southern NH. I remember reading about old Ryan farm in Windham (there are books in the bookstores about it), that was divided and conquered. Lots of McMansions now, from what I have been told. Sounds as if the trend is spreading northward.
We buy fresh eggs from a local farmer and Maple syrup from Hank Peterson’s Farm.
Londonderry is minutes from Manchester airport with domestic and international service (Montreal is International) and Boston Logan is only a hour away by car or bus. There is commuter bus service into Boston, and the airport, that takes about an hour each way.
The only thing that irritates me is the relatively heavy traffic on weekends and sometimes traffic noise from I-93. Notwithstanding, I think Londonderry is a very good place to live.
Sparkle - You are unfortunately correct about Woodmount. The short sighted residents were too cheap to buy up the develpopment rights. The new owners plan a very elaborate small car free compact "new village" type development. The plans have cleared the Planning and we expect dirt to move within a year. The only saving grace is it is located near Rts 102 and I-93 where auto and truck noise can be a problem.
Well, Woodmont Apple Orchard, 280 acres (haven't been there in many a year, as I moved far away) got sold for $7M, to a real-estate developer, because the town was too cheap to buy (and preserve) it. About 3/4 the size of Macks. Expect a lot of new houses..
Quote:
Originally Posted by GregW
Sparkle - You are unfortunately correct about Woodmount. The short sighted residents were too cheap to buy up the develpopment rights. The new owners plan a very elaborate small car free compact "new village" type development. The plans have cleared the Planning and we expect dirt to move within a year. The only saving grace is it is located near Rts 102 and I-93 where auto and truck noise can be a problem.
AS IF the town of Londonderry ever had a snowballs chance in ____ of buying ANY portion of Woodmont Orchard... We couldn't even get the little 24-acre parcel that Andy Mack dangled before the town (before he sold it to the developer who didn't need an appraisal or a bond to buy the property).
No, THIS plan has been in the works for DECADES. Over the last 20 years, dozens of land parcels have been purchased, in many different names, various LLCs, and only after the 280 acre Woodmont Orchard was secured, did any of this become public. The family ties between Demoulas (Market Basket) family and the Lievens family that own(ed) Woodmont go way back. Most of us knew that Woodmont Orchard was the primary supplier of apples to the Market Basket stores, but it came as a surprise to many Londonderry residents to learn that the Lievens family owned the Market Basket plaza (formerly known as the K-Mart plaza) that the original (and newly relocated) Market Basket sits on... And by this time, it should be no surprise to anyone that Mike Kettenbach is afflilated (by marriage) with the family that owns Market Basket. Or that according to information shared at the 2010 charrette, the entire Woodmont development is owner-financed, no lender involvement.
In 2009: "The orchard operations and supporting structures in addition to the residential properties included in the farm borders, are valued at over $2.6 million dollars." Yet less than a year later, they sold for 7 million to the developer. If an appraisal was completed on the property prior to the sale, the people of Londonderry were not privy to the details.
The Town of Londonderry did have the opportunity to purchase a Conservation Easement on the 24-acre parcel that borders the development, with a clause that stated that if the appraisal came in at less than $900,000, Andy Mack Sr. could back out of the deal. According to that appraisal, the land was valued at $715,000 before the conveyance of the $180,000 partial interest (the house lots that he intended to keep for himself) meaning the actual fair market value of the property with the conservation easement is $535,000. So Mr. Mack terminated his purchase and sales agreement with the town and accepted an offer to sell to Pillsbury Realty Development LLC. On Sept. 28, the purchase and sale was recorded, at $1,050,000.
A September 2010 quote from Mike Kettenbach (Principal of Pillsbury Realty Development): "The vision for the property, decades in the making, is to build a sustainable development that is a benefit to the entire community."
"We've been putting pieces of the puzzle together for a couple of decades," he said. "We're planning for the future. This is not something that will happen overnight. It will take place over the next 20 years. It takes forethought to pull this kind of thing together."
The same website (townunderground) reported: "It's estimated that Pillsbury Realty Development has spent in the range of $18 to $20 million on its land holdings today. Other parcels included in the proposed development are affiliated with Pillsbury but not owned by it, or have not yet been purchased.
And the project is still very much a work in progress. While it's more than 600 acres, an exact acreage is not easily determined, as it includes land owned by Pillsbury Realty Development, affiliated with it, or about to be purchased by it."
You're welcome, Greg. There is soooo much to all of this that none of us ever knew.... Now it's all pretty much out in the open, but you still gotta go looking for it. It seems that very few people in town know the extent of the previous planning that took place... and I consider myself lucky to have been able to attend every charrette that the developer held when this was unveiled to the public, and many of the public meetings of the zoning board, town council, etc. when Woodmont was discussed. Things are at a standstill right now, and the new development to the situation is that Exit 4A (which both Derry and Londonderry are on the hook to pay for) may only be an east-bound onramp, and NOT go to the west (Londonderry) side of Rte. 93.
We have friends who live along the back edges of the orchard, where the old cemetery on Hovey Road is, and they are worried sick that the rural area that they chose many years ago is going to become just another overcrowded subdivision, tied into an industrial/commercial area. While this affects their neighborhoods more than anyone in town, this development will change Londonderry forever. While the town may be modeled after places like Portsmouth, Newburyport (and it was also mentioned) European villages, Woodmont will be looking to attract large franchise stores (think the the loop in Methuen, MA). One of these days, I need to take a little field trip to check out Mashpee Commons down on the cape, or on a more dramatic scale, Kentlands in Maryland.
This development in Londonderry is New Hampshire's first Planned Master Community, but people all over the country can probably give their first-hand experience with this type of development. Just before we left O'Fallon, MO to return to New England, a whole new downtown/PUD was in process of being constructed. The Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course was within view of my deck, and the rest of Winghaven consisted of businesses, schools, hotels, a hospital, and thousands of residences: apartments above storefronts, row/town houses, luxury single family homes (on 1/4 acre lots) and everything in between. This is sort of what I envision this area of Londonderry to look like at some point...
You're welcome, Greg. There is soooo much to all of this that none of us ever knew.... Now it's all pretty much out in the open, but you still gotta go looking for it. It seems that very few people in town know the extent of the previous planning that took place... and I consider myself lucky to have been able to attend every charrette that the developer held when this was unveiled to the public, and many of the public meetings of the zoning board, town council, etc. when Woodmont was discussed. Things are at a standstill right now, and the new development to the situation is that Exit 4A (which both Derry and Londonderry are on the hook to pay for) may only be an east-bound onramp, and NOT go to the west (Londonderry) side of Rte. 93.
We have friends who live along the back edges of the orchard, where the old cemetery on Hovey Road is, and they are worried sick that the rural area that they chose many years ago is going to become just another overcrowded subdivision, tied into an industrial/commercial area. While this affects their neighborhoods more than anyone in town, this development will change Londonderry forever. While the town may be modeled after places like Portsmouth, Newburyport (and it was also mentioned) European villages, Woodmont will be looking to attract large franchise stores (think the the loop in Methuen, MA). One of these days, I need to take a little field trip to check out Mashpee Commons down on the cape, or on a more dramatic scale, Kentlands in Maryland.
This development in Londonderry is New Hampshire's first Planned Master Community, but people all over the country can probably give their first-hand experience with this type of development. Just before we left O'Fallon, MO to return to New England, a whole new downtown/PUD was in process of being constructed. The Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course was within view of my deck, and the rest of Winghaven consisted of businesses, schools, hotels, a hospital, and thousands of residences: apartments above storefronts, row/town houses, luxury single family homes (on 1/4 acre lots) and everything in between. This is sort of what I envision this area of Londonderry to look like at some point...
I hope that I'm wrong.
I hope you're wrong too, but it no longer matters to me, as I bailed from the area.
Money talks. The Londonderry residents, if they were willing to ante up to the bar, could have had it. EVERYONE has a price.
No longer an issue for me, but it is sad to see one more town in NH do a train-wreck. JMHO.
In terms of Mashpee on the Cape, we have a place in New Seabury. Fortunately they put so many covenants in place that we didn't have to worry about developers coming in, and would like to keep it that way.
Personally, I am very unhappy as to what they did to Londonderry, but it no longer affects me ( I am 8500 miles away, and glad to be there).
There is always the possibility of shoveling 26 years of stuff out of our condo, selling the place (hopefully the new development will increase the price but I doubt it) and move to New Mexico for the weather and proximity to one of the best environmental science programs on the planet. Lots of options are still available.
FWIW - did you know they plan on opening a SNH Liquor Superstore next to Market Basket? Now that should bring in the hordes from Lawrence.
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