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I have heard that Bedford is getting a lot of move-ins from Boston and that the area is very rich and preppy. Are there also regular middle class people around there, too?
My husband is a teacher and might be getting job offers in Bedford and then at Mascoma Regional HS. Seems they are as dift. as night and day. We are middle class, slower paced, outdoor-loving. Which would fit our family better? I know Bedford would be better education-wise and Canaan is better outdoors-wise.
Any advice?? We would be moving in from a different region of the country although my husband is from New England.
Use the search tab above. Go to advanced search and punch in "Bedford" as your search word. Go to the bottom and pick New Hampshire as the state and let 'er rip. There are numerous threads on Bedford, many of them within the last three months. They all cover your questions. Good luck.
I have heard that Bedford is getting a lot of move-ins from Boston and that the area is very rich and preppy. Are there also regular middle class people around there, too?
My husband is a teacher and might be getting job offers in Bedford and then at Mascoma Regional HS. Seems they are as dift. as night and day. We are middle class, slower paced, outdoor-loving. Which would fit our family better? I know Bedford would be better education-wise and Canaan is better outdoors-wise.
Any advice?? We would be moving in from a different region of the country although my husband is from New England.
I love Bedford, I am more middle class also (not rich). It certainly has very rich & preppy parts. Nothing that would prevent me from living there. It has some middle class areas also. There is a middle class area off Boynton Street and then there is a little more upper/middle class area near Oak Drive. Both are super convenient to the highway/stores etc. I love Bedford for the school system, the library, the park & pool, the aesthetics and the closeness to everything that is important to me & the convenience to the highway. I don't live there, but my Dad has for 30+ years. I wish I would have bought there when we bought our home almost 5 years ago, but I didn't have kids then and I wasn't really thinking about education systems, closeness to kids activities......etc.
Canaan is WAY out in the boonies! (in my opinion)
You will be pretty far from everything. Yes, close to all the outdoors stuff but really that's it. Hanover would be your closest large town (not sure if it's a town or city).
Remember that Bedford, as well as other small towns, have been doing business long before the major expansions that they have experienced over the last few decades. Bedford was basically a farming community prior to the baby boomer expansion. There are still areas, as few as they are, which continue to be UnMcmansioned. There just not on the front line, so to speak. You have to seek the less traveled road.
Thanks for the responses. Yes, my husband definitely said that Canaan is in the boonies and Bedford is suburban with traffic and all of that. It is definitely 2 totally different ways of life.
Bedford is really nice and has plenty of middle class. Schools are top notch and although you are only 15 minutes from the center of Manchester, you feel like you are out in the country.
The only way to really find out is to visit here and drive around. Growing up in Boston, Bedford seemed like the boonies when we first moved to NH. There are some towns nearby that have more open space than Bedford. Goffstown. Mont Vernon is nice....
If you like the outdoors you could move to the northwest part of Bedford. I live in a neighborhood of 80 houses off of New Boston Rd. called Bedford Three Corners. We are surrounded by conservation land, have our own 12 acre pond, and numerous hiking trails. Here's a link to the google map view of the neighborhood. Make sure you choose satellite view to appreciate the location's country quality. [URL]http://maps.google.com/maps?q=three+corners+rd,+bedford,nh&rls=com.micros oft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7TSHA&um=1&sa=X&oi=geocode_re sult&resnum=1&ct=title[/URL] I am 15 minutes from downtown Manchester and it takes me 30 minute to commute to my job in Nashua.
I grew up in Boston and, at first, it took some getting used to living in the country. But with 80 neighbors, even though it is definitely a country neighborhood, you will never feel isolated. The Riddle Brook Elementary School is 5 minutes away on New Boston Rd. We NEVER lose power (and everybody in NH loses power in the winter when we get heavy snows and winds) thanks to a dedicated electrical line which passes near our neighborhood on the way to the New Boston Satellite Tracking Station. Keeping New Boston Rd. plowed is a top priority thanks to the same NBAFS.
When you drive into this no outlet neighborhood you will see nothing but kids playing. I swear it's like a throwback to the 60s when I was a kid. And the thing is, this town is all about kids. It's a fantastic place to raise a family. The schools are great, crime is low, and the air is clean. (The water is not clean. It is full of iron, manganese and quite often has high levels of radon. Make sure you get a water test anywhere you buy in NH. All of these problems are easily solved with softeners and radon strippers-if necessary. I have all of those, but still choose to drink Poland Spring water.)
One final point about Bedford is the property taxes. My house is appraised at 350,000 and I pay $6500 a year in taxes on it. The exact same house in Windover Landing in Merrimack, NH pays $10,500 per year in taxes. This is after we just built an elementary school, a junior high school and a high school in the last 10 years. Oh yeah, my taxes last year were $7000. That's correct. My taxes actually went down this year. (We were told that they would after the initial expense of the schools...and they did.) My point is this. Bedford is in a very enviable position. We have the 4th highest tax base in the state. This is due to the commercial zone on old route 3 and all of the million dollar plus homes in town. So our taxes are very stable compared to a lot of towns in NH.
So, country atmoshpere near a medium-sized city, with a great quality of life, and a stable tax rate. That's Bedford. Drive up. Head west 5 miles on New Boston Rd. Take a right onto Pulpit Rd. And check out Bedford Three Corners. The real estate slowdown should really help you...that means there may be some houses for sale. For about the past 5 years there weren't many. Good luck!
Last edited by SoxPatsCeltsNH; 11-24-2008 at 12:29 AM..
Reason: syntax
I live in Bedford, right off the 101, close to the fire dept. The traffic on the 101 does get heavy during rush hour. Luckily I don't tend to go out during those times. But even when I do, the wait to make a left turn for example, isn't unreasonable.
I know there are very rich areas of Bedford, but I don't know if I've seen them yet. I just joined the Bedford Moms group recently, and it all looks pretty middling middle class. Some of the moms live in new subdivisions that look VERY NICE, but I don't know if the houses are necessarily that expensive. The houses, don't seem to have any more square footage than mine (2500). The the moms I've met are very down to earth, friendly and welcoming.
We knew before we moved in that the property taxes were high, but we were told the schools were top notch, one reason why we moved here. The library is fantastic, and there seem to be a lot of family friendly things going on. There are even weekly playdates at the town hall twice a week, sponsored by the city parks and rec. That's something totally new to me.
I know I've mentioned this on another thread, but the one downside is no sidewalks. We living within short walking distance of the town "center" but we have to drive because there are no sidewalks, and you wouldn't want to walk on the shoulder of the 101. Our agent told us Bedford used to be a farming town, so everything was much more spread out. No reason for sidewalks. I don't know if that will ever change. There are some sidewalks near Memorial Playground and Peter Woodbury school, the high school. Otherwise I haven't seen any.
I know that if you go farther west, to around Joppa Hill rd, the feel is more rural. I know a mom that lives around there and her neighbors have seen bears.
Remember too- just because he works in Bedford doesn't mean you have to live there. There are plenty of towns that may be more rural within a very-easy commute. Just a thought!
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. It certainly has very rich & preppy parts. Nothing that would prevent me from living there. It has some middle class areas also. There is a middle class area off Boynton Street and then there is a little more upper/middle class area near Oak Drive. Both are super convenient to the highway/stores etc. I love Bedford for the school system, the library, the park & pool, the aesthetics and the closeness to everything that is important to me & the convenience to the highway. I don't live there, but my Dad has for 30+ years. I wish I would have bought there when we bought our home almost 5 years ago, but I didn't have kids then and I wasn't really thinking about education systems, closeness to kids activities......etc. 
(in my opinion)
