Please help us find the right NH family town (Manchester: Home Depot, neighborhood)

[Lou11669]

Hoping someone out there can give us a good starting point in finding the right NH town. We are in our mid-30's with children under 5 and currently live on Long Island. While we do like it here, taxes are rising, home prices are silly and everything is becoming more built up with less green space. Our ideal town in NH would have a great community feel and excellent (not just good) schools. A downtown with stores, coffee shops and restaurants and family activities would also be ideal. We would like to be able to walk around town by foot if possible. We would be looking at a 4 bedroom newer home, $500,000 approx and neighbors I can wave to...3 acres would be way too much for us! My husband will keep his current position but being able to get to Boston Airport for business travel within the hour is important, unless there is an airport I don't know about that would be good for business travel also. Looking forward to hearing some suggestions. The places that keeps coming up so far is Hollis but we are only just beginning our search. We hope to visit a few contenders this fall so your answers will give us a starting point. Also if anyone has made the move from LI or somewhere similar, I would love to hear your thoughts.
Thanks.

[miu]

What about your husband flying out of the airport in Manchester, NH?

[lisa g]

If education is a priority for you I would cross NH off your list, Hollis, especially. In Hollis you will have property taxes in the 5 digit range and not much to show for it unless functional illiteracy is your standard.
Do not trust all the hype and marketing.

[Lou11669]

Really? I keep reading how good the schools are. Is this standard thinking towards NH and Hollis schools or your own free-thinking. Do you have children in school there? Can you elaborate on your experience?

[Aptor hours]

Originally Posted by lisa g

If education is a priority for you I would cross NH off your list, Hollis, especially. In Hollis you will have property taxes in the 5 digit range and not much to show for it unless functional illiteracy is your standard.
Do not trust all the hype and marketing.

Far from true thank goodness

[jmc912]

Portsmouth is about an hour from 3 airports: Manchester, Boston, or Portland...

I don't know much about the schools but there are very nice parts of Portsmouth and the town is very family friendly.

[unit731]

You are not going to find all of what you are seeking in New Hampshire.

Too many move up here from city/suburbs that have all of the social amenities but with high taxes. Then come to NH seeking the same but with lower taxes. It just doesn't work that way.

Plan to send your kids to a private school.

[Verseau]

I think Exeter and Durham might be strong contenders, based on your criteria.

[riddei63]

I was born and raised on LI, NY. Spent the first three decades of my life there. We just moved to Hollis three weeks ago and are loving it. If you search for other posts by Lisa G, you will see a trend regarding her opinion of education.

My son has a learning disorder, and I have spent a lot of time at the primary elementary school so far. I have met with administration, and special education. All I can say is I am very impressed with the schools from what I've seen (in July no less!).

There is a minimum building size of two acres in Hollis, so you will get at least that size piece of property. Beaver Brook Conservation Association has over 2,000 acres of conservation land throughout the area. My kids have been to their educational camp, and LOVE it. They will spend next week there as well.

I have met more genuinely nice people in the past three weeks, than the previous three years. I would highly recommend Hollis. We are less than 10 miles from the center of Nashua, less than 5 miles from 101A (Home Depot, strip malls, Supermarkets), and have an 8 acre lot with a neighborhood feel (hard to imagine) to come home to.

I would be happy to DM you, or post more in this thread. Good luck!

[Valerie C]

I have bolded the most important parts of your message to keep me on track and while I would like to suggest several towns, I need to put it out there that there are very few towns that in New Hampshire will offer you the shoppable/walkable downtown with coffee shops, restaurants and activities. Most towns in NH are rural, and while there ARE plenty of stores, malls, etc. (especially in the south-eastern areas of the state) the walkable town that many wish for when they are considering NH just doesn't exist.

The 'major' cities of Manchester & Nashua have walkable downtowns, but school systems aren't in the "excellent" category. Portsmouth has a great downtown, probably one of the most popular in the state, but again, schools are likely not what you are looking for. Dover has some nice walkable areas in the downtown area, schools again, not 'excellent'. Exeter has walkable downtown and a very good school system. Downtown Concord is very walkable--schools

Some of the best school systems in the state are near or adjacent to some of these walkable downtown areas... As mentioned previously, Hollis consistently gets high marks in the school department, as does nearby Amherst and Bedford. Downtown Nashua (and Manchester, come to think of it) is somewhat nearby to all of these. Other 'best' school systems in the state (that are close enough to Logan or Manchester airports) would be the Oyster River District (Lee/Durham/Madbury).

Keep in mind that other than the 'Great Schools' rankings, there are districts that specialize in various things: some are known for having winning sports teams, others have talented music or theater directors that make their schools stand out, and still others have well regarded special needs programs. All of these things combine to make a school district great. What is YOUR criteria for a GREAT school district?




[quote=Lou11669;30651493]Hoping someone out there can give us a good starting point in finding the right NH town. We are in our mid-30's with children under 5 and currently live on Long Island. While we do like it here, taxes are rising, home prices are silly and everything is becoming more built up with less green space. Our ideal town in NH would have a great community feel and excellent (not just good) schools. A downtown with stores, coffee shops and restaurants and family activities would also be ideal. We would like to be able to walk around town by foot if possible. We would be looking at a 4 bedroom newer home, $500,000 approx and neighbors I can wave to...3 acres would be way too much for us! My husband will keep his current position but being able to get to Boston Airport for business travel within the hour is important, unless there is an airport I don't know about that would be good for business travel also. Looking forward to hearing some suggestions. The places that keeps coming up so far is Hollis but we are only just beginning our search. We hope to visit a few contenders this fall so your answers will give us a starting point. Also if anyone has made the move from LI or somewhere similar, I would love to hear your thoughts.
Thanks.[/quote