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My husband and I live in Haverhill, Ma and are looking into moving to Atkinson or Exeter. I've been finding a great deal of info on Exeter, but not so much on Atkinson. Could someone give me a quick overview of the schools, quality of life and amenities available there? We want to be near a big city like Portsmouth which is why we are attracted to Exeter, but we feel we may get more bang for our buck in Atkinson. We have two small children so schools and a family friendly area are important to us. We have up to $650K to spend on a home. Any advice would be much appreciated.
We want to be near a big city like Portsmouth which is why we are attracted to Exeter, but we feel we may get more bang for our buck in Atkinson. We have two small children so schools and a family friendly area are important to us. We have up to $650K to spend on a home.
Where's the big city?
Haverhill, MA population: 60,500
Portsmouth, NH population: 20,800
$650K is a pretty good budget anywhere in the area. With Atkinson you are closer to the retail areas of Plaistow and easier access to MA, if that is important to you. Exeter is certainly a classic New England town with highly regarded schools and a pretty good commercial district along 101 & 108.
Where do you work? I would probably narrow my choices based on commuting options.
Thanks for the reply. Good point about the big city! I'm mainly referring to the fact that we like to be close to the abundance of restaurants, bars, culture and entertainment that you get from a town like Portsmouth.
The nice thing about commuting is that neither of us have one. We both work from home so that's not a concern. However my husband travels a lot so as long as we're within an hour of Manchester or Logan we'd be fine with that. We do have family in Haverhill, Groveland etc. so Atkinson like you said is easy access to MA. But Exeter isn't all that far either and I want to choose a spot where we'll ultimately be happiest. I think our next step is to take a ride through both areas. Perhaps that will sway us one way or another.
keep in mind that there's nothing wrong with having 2 good options to house hunt in! If both Exeter and Atkinson are equally good, then you have double the house opportunities. check nneren.com for what's available and also how the taxes will be.
Living in Haverhill, you're right over the border from Atkinson (North Broadway to Sawyer Ave). Part of the reason you're not finding much on Atkinson is that it's such a bedroom community, with few amenities right in town. Your closest shopping will be on Rte 125 in Plaistow, or Rte 28 in Salem. There have also been health concerns with some neighborhoods in Atkinson. This is not a town-wide issue.
School grades 6-12 are part of highly recognized SAU 16 (multiple towns) Your budget is well above the average home price in either town that you're considering. Exeter is considered part of the seacoast region, and being close to Portsmouth is a great bonus, plus you're that much closer to Maine, white mountains, etc.
Either town is well within an hour of both Logan and MHT, and as noted, Atkinson is on the Haverhill border while Exeter is maybe 30-35 minutes to Haverhill or Groveland (depending on which side of Haverhill you're going to. Groveland would be easy 95 to 113 in W. Newbury.
I always ask why people decide to move to NH (especially if they are coming from MA) I moved from Haverhill myself, first to St. Louis MO for a job transfer, then to Londonderry (NH) when we discovered that we didn't 'fit' in Haverhill any longer. That said, there are a number of good things, especially restaurants, in Haverhill which some folks aren't aware of. Joseph's Trattoria in Ward Hill, Georges on Washington Street (and music upstairs at Mal's Lounge!!), Keons on Washington St, Evanfall in Ward Hill. Events like The Christmas Stroll, the Arts Festival... I've said it before: Haverhill has so much potential, and if the city officials ever get their act together, fix the school situation, etc. Haverhill could easily rival Newburyport. Miles of waterfront--both sides of the Merrimack... could be just beautiful. I hope I live to see the day... Wow, I digress (insomnia, I tend to ramble... but hopefully this info helps you while you're still living there)
Quote:
Originally Posted by jmiller3673
My husband and I live in Haverhill, Ma and are looking into moving to Atkinson or Exeter. I've been finding a great deal of info on Exeter, but not so much on Atkinson. Could someone give me a quick overview of the schools, quality of life and amenities available there? We want to be near a big city like Portsmouth which is why we are attracted to Exeter, but we feel we may get more bang for our buck in Atkinson. We have two small children so schools and a family friendly area are important to us. We have up to $650K to spend on a home. Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks for that great information Valerie! I especially appreciate your concerns regarding Atkinson. I will definitely keep that in mind. I forgot to mention that we are also looking at the N.Hampton, Hampton, Hampton Falls areas as well.
To answer your question about moving from Haverhill - I agree completely!! We've lived here for 7 years and I'm familiar with all of the great potential this city has. However, the reason we are moving is the schools. My children are very young right now and we live in Bradford so attending Bradford Elementary isn't a concern - it's a great little school. But, we are very concerned about what's going on with the high school and don't like what we see. Education is extremely important to us and Haverhill doesn't fit the bill unless extreme changes are made, but with the city in so much debt (thank you Hale Hospital) I'm not optimistic this will happen.
Secondly, I must say we are also very frustrated about the value we would be getting for our dollar here in MA. The cost of many of the homes and even some lots of land were way above what we felt they were worth, even in this economy. And with our budget being $650K we shouldn't have to compromise a beautiful home in order to have a great school system.
With that said, we decided to explore the Seacoast and compare and boy we can already see a difference! Even in the more expensive areas like Exeter and Hampton, we are seeing things we like and can afford! We are mainly attracted to new construction or perhaps hire our own builder. Yes, we know about the high property taxes, but we've done the math and considering that we'll be losing the insanely high income tax we pay here in MA the property tax would still be less than we pay now.
Thank you again for your thoughts. We will be taking a ride to the area this weekend to look around. If you have any advice on N.Hampton, Hampton, Hampton Falls I would love to hear what you think.
Take care,
Jessica
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