Book on best cities to raise families loves Nashua
By NICHOLAS COATES
Union Leader Correspondent
NASHUA – Nine years after being named the best place to live in America by Money magazine—a feat the city accomplished in 1987, as well — a new book ranking the country's best places to raise a family says Nashua is again among the country's elite.
The book, "Best Places to Raise Your Family," released in May by Bert Sperling and Peter Sander, ranked the top 100 most affordable communities based on categories like standard of living, education, health and safety, lifestyle and population profiles. Sperling and Sander explained in the introduction that their rankings were based on value, and not just excellence.
Nashua, along with Appleton, Wis., and Coralville, Iowa, were named as the best places for health and safety, according to the book.
Nashua, a former mill town with a population of 87,411 people, according to the book, had a property crime rate and violent crime rate that was below the country's average, according to the Web site associated with the book, "Sperling's Best Places."
Property crime rates were defined by burglary, larceny-thefts, motor vehicle theft and arson, while violent crime rates were defined by murder, non-negligent homicide, forcible rape and aggravated assault. The crime rates are based on FBI data, the Web site said.
Phone and email messages to both authors for an additional explanation were not returned yesterday.
Ranked "the best of the best," according to the book were Louisville, Colo.; Gaithersburg, Md.; Roswell, Ga.; Lakeville, Minn.; Flower Mound, Texas; Fort Collins, Colo.; Cary, N.C.; Sugar Land, Texas; Columbia, Md.; and Noblesville, Ind.
News of the city's being named one of best places to live for health and safety was mostly positive, but was mixed with some criticism Monday.
"Since I've lived here I've always felt safe," Nashua's Liza Martone, a mother of a 4-year-old, said in the Nashua Public Library. "Even when I'm uptown later at night, I've never felt threatened. You still get a hometown feel, but you're still in a city. You get the best of both worlds."
Lori Marchant, who lives behind Elm Street Middle School, a downtown neighborhood known to have crime issues, disagree with Martone's assessment.
"When kids have to go around on skateboards and a foam sword to protect themselves so that people don't jump them, it's pretty bad," said Marchant, a mother of a 10-month-old and 5-year-old, from the library. "I don't go anywhere without at least two friends with me and I'm 23 years old. It's not as safe as people think it is."
Denise Earl, who lives in Hudson, but moved here from upstate New York said she felt the downtown area was safe.
"I feel this is a really safe downtown and we wouldn't be out here if it wasn't," said Earl, who had just come out of a downtown sports memorabilia shop with her two young sons. "You can live in a small town, but you've got all the Boston teams to root for.
And Mayor Bernie Streeter lauded the Nashua Police Department's efforts in his reaction.
"The fact that we continue to be recognized in this area is due to our outstanding police department. Crime statistics prove that we continue to do something right," said Streeter.
Police Chief Timothy Hefferan said the news would be received well by the department's staff who, many times, don't get to see the results recognized.
