Nashua, New Hampshire

Encyclopedia : N : NA : NAS : Nashua, New Hampshire

Built around the now-departed textile industry, in recent decades it has been swept up in southern New Hampshire's economic expansion as part of the Boston, Massachusetts, region. Nashua was twice named "Best Place To Live In America" in annual surveys by Money magazine.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]} It is the only city to get the No. 1 ranking two times—in 1987 and 1997.

History

By 1836, Nashua Manufacturing Company had built three cotton mills and was producing 9.3 million yards of cotton cloth annually on 710 looms, and the town of Dunstable was renamed "Nashua." The legislature declared that it was now named for the Nashua River. Six railroad lines crossed the city with 56 trains entering and departing daily before the Civil War.

What is now Nashua broke in two for a while, following a tax dispute between the town of Nashville north of the Nashua River, where most of the wealthier people lived, and town of Nashua south of the river. The two joined together and chartered the city in 1853.

The textile business started moving to the South during the Great Depression, with the last mill closing in 1949. Sanders Associates, a newly created defense firm that is now part of BAE Systems, moved into one of the closed mills and launched the city's rebirth. The arrival of Digital Equipment Corp. (now part of Hewlett-Packard) in the 1970s made the city part of the Boston-area high-tech corridor.

Geography

The city is bordered on the east by the Merrimack River, across which lies the town of Hudson, New Hampshire. To the north is Merrimack, New Hampshire, west is Hollis, New Hampshire, and south is Tyngsboro, Massachusetts. The city is roughly bisected by the Nashua River.

As with much of New England, the weather in this city varies greatly throughout the year. Harsh winters often batter the area while the summers can be scorching; it is a four-season area.

Demographics

As of the census^{[Geographic references#2GR2]} of 2000, there were 86,605 people, 34,614 households, and 22,083 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,082.5/km² (2,803.5/mi²). There were 35,387 housing units at an average density of 442.3/km² (1,145.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 89.25% White, 2.01% African American, 0.32% Native American, 3.88% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 3.05% from other races, and 1.46% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.22% of the population.

There were 34,614 households out of which 31.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.3% were married couples living together, 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.2% were non-families. 28.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 3.05.

Hunt Library Building in 2006

In the city the population was spread out with 24.7% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 33.5% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 97.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $51,969, and the median income for a family was $61,102. Males had a median income of $43,893 versus $29,171 for females. The per capita income for the city was $25,209. About 5.0% of families and 6.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.7% of those under age 18 and 6.4% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Like other municipalities in New Hampshire, elections for city offices are technically nonpartisan. However, state and federal election results in the city were overwhelmingly in favor of the Democrats during the 2004 Election[link], with the Democratic Presidential Candidate John Kerry winning in all 9 wards of Nashua [link], Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate John Lynch winning in 6 of the 9 wards [link] while the two candidates were neck and neck in their races elsewhere in the state.

In the New Hampshire General Court, Nashua is represented in the House by Hillsborough County's 20th (Ward 1), 21st (Ward 2), 22nd (Ward 3), 23rd (Ward 4), 24th (Ward 6), 25th (Ward 7) and 26th (Wards 5, 8 and 9) districts and in the Senate by District 12 (Wards 1, 2, 5 and 9, shared with Hollis, Mason, and Brookline) and District 13 (Wards 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8).

The 2005 city election saw a conservative slant[link] and a recall petition gathered against Mayor Streeter.[link] Ironically, Streeter first came to power via a recall of his predecessor, Don Davidson, who has now announced his intention to challenge Streeter in the recall election. Streeter successfully challenged this recall, drawing a ruling from a judge stating that only the city's aldermen may move to remove the mayor from office. A main feature of the election was the city government's attempt to take over, via eminent domain, the local water utility, Pennichuck Water Works, against its wishes. In the run-up to the election, the utility ran many advocacy ads in the local media, and their "slate" of candidates opposing the takeover was elected.

Commerce

The city may be best known today as a shopping mecca to residents of Massachusetts who come north of the state border to take advantage of the lack of a sales tax in New Hampshire, particularly at the 1,000,000 square foot Pheasant Lane Mall just over the Tyngsboro/Nashua border.

The Mall is the anchor for the "South Nashua" commercial area, which spans from Tyngsboro to Exit 3 on the Daniel Webster Highway. The rest of the city's commercial zoning is focused primarily along the Main Street area and the Broad Street/Amherst Street corridor.

There is a use tax that Massachusetts charges its residents to pay for items purchased in New Hampshire that are subject to taxation in Massachusetts, but it is unknown if anyone actually pays.

Unusually for a city of its size and commercial importance, there are no movie theaters within city limits as of 2006, although a regional franchise cinema/pub is being planned for Exit 6 off of the Everett Turnpike.

The Route 101A corridor between Nashua and Milford has become a commercial destination. A push by international retailer Wal-Mart to suplant discount store Building #19 along Amherst Street sparked protest over wetlands.

Nashua's downtown is a regional commercial, entertainment, and dining destination. Recent plans have incorporated the Nashua River into the design of a pedestrian friendly walkway. The Nashua Riverwalk is a large, public/private venture funded through the use of Tax Increment Financing (TIF).

The city is home to a number of technical firms, including Nashua Corporation, which took its name from the city and river. Nashua Corp. was a leading producer of floppy disks through the early 1990s, making the Nashua name well-known in the personal computering world. Defense contractor BAE Systems and computer firm Hewlett-Packard are largest representatives of the high-tech industry prominent in the region.

Education

Colleges

Entrance of Daniel Webster College

Nashua is not considered a college town compared to locales such as Durham, New Hampshire, but as of 2006 the city has 5,000 students enrolled at six colleges: Hesser College Nashua campus, Southern New Hampshire University Nashua campus, Franklin Pierce College Nashua campus, Daniel Webster College ,[the New Hampshire Community Technical College Nashua campus], and Rivier College.

High schools

The city has two private religious high schools: Bishop Guertin High School (home of the "Cardinals"), a coeducational Catholic high school, and [Nashua Christian Academy] (home of the "Eagles"), a coeducational K-12 Christian school.

Middle schools

Entrance to Pennichuck Middle School

• [Elm Street]
• [Fairgrounds (Middle)]
• [Pennichuck]
• [The Academy for Learning and Technology]
• [Nashua Christian Academy]

Elementary schools

• [Amherst Street]
• [Birch Hill]
• [Bicentennial]
• [Broad Street]
• [Charlotte Avenue]
• [Dr. Crisp]

Near The Entrance of Bicentennial Elementary School