I would add French Hill to the list.

French Hill is the area around Margaritas heading towards Hudson.

It's nothing horrifying at all, but the bad areas of Nashua are like "Make sure nothing valuable is in your car" sorts of areas, not "don't walk around in the evening" sorts of places.

Northeast Nashua (north of French Hill) is pretty nice, though.

With a 450k budget you're not going to get stuck in a bad area. Whoever said "starter homes are 450k" is exaggerating the housing market here by a fair bit. Things are expensive though.

If you want convenience, go near the highway. If you want a quieter area, Nashua is still pretty damn convenient but you won't be out in the sticks.