PA-32 pilot reported a 'gear unsafe' light after takeoff and the nose gear would not extend. The aircraft returned to the departure airport and landed on the main gear only on a taxiway at the non-towered airport. The aircraft propeller and nose fiberglass was damaged; with no injuries.

Narrative

I was going to maintain my landing currency and on the first takeoff after retracting the gear I got a 'gear unsafe' light. I recycled the gear and the nose wheel did not come down. I departed the pattern and climbed to a safe altitude to work the checklist. Upon talking to the airport personnel; I did an initial low pass and they verified the nose wheel was not down. I went out again and performed the checklist a couple more times; including aggressive yawing; and g-loading. I came back to the airport and bounced the main gear off the runway to see if that would free the nose wheel. By this time; my son had arrived and he visually checked the nose wheel every time I would do the main gear bouncing and it did not change the position of the nose wheel. I probably bounced the mains 10-12 times. I left the pattern again; went away from the airport; climbed to 7000 ft; and worked the checklist a couple more times; yawed and g-loaded as well as talked to my son on the ground for ideas. I spent a total of 2 hours in the air working the problem. After coming back to the airport I did another few main gear bounces and another visual inspection and then came back and landed on the taxi way at the airports request. There were no injuries and the only damage was to the propeller and nose fiberglass.I've been flying for years and flown everything from a light sport aircraft to a Boeing 787 as a GA flight instructor and airline pilot. I was a pilot examiner in ZZZ1 for years and exposed to many different aircraft and pilots. My concern is the competency of our general aviation maintenance shops. I bought this airplane in the summer 3 years prior after an engine overhaul. My first flight ended with an engine failure upon landing due to a fuel line coming off as it was only finger tight. My second attempt a month or so later had a magneto problem on run up. My third attempt a couple months later; I ended up flying the airplane across multiple states with the gear down. We found out after getting back the hydraulic reservoir was empty. The shop had signed off the annual inspection without checking the reservoir.Just a couple months after purchase my son was flying the airplane when he had a total engine failure and forced to land off airport. The engine shop that did the engine tear down sent us a video of the magneto p-lead that was not connected; again we suspect it was only finger tight and vibrated off. This engine only had 30 hrs on it since the overhaul; yet the engine shop said it had much more time than that. Did they really do an overhaul in the previous shop? The maintenance shop that worked on the fuselage and put everything back together had the airplane for 2 yrs; 3 mos. I picked the airplane up this spring. On take off on a short grass strip the airspeed indicator was inoperative. Upon landing I called the shop and they swore they had operationally checked the indicator. The shop I took it to said the lines to the airspeed indicator were not connected and were capped! Now I have had this nose gear problem. I suspect the linkage was mis-rigged or something. I say that because after we jacked the nose up; we were able to get it down with 2 men pulling with great force. It felt like something was over center and once we got over that; it came down easily. This is a beautiful airplane and every single problem we've had has nothing to do with pilot performance. Everything is directly connected to the maintenance competence. This will be my second insurance claim on this airplane which will probably affect my future insurability. It seems the owner/pilot will always be held accountable. When responsibility and accountability are not aligned; well; you'll just continue getting the same problems. Thanks