Nashua residents may recall the city’s ranking by Money Magazine in 1987, and again a decade later, as the best place to live in the country.

But in 2010, what is the city doing right and where did it go wrong? Nashua ranked 94th this year, in a list based on economic, quality of life and housing benchmarks.

“I’ve asked myself the same question,” said Thom Nofsinger, president of the Greater Manchester/Nashua Board of Realtors. “Why aren’t we on the Money Magazine list anymore? It seems like something that has happened slowly over the last four or five years in particular, especially when the market cooled off.”

The Money Magazine distinction was considered great marketing for the city in attracting new business. The city posted road signs on city borders announcing the ranking to visitors, but those signs were quietly removed within the last year.

Tom Galligani, economic director for the city of Nashua, said comparing the city’s statistics are different today than 25 years ago.

“Back then, the housing market was very strong, the job market was very strong and the economy was extremely strong. In the mid ’80s, Digital Equipment was a huge piece of the global economy and they were bringing in a lot of energy, a lot of creativity and they spawned a number of new companies as well,” he said.

As for ’97, Galligani said that year coincided with the dot-com boom before the bubble burst in 2000. So things were really going great in the whole region, including Boston. Nashua, with its technological heritage and strength in software engineering, did really well.

“So when you look at our economy today on a national level, it’s very sluggish. But Nashua and New Hampshire, in general, are faring better than a lot of other parts of the country,” he said.

Nofsinger said the region has declined because of the trouble attracting young professionals. Both of Nofsinger’s sons ended up in Massachusetts because the opportunities for jobs were better there, he said.

“We’re not looking at the 25- to 35-year-olds who are anxious to move into the area. I think that has everything to do with the job opportunities and the fact that being here in New England costs roughly 121 percent above the national average in living expenses, as opposed to moving down to the Carolinas or the Atlanta area,” he said.

The young workers, he said, are probably the ones who are very active in the market right now in terms of finding good companies to work for and creating start-up businesses.

“Although we’ve got demographics for great colleges and students who are going to these colleges, they aren’t coming home to this area. So those who are out of state and looking at relocation are considering other places in the country that are now offering what Nashua did 20 years ago when we were growing.”

Nofsinger is quick to point out that he doesn’t see Nashua as a city in decline with regard to its education or medical fields, or the attractive position that Nashua finds itself in with its proximity to Boston.

Nofsinger also pointed out that the local rental market is faring well.

“Rental rates have stayed level for the last five or six years, so landlords are happy to have a good tenant and happy to leave the rental rates where they were just to keep occupancy up,” he said.

But residential short sales, foreclosures and bankruptcies continue to climb.

“I believe if you look at this year versus history, this is the worst year for that,” he said.

The commercial real estate market is also lagging. “We have more available square footage to lease in the city of Nashua than I’ve ever seen before,” he said. “You’d think that you’d be able to attract start-up companies and research and development companies to come up here and rent some of that space. But the commercial market right now is very slow and we’ve got a huge inventory.”

Nashua Mayor Donnalee Lozeau, however, said businesses are still interested in what Nashua has to offer.

“I have had calls from businesses that are interested in coming to Nashua,” she said. “We talk about what their needs are, space needs, location needs, work skill needs. .?.?. A good example of that is when Benchmark Technologies moved here from Hudson.”

Overall, Lozeau believes that Nashua is still on track.

“Well, it would be hard to say that there aren’t things we could improve upon,” Lozeau said. “There is always room for growth and lessons learned. But I do have to say that I’m proud of our resiliency here in Nashua and getting through this tough economic time. .?.?. I think we’ve done well in weathering the storm because we were in stable condition to begin with.”

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