Manchester NH

[ScottySkis]

No Foie gros in Manchester!!!!

Non in Middletown NY which is the closest city to me.

 

[deadheadskier]

No Foie gros in Manchester!!!!

Lot of french people in Manchester. It actually sells pretty well.

 

[St. Bear]

Perhaps my view is a little harsh but in comparison to Portland, Manchester still blows from a dining and culture point of view. The appearance maybe slightly improved from 10 years ago. I used to do business there foe five years selling to restaurants and they did squat for business. These were the highest end most well respected restaurants in the city. No one goes out to eat downtown, no one goes there who doesn't live nearby. Other small cities like Portland or Providence; tourists actually go there to hang out. IMO that's the mark of a good city whether small or large; whether people travel there. The stadium draws some people in but other than that it doesn't have much going for it. Still has the worst crime in the state as well.......

All about perspective. I look at how far Manchester has come in a decade, and am impressed. You look at Manchester, and see how far it still needs to go.

 

[AdironRider]

All about perspective. I look at how far Manchester has come in a decade, and am impressed. You look at Manchester, and see how far it still needs to go.

A hole with 20 feet of shit in it and a hole with ten feet of shit in it are in the end, still shitholes. That being said, ManchVegas is still in a pretty good location to hit pretty much any ski area in NH or VT without much effort.

 

[SIKSKIER]

Maybe it's because Manchester is a total crap hole and everyone hides in their homes. No offense to any of our forum members from Manchester, but it's the Worcester of New Hampshire.

Wow,why would I take offense to you trashing where I've lived my whole life, and built a few succesfull businesses?Come let me show you how the downtown has transformed itself and my family has done our share at improving one of the mill buildings abutting the Fischer Cat stadium.The downtown and Millyard district is so alive and vibrant now.I for one think this total craphole is a fantastic location to live with a major city(Boston),the easts biggest mts,fantastic lakes and the ocean all 1 hour away.Not many cities anywhere have all that.

 

[Edd]

Wow,why would I take offense to you trashing where I've lived my whole life, and built a few succesfull businesses?Come let me show you how the downtown has transformed itself and my family has done our share at improving one of the mill buildings abutting the Fischer Cat stadium.The downtown and Millyard district is so alive and vibrant now.I for one think this total craphole is a fantastic location to live with a major city(Boston),the easts biggest mts,fantastic lakes and the ocean all 1 hour away.Not many cities anywhere have all that.

That's good news. When I moved to NH in 2001 I took a pretty hard look at living in Manchester and was turned off every time I paid a visit. My girlfriend talks like you and thinks there's a lot to like about it. We've been talking about having a party night and grabbing a hotel there for a few years.

In terms of making the most out of a downtown area Rochester is the worst fail I've ever seen. There are plenty of folks in that town with decent incomes but all they do is own a home and sleep there.

 

[xwhaler]

We've been talking about having a party night and grabbing a hotel there for a few years.

In terms of making the most out of a downtown area Rochester is the worst fail I've ever seen. There are plenty of folks in that town with decent incomes but all they do is own a home and sleep there.

If you like baseball, check out a Fisher Cats game....grab a room at the Hilton Garden (request a room facing the ballpark), go to the game, and then hit up the good bars on Elm St. Can almost guarantee you will enjoy yourself.

+ 1 on the dirty Roch.....Rochester has potential, in some ways the downtown is nicer than Dover downtown but too many shady folks and not enough going on culturally to really attract ppl to as you said hang out there.

 

[AdironRider]

If you like baseball, check out a Fisher Cats game....grab a room at the Hilton Garden (request a room facing the ballpark), go to the game, and then hit up the good bars on Elm St. Can almost guarantee you will enjoy yourself.

+ 1 on the dirty Roch.....Rochester has potential, in some ways the downtown is nicer than Dover downtown but too many shady folks and not enough going on culturally to really attract ppl to as you said hang out there.

Rochester has zero potential. Not everywhere is a fantastic place to live, never has been that way, never will be. Everyone gets defensive about their hometown (ala SikSkier) which is fine, Im that way myself. But looking at a place through rose colored sunglasses doesn't change the fact that there are better places out there. Why not Portsmouth, or Newburyport over ManchVegas. Both offer way better offerings with the same access to the goods/work.

 

[Smellytele]

Elm Street has improved but go 2 blocks to the east and it is quite seedy as are parts of the west side. It is still better than Nashua though.

 

[bobbutts]

If we're rating the cities in order of how much of a shithole they are, Sacramento beats Manchester easily. Reno is pretty trashy too.

 

[Smellytele]

Rochester has zero potential. Not everywhere is a fantastic place to live, never has been that way, never will be. Everyone gets defensive about their hometown (ala SikSkier) which is fine, Im that way myself. But looking at a place through rose colored sunglasses doesn't change the fact that there are better places out there. Why not Portsmouth, or Newburyport over ManchVegas. Both offer way better offerings with the same access to the goods/work.

They don't fit the >100k in pop.

 

[Newpylong]

Actually, Portland wouldn't fit the criteria either. It has a population of only about 65K. It feels as big if not bigger than Manchester, but it's not. Maybe it's because Manchester is a total crap hole and everyone hides in their homes. No offense to any of our forum members from Manchester, but it's the Worcester of New Hampshire.

Wow, douche bag much?

 

[Cannonball]

The list described in the OP was bound to create controversy. The category of "cities between 100K-500K population" is a pretty rough one. For the most part those are not big enough to have a decent city economy and too small to have a small town vibe. So you get in-betweens that tend to be targets for critique. I just looked at the list of US cities by pop and mostly the 110k-500k section is pretty lame (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population) . Manchester is actually one of the very best!

Of the 5 included:
- SLC wins because of the skiing. Nobody's going to argue that one.
- Sacremento and Reno pretty much blow.
- Anchorage realistically shouldn't count. As much fun as I've had in Anchorage it really doesn't fit the category. It may have a pop of 295K but that is spread over 1,700sqmi. That's a population density on par with the whole state of NH!
- And that leaves Manchester.....A small city that could be better, but ain't all that bad, and has great access to all of New England.

 

[deadheadskier]

Wow,why would I take offense to you trashing where I've lived my whole life, and built a few succesfull businesses?Come let me show you how the downtown has transformed itself and my family has done our share at improving one of the mill buildings abutting the Fischer Cat stadium.The downtown and Millyard district is so alive and vibrant now.I for one think this total craphole is a fantastic location to live with a major city(Boston),the easts biggest mts,fantastic lakes and the ocean all 1 hour away.Not many cities anywhere have all that.

There are lot of successful businesses in the Mills in Lawrence, Mass these days too. Where do the owners of those businesses live? Andover or one of the other nice towns outside of Lawrence. Now, Lawrence is obviously a MUCH, MUCH worse place to live than Manchester. However, where do the successful business owners in Manchester live? Not in the city. They live in one of the very nice towns outside of the city......like where you live; Bedford.

Why?

because......

Elm Street has improved but go 2 blocks to the east and it is quite seedy as are parts of the west side.

 

[deadheadskier]

Wow, douche bag much?

I'm a douche bag because I stated my opinion that the city with the worst crime rate in the State and that outside of a small area of downtown is loaded with seedy, dilapidated buildings is a crap hole? Okay

Would I be a douche bag if I called Dorchester, Mass a crap hole?

And no, I don't consider Manchester to be evenly remotely as bad of a place as Dorchester. I just didn't realize in this world that calling a place a crap hole makes you a douche bag.

 

[AdironRider]

They don't fit the >100k in pop.

Do you know how to follow a conversation or understand the concept of reply with quote?

 

[AdironRider]

Would I be a douche bag if I called Dorchester, Mass a crap hole?

No but you'll probably get shived.

 

[Edd]

Wow, douche bag much?

I've gotta defend DHS here. I certainly need a refresher on Manchester but quite a few people share his opinion. It may not always make the best impression.

 

[snoseek]

I've sorta rediscovered Manchester via dating a girl there over the last month. It has indeed gotten better from what I can see but still has some very seedy sections. If I actually lived there I would definitely not hide inside my house, there's tons of cool stuff to do.

On a seperate note I would personally be all set with living in Portsmouth, Newburyport ect.....I like diversity in my community and inflated real estate and pretentious food nightlife aren't really for me on a daily basis, i would rather travel to that and leave. I guess I'm a cheap beer and wings kinda guy that occasionaly splurges on classy things.

Of the towns listed Reno or SLC (better yet Ogden) would be my pick. Reno is sorta nice from what I can see, I don't like Sacremento too much, its suburban hell at its finest IMO

 

[deadheadskier]

Exhibit A of the crime in Manchester. FRAUD at the Carnival!

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2013/04/29/nh-man-loses-life-savings-on-carnival-game/2/

:lol: