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Nashua is high on our list due to folks such as yourself recommending it but what's up with the Nashuaters? LOL I thought of that as I was thinking of a post I read calling Nashua "Trashua". Why is that?
I'll just leave you with this. I'm hoping to move to NH one day. I spoke with a Nashua police officer about a year ago. He said whatever I to not move to Nashua. He said when he can afford he is moving his family away from there.
Nashua is high on our list due to folks such as yourself recommending it but what's up with the Nashuaters? LOL I thought of that as I was thinking of a post I read calling Nashua "Trashua". Why is that?
In any city there will be people that had a bad experience or constantly point out all the negatives. They'll even provide examples as proof. Hang around the "trashy" sections of a city and/or hang around trashy people and you too will leave with a negative impression. Cops probably see the worst in a city.
In southern NH, it's all about compromises. Take the good with the bad. Set realistic expectations.
I'm sure Lowell has always had an influence on Nashua gang activity and drug traffic. But, since I try to stay away from "that scene", it has not affected me.
At this point, you really need to visit and spend some time in the cities you are interested in. Get a feel for which you are comfortable in.
The problem is that you don't need to be in "that scene" for it to affect you. Look what's happening in Manchester right now. It's true you probably need to be in "that scene" to worry about being shot in the face as you open your apartment door. But there has been a HUGE wave of burglaries, as well as an uptick in random violent crimes, as well as non-random violent crimes. The consensus is that drugs are the root of the problem. Crazy things are happening like a woman's house burglarized on a nice weekend morning while she's right there, mowing her lawn. (That's one of the weirdest, but probably least scary-sounding, of the burglaries which have occurred while people are home.) The other day some guy opened his door after ordering a pizza, and was hit on the head with a metal pipe, and robbed. There have also been situations where pizza deliverymen were robbed after being called to vacant residences. You've got a woman driving along, then confronted and blocked by a group of drunk men who then smash out her rear window with an expandable baton, all because the car in front of her drove through a puddle and accidentally splashed the men. Nashua is also experiencing uptick in crime and yeah, much of it is coming from Lowell and Lawrence, MA. Even Bedford had that horrific home invasion, followed by a second unrelated home invasion which got less media attention.
I'll just leave you with this. I'm hoping to move to NH one day. I spoke with a Nashua police officer about a year ago. He said whatever I to not move to Nashua. He said when he can afford he is moving his family away from there.
I go to Portsmouth often and have good friends there. I also have good friends with the police department in Portsmouth. Portsmouth is definitely the top place to live in NH. At least for the areas you listed. Great downtown, very low crime, active and well respected PD and near many things to do and visit.
DH and I also look often at Portsmouth a lot as well. A very appealing town. I too understand and sympathize about the lack of that profound Asian influence which would limit your shopping options. Being Japanese myself, my comfort food selection leans toward that way.
A Chinese woman here in the process of moving to Northwood. I'm not worried about the lack of Asian culture in the area. I'd just plan ahead to stock my pantry with the appropriate Asian condiments. And any needed vegetables that I can find at Hannafords or the local farmers market, I will grow myself.
As to schools, the Coe-Brown Academy in my town is rated a 10, but I could see you sending your children to Phillips-Exeter Academy where my stepdad went. And he ended up at Harvard.
I wouldn't mind living in Portsmouth. I think that Nashua is too full of displaced MA people. I haven't explored that much of Manchester yet. Anyway, if you are attracted to NH for its conservatism, then stay out of southern NH.
Phillips Exeter is over $36K a year just for day students... over $46K per year for boarders. (Yes, they do have good financial aid for those who qualify.) They also only accept about 19% of all applicants, with a lower acceptance rate for the general applicant pool (non-faculty/staff kids, etc..) Our governor, by the way, is the wife of the principal there (a position equivalent to college president) and lives on campus.
The distressing thing about Coe-Brown is that the top 10 graduates each year rarely go to good colleges. I went to a public high school in coastal Maine and with very few exceptions our top 10 went to top national universities and top liberal arts colleges. Most of the top 10 Coe-Brown grads go to UNH or local community colleges, or other middling and no-name schools. I don't know how that can pass for a top-rated school.
Interesting. But doing well in high school doesn't mean that the family and their child want to go on to a top college. If they are really happy in NH, they may just want to spend their whole lives working and living in NH and having a degree from a top college isn't really needed for that... and why waste the money an expensive college education, especially if it's only a liberal arts college?
So far, most of the people I've met in town are good basic people, they are in the trades, have a working farm, but nothing like a software developer, scientist, artist or writer. I did hear that some Berkeley College of Music professor bought a rundown farm to restore. But it's a very rural area. So I'd say that their children would tend to go on to trade schools or an agriculture strong university. Otherwise, my immediate neighbor, who works at a company who makes turbos for the automotive industry, moved to town last year specifically so that his son could go to Coe-Brown for free rather than pay for it as an out of towner.
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