Money Magazine: No Crime to live in Nashua

Low rate of violent crime puts area at top of magazine's ranking.

NASHUA - The only city twice named the best place to live in the country has again received high marks in the annual report put out by Money Magazine. December's issue reveals the results of this year's rankings, and while Nashua was not singled out as one of the best places to live overall, the city did come in at No. 1 in the country for its low incidences of violent crime. The magazine defines the Nashua area to include the city and about a dozen neighboring towns, with a total population of 178,900 people.

Money's report indicates that the Nashua area earns its top ranking in violent crime with 92.2 crimes per 100,000 people on an annual basis, compared to a national average of 506 crimes per 100,000 people.

In last year's listings, the Nashua area ranked No. 2 in the nation for its violent crime rate, behind only Appleton, Wis. This year, Appleton dropped behind Nashua, and the Wisconsin city is followed in the top five by Owensboro, Ky., State College, Pa., and Portsmouth.

In addition, Nashua ranked No. 8 this year for lowest incidence of property, crime, a slight improvement from last year, when the city ranked ninth in that category. Money reported the area's rate of property crimes at 2,293 crimes per 100,000 people annually, compared to the national average of 4,329.

Money selected Portland, Ore., as the best place to live in the country this year, and Providence, R.I., took the top honor in the Northeast. The other regional winners were Chicago, Salt Lake City, and Raleigh Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C. Sarasota, Fla., was named the best small city.

Money chose the Nashua area as the best place to live in the country in 1986 and again in 1997, drawing a burst of national attention for the city.

Money's data is supplied by Fast Forward Inc., a firm based in Portland, Ore., that specializes in ranking cities.

Nashua Police Capt. Richard Bailey said the news of Nashua's lowest-in-the nation incidence of violent crime comes as no shock to him, because the city has always been safe.

"I'm not really surprised," Bailey said. "I think this is a really safe city to live in."

Bailey attributed the ranking to several factors, including the residents, the police department and proactive steps taken by both residents and police.

"Proactive is better than reactive," Bailey said. "We'd rather prevent than react."

Mike Valuk, president of the Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce, said he wasn't surprised by the city's ranking either. He said the police department and city residents have taken a preventative approach to crime.

"We have one hell of a police department, and we're not afraid to let people know that," Valuk said. "Not only in enforcement, but in prevention."

Valuk pointed out last week's sting in search of stores selling tobacco products to minors - which uncovered only three violations - and added that residents as well as police officers played a role. Of course, no city is perfect, and Nashua received its share of lumps in the magazine's report. In education, the Nashua area's spending per pupil fell $1,249 below the national average, for a rank of 304th. The area's median home price of $166,100 was more than $37,000 above the national average, and ranked 277th.

In a health cost index, the area was well above the national average and ranked 319th, but the areas low unemployment rate of 2.8 percent ranked 60th and is far below the national average of 4.24 percent.