Highlands/Bakersville neighborhood west of mall?

Submitted by ChellSurik t3_z66vpf in ManchesterNH

I know there a lot of these questions posted in here, but can’t find any specific to the Highlands/Bakersville neighborhood west of the mall. (although it includes Beech St and I’ve seen the “avoid the tree streets” comments). Anyone have experience living there? It’s just me and my dog moving from Boston, so wondering really about noise, walkability/bikeability, and vibes I guess. It seems nice visiting on the weekends, but haven’t been able to go during the week yet. TIA!

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sysadminsavage t1_ixzqvco wrote

The Tree streets rule is more applicable to the center of the city. The key areas you want to avoid are the box formed by Chestnut, Cilley, Belmont and Bridge Streets, as well as the Piscataquog neighborhood on the West Side and parts of Notre Dame. There are certainly exceptions to this but you'll have to visit on a block by block basis to get a better read.

Bakersville is a little run down north of Mitchell St and has some public housing. I wouldn't call it dangerous, but the Highlands is a little nicer. I personally don't like the south part of town because South Willow Street easily gets backed up by traffic and lacks character (it's a big retail hub for the region with the mall being there), but there are some good deals on housing over there if you don't mind it. Of course, if you are moving from Boston the traffic and crime here will likely be miniscule in comparison to what you're used to.

Feel free to ask about any specific streets. Manchester is a great little city but the neighborhoods vary widely in appeal.

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ChellSurik OP t1_iy07vby wrote

Thank you for the answer! Very helpful. I’m actually looking on Mitchell haha, does Beech st get backed up like S Willow? Does that area around Mitchell feel more retail-y like the east side or more neighborhood-y? I don’t need super quiet but I’d prefer not to hear a lot of traffic.

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sysadminsavage t1_iy09lw6 wrote

It's more residential. South Beech St which goes through that neighborhood is a main street but traffic is usually light throughout the day. Driving wise the only headache over there is the Queen City Ave/Willow St/Cilley Rd intersection, though it looks like the city plans to fix this in the future according to this.

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ChellSurik OP t1_iy0f9pi wrote

Oh nice! I actually just drove through that intersection and thought it was weird. Thanks again for the info, the north end is out of my budget so good to hear there are other good areas.

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Grogu- t1_iy0wh3e wrote

Manchester crime and safety rankings are very similar to worse than Boston.

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ChellSurik OP t1_iy1w3v8 wrote

Lol

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Grogu- t1_iy1x83y wrote

https://www.numbeo.com/crime/compare_cities.jsp?country1=United+States&country2=United+States&city1=Boston%2C+MA&city2=Manchester%2C+NH

https://www.areavibes.com/compare-results/?place1=Manchester%2C%20NH&place2=Boston%2C%20MA#cri

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ChellSurik OP t1_iy22te8 wrote

You’re comparing entire cities to each other, which is useless, neighborhoods vary widely. I also didn’t ask about it.

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WeAreNotNowThatWhich t1_ixzpxiv wrote

I’m interested in this answer also. Currently live on elm st and would like to move away eventually.

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woogychuck t1_iy1ciug wrote

I live on Titus Ave, between Beech and Calef. My wife and I have been here for about 13 years. Overall, we like it. The neighborhood is cheap enough that young families can afford to live here, but nice enough where we don't really have any crime issues. We have easy access to South Willow via Gold St, but we can also get to the highway without dealing with South Willow.

There are lots of youth sports options at Precourt park and the neighborhood is fairly walkable and bike friendly. There's also a decent disc golf course and a few playgrounds around.

One concern is that many of the houses are pretty old. If you buy, you 100% want to get a home inspection. I also can't really provide much info on schools as my kids go to a Catholic school in North Manchester.

Feel free to DM me if you have specific questions.

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ChellSurik OP t1_iy1wm2u wrote

Thank you! How do you feel about walkability to downtown and to the various trails? Seems like sidewalks are decently connected.

And yeah, after seeing a lot of granite foundations, I’ve decided to only look at 1930s on - I’m handy, but nowhere near good enough to deal with those types of issues ha.

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woogychuck t1_iy209o6 wrote

You can walk to downtown, but it's a bit of a hike, especially when the weather is bad. It's an easy bike ride and a few of my neighbors bike to down town. There is a trail by the river at the end of dunbar street that comes out by the baseball stadium and connects to a pedestrian/bike bridge that goes over to the West side.

Overall, I would say that the biggest deterrent to walking/biking is the weather. There are some bike lanes, but they aren't protected and you're going to get splashed with rain/slush in bad weather. I also don't think the Dunbar trail is cleared in the winter.

Most of the houses are newer than 1930. I've got the oldest house on my street and it was built in 1935, so you should have some luck there.

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ChellSurik OP t1_iy24plg wrote

Thanks for the answers! I’ve commuted around Boston and DC in rain and snow with shitty bike lanes/snow shoveled into bike lanes so hopefully no worse in Manchester haha. Thanks again!

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