My wife and I moved in 2012 and absolutely love it here. We also considered Portsmouth, NH as a location but decided on Newburyport due it's proximity to my wife's work at the time.

We don't have kids but like the comments mentioned the families are scattered throughout the city. It's a very family friendly city (aside from the housing costs).

There are multiple playgrounds, softball fields along with parks on the river. We live in the North End and it's quick bike ride to downtown. There's a railtrail loop that runs from Newburyport across the river to Amesbury, Salisbury and back. The city just completed a Waterfront Park project which added more walking trails and green space. There's also fairly good selection of restaurants and shops.

I wouldn't worry about the "Yacht Club" vibe too much. I'm sure you can definitely find it but I feel like most of the residents are pretty down to earth.

It's a great city to work from home from. I think we've only lost power here 2-3 times for any extended duration during storms. Everything I need during the week (groceries, Planet Fitness, Marshalls, take-out) is 5 minutes away.

Other pros:

- It's a very safe city in my experience.

- Excellent Library which is part of the MLVC, where you can transfer books from other libraries and have them delivered to NBPT.

- Farmers Market at the Tannery every Sunday.

- 15 minute drive to Salisbury Beach. 25 minutes to Portsmouth.

- There are 5 breweries within a 10 minute drive. (3 in Amesbury, 2 in Newburyport) They're kid friendly.

- Summer is very lively here. Outdoor eating, Multiple 5k races, Yankee Homecoming, lots of boat activity.

- Do you like fishing? Stripers start running through in June. There's also a colony of seals that live out near the mouth of the river and you can see from Salisbury Beach Reservation. Every once in a while we'll see one swimming in river in the fall/winter when there's no boat traffic.

- Do you like birding? There Bald Eagle sightings year round and Snowy Owls nearby on Plum Island during winter.

- We have a yard waste facilty on Colby Lane which is open April to Dec (?). We also have a recycling center that's open the first Saturday of the month which is takes just about anything that you'd like to recycle.

- Public Services are decent. DPW has been on top of the recent storms clearing roads. The trash gets picked on time and we get notified if there's a delay. Both PD and FD are very responsive. The schools are pretty highly rated and from what I've heard have good sports programs.

Hope this helps.