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Rochester, NH

747 views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  DaisyO 
#1 ·
Anyone able to tell me what Rochester, NH is like? We're in MA, on the North Shore, and thinking of moving up that way. We homeschool and I know there are groups up there, I just would like to know what the town is like.

Thanks!
 
#3 ·
I live in the area. Rochester is generally not known as a desirable place to live. It's making strides in the right direction...the Rochester Opera House is a wonderful little venue that's bringing the community together...and the downtown area is growing.

But Rochester is generally known for a high poverty level and a lot of crime. I'm sure not all of its bad reputation is deserved, though. I know many wonderful people who live and work in Rochester. Like any small city (big ones, too) it's a few bad neighborhoods that give the whole area a bad name...

Generally speaking, Dover --which is a bit south of Rochester, is considered a more desirable city to live in.
 
#4 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Caliope View Post

I live in the area. Rochester is generally not known as a desirable place to live. It's making strides in the right direction...the Rochester Opera House is a wonderful little venue that's bringing the community together...and the downtown area is growing.

But Rochester is generally known for a high poverty level and a lot of crime. I'm sure not all of its bad reputation is deserved, though. I know many wonderful people who live and work in Rochester. Like any small city (big ones, too) it's a few bad neighborhoods that give the whole area a bad name...

Generally speaking, Dover --which is a bit south of Rochester, is considered a more desirable city to live in.
I would agree with this. Rochester seems to be perpetually down-and-out, even through many efforts to "revitalize" it. For some reason, it is just not able to pull itself up and out of a bad reputation. There is a lot of multi-generational poverty there, and a lot of crime (the police logs are informative). I used to work in the library there (which, like the Opera House, is beautiful), and I would see little children reading out loud to their parents, who couldn't read well enough to get through the newspaper headlines. This is not meant to blame those who are in a condition of poverty and illiteracy--not at all--but instead to point out the extent of the problem. It is sad, since it is a sort of sweet little town...although it has the usual Walgreens/Dunkin' Donuts epidemic where the old mills have been torn down. Also, it is known as a drugs hub for those selling out of Mass.

Dover is considered to be much nicer, and really is pretty nice. It's also really expensive. Portsmouth is ritzy and expensive. If you can consider living in the countryside, Strafford is really nice. It is adjoining to Rochester. Barrington is okay. Nottingham is very nice--great public library. Somersworth is a city like Rochester but the problems are magnified--don't move to Somersworth. Rollinsford seems nice and borders on Dover. Newmarket is really cool, you might like it, it has a little downtown and is next to Durham (big college town). You could check out Fosters Daily Democrat (known in our household growing up as Fosters Daily Republican) online for a sense of the area. Here is a tidbit typical of Fosters reporting

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20131002/GJNEWS_01/131009776/-1/ROCNEWS

Okay, sorry for NH-TMI ! I am from there, obviously, so I can't stop telling you all that I know...

I will shut up now

D
 
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