New Hampshire Information - looking for advice

Well, I've been away a while (since '90). CA, CO and now MN. Grew up in CT, went to school at UMaine. Anyway, potential job transfer may bring myself and my family to the Manchester area. Any advice? We are skiers, cyclists and need a good school system for the kids.

 

Any advice will help. Locations, schools, local rides, ski areas, downtown, housing.

 

I appreciate it!!

 

(May be delayed on responses as I cannot post up at work.)

Check out the surrounding areas of Manchester. Bedford, Amherst, Windam and Chester all have good school systems. Stay away from the city of Manchester it's self as it is getting really bad as far as gang problems etc.

 

North of Manchester would also be good and you would be closer to the mountains.( Concord )

I personally wouldn't want any of my kids going to Manchester schools, although i don't have any. At least the high schools, i have no idea about grade schools. Having had many friends go through them and my GF of 6 years, the general consensus is that its getting worse.

 

Living in Bedford won't help you too much as there is no highschool and those kids go to manchester schools.

 

I grew up in Merrimack and currently live there now, it was fine. Not sure how it is today though.

 

My mother is a teacher in Hudson and I'll tell you i wouldn't send them there either.

 

I've heard good things about Amherst schools, but most of Amherst is pretty pricey.

ill say it once

 

Concord, best school district around

 

plus TDC is in concord!

 

pm me if u need more details

its real nice here

I like Concord, too.

 

And the schools are supposed to be good (my 2 yeard old is too young).

 

Hour to Boston, 45 minutes to skiing, many local bike and hike trails. Also a bus to Boston. To me it's perfect.

my daughter is 3 she will be in preschool next year

but we "have" about 10 kids (shannon is a nanny)

so we know the district real well. like where in concord to live,

school, eat etc etc

I am unsure of what real estate market you come from? However the Seacoast Area of NH is very appealing although it turns into a ~25-40min commute to Manchester. If you visit NH to scope out I would recommend spending at least a day as it offers an incredible amount for even a tourist.

Thanks for the posts NH crew. I'll be covering a bit of ground and need to get to Boston and Mass, and Maine. So the area sounds good. My office will be in Raymond, so the coast is a possibility too. Thanks for the heads up on the Manchester schools. Concord might be a bit of a haul to Raymond? 30 min looks like on a clear day. Does that freeway back up in summer to the coast? Thanks again!

If Raymond is the office without a doubt that is on the outskirts of Seacoast NH. A great Seacoast town to live in with great schools are Exeter/Stratham(~15-20 mins down RT101). RT101 which Raymond is off of connects over the Secoast very quickly. It rarely backs up.

 

Given the job is Raymond I would start your search in Exeter/Stratham and Seacoast before even thinking about Manchester/Concord area.

I live in Sandown, NH. It's off the beaten path and very quiet. All major highways are 15-20 minutes away. (Rt 495, 93, 101)

 

We have 2 elementary schools and one middle/high school. Plus our taxes are pretty good.

 

Raymond is 20-25 minutes away.

 

I love it and plan to raise a family here.

Well, I've been away a while (since '90). CA, CO and now MN. Grew up in CT, went to school at UMaine. Anyway, potential job transfer may bring myself and my family to the Manchester area. Any advice? We are skiers, cyclists and need a good school system for the kids.

 

Any advice will help. Locations, schools, local rides, ski areas, downtown, housing.

 

I appreciate it!!

 

(May be delayed on responses as I cannot post up at work.)

 

Hollis is very nice - I very nearly moved there but it was just too far of a commute for me, so I ended up in Groton.

 

I definately recommend Hollis. It's a bit pricey, but the schools are very good. May be a bit far for you too.

 

Edit: If you're in Raymond this is probably not where you want to be. Can't suggest anything east of 3 - I'm recently new to the area, but we scouted out Hollis, Nashua, Groton, Dunstable, Westford, Pepperel, etc etc God it took forever, and we still overpaid.

I like Concord, too.

 

And the schools are supposed to be good (my 2 yeard old is too young).

 

Hour to Boston, 45 minutes to skiing, many local bike and hike trails. Also a bus to Boston. To me it's perfect.

 

Yeah, in a squad car maybe. I drive at least three days a week between Boston and Manchvegas. It's 50 miles to exit 6. It takes me 48-50 minutes up and 55-60 back. Concord is 15-20 minutes more. During rush hour it's doubled.

 

Houses in Concord are more affordable; it's the state capital; it' has great access to the lakes and mountains; and the property tax burden does not reach the absurd levels of places like bedford.

 

However if you're working in Raymond I'd follow the advice above and look more towards the coast, like Exeter. Newfields is a bedroom community N of Exeter with a community school. Phillips Exeter is in Exeter and that's probably a plus. Plus there's a drag strip in Epping, and Sigarms Academy!

Thanks for the updates guys. Yeah, a bit worried about the housing costs, but we are coming from a pretty expensive market and have modest/simple taste. We'll start looking east at this point trying to keep the commute to Raymond shorter rather than longer. From the coast, Gunstock looks to be the closest hill - about an hour? Why not live right in Raymond? Or is that still a bit to rural there? Still waiting at this point for my final inteview. Thanks again.

Thanks for the updates guys. Yeah, a bit worried about the housing costs, but we are coming from a pretty expensive market and have modest/simple taste. We'll start looking east at this point trying to keep the commute to Raymond shorter rather than longer. From the coast, Gunstock looks to be the closest hill - about an hour? Why not live right in Raymond? Or is that still a bit to rural there? Still waiting at this point for my final inteview. Thanks again.

 

Icerock (Gunstock) is meh

just a bit more north is Tenny, waterville, loon Much better

but gunstock has night skiing

as does Cranmore and Pats peak

 

the thing i hate about raymond is its int he middle of EBF

and that godforsaken 101 that you have to drive to get there

 

you can think about living off route 4 as well, barrington, northwood, etc etc

still in the woods but a much nicer woods :-p and the commute isnt that bad either

backroads around there can be much fun :-X

if u wanna see the seacoast.. me and bulldogg will take you out. i live in dover and he lives in portsmouth. i dont know ur budget..but hollis is $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Gunstock is nice place to go if you just want to ski for a decent price. It is about 20min from my house in Laconia (parents lake winnipesaukee house). Loon and Waterville are my favorites, which are about 45min north of Laconia.

 

Good luck on the move and make sure to check out TDC for tuning!

well, i've lived near and skied them all from Sugarloaf to Vail to Mammoth. nothing here in the midwest, 45 minutes to 200 vetical feet. so being within an hour is gonna be a welcome sight. just looking to get my kids into it at a young age.

 

thank you for all the info folks. final interview on the 9th. looks good. and Exeter and the surrounding areas is shaping up to be first choice. except nothing looks all that inexpensive, but i guess thats going on everywhere nowadays.

If you're going be putting kids through school, the new london area is pretty nice, i grew up there. And Kearsarge isn't as bad as most people think... it's alot better than the manchvegas schools

Buy Jake Sacco's house in Sandown, it's on Cobblestone Lane, so he can come to Montana. His house is perfect, we need him to come and do carpentry and tile work here - he's trying to move. Jake's cell 603-770-8817. Tell him you got the lead from Montana.

Hey Gang. Hate to bump for myself, but I am heading out east. Thanks for all the info.

 

Company is treating me pretty well on the move. I'll be living/working out of Maine for a couple months while my place here sells. Then down to NH. That'll give me a couple months with the wife to spec places out.

 

See you in January.

if u are looking in the seacoast area at all (dover portsmouth rochester durham barrington) i know a good buyers agent. u pay 0 fees. his piece comes from the seller, not the buyer

thx EB. not sure what to do yet. waiting to see what i get for my place here. market has slowed (back to normal anyway). looks like whatever i pull out of here is going to be a down payment out there. i've been keeping an eye on things online. over the past couple months, folks have been dropping $$ a bit out there. we are hoping for something decent in the $300k range. i know that doesn't get much, but that's what where we are looking. first priority is the kid's school. damn. when did that happen? it used to be about me. at least i've got my GT.

is this the first home u have ever owned?

Nah. This one in MN and a condo I should've held onto in CA in the mid 90s.

I'll throw in another vote for Concord. A decent housing market ($300k will likely get you a nicer place here than it will in Manchester/Portsmouth/other built-up areas), good schools, and.. some stuff to do.

 

I'd also recommend Sunapee for NH ski people. It's not quite as tall as the white mountain stuff, but it's usually less busy. I went to Waterville a few years ago on a weekend, and I think I spent 20 minutes in line every run, and at Sunapee (where I've skied since I was a tyke) I don't think I usually spend more than 5-10, even on holiday weekends.

 

For some reason, massholes hate making that left turn onto I-89

 

Also, it's 30 minutes or so roughly from Concord to Raymond, and it's 30 minutes from Portsmouth to Raymond. The only thing to consider about Portsmouth->Concord is that you spend a lot of time on 101, which is one of the more dangerous highways in NH.