Southern NH

[hvp05]

I expect to move to southern NH near the end of next month.

What should I expect? Gimme the good, bad, and ugly.

 

[itsbob]

Off the bat.

No income tax.. if you change residency.

Vehicle registration will kill you >$500 on a new car per year.

Property tax is out of this world.

ALL roads are toll roads.

LOTS of snow. Record amounts this year. Snowfalls up there come measured in feet.

REALLY cold.

Now, where in Southern MD? The central part is totally different than the western or eastern part.

I 'grew up' in Derry NH, after I joined the Army my parents moved to Manchester.. I returned in the early 90's as a recruiter and lived and worked in Manchester, Rochester, Nashua, Laconia and close to Keene.

Take your pick, which do you want info on?

 

[BadGirl]

Stutter much, Bob? :shrug:

 

[itsbob]

Stutter much, Bob? :shrug:

you're so b-b-b-b-b-b-bad!

 

[hvp05]

No income tax.. if you change residency.

Property tax is out of this world.

ALL roads are toll roads.

LOTS of snow. Record amounts this year. Snowfalls up there come measured in feet.

REALLY cold.

I knew all that. The state's overall tax rate is considered very good, but they do [supposedly] pay for it with lesser services, crappier roads, etc.

I have wanted to move to VT, but the business environment in NH is much better, so that's a positive.

And I like the cold/snow.

Vehicle registration will kill you >$500 on a new car per year.

I did not know that.

Now, where in Southern MD? The central part is totally different than the western or eastern part.

Take your pick, which do you want info on?

Let's go with... Keene.

I do not want to live in the city, but somewhere within ~15 miles. Everything I have read about Keene makes it out to be a bustling little place, with an active community that has retained its identity.

I read your post [in BSG's Maine thread] about how the Ma$$holes have taken over so much of NH, turning it Liberal. And making it crowded. And changing it in other ways.

But... consider MD. MD is more Liberal, more crowded, and there are even more people moving in from all over changing what "Southern MD" used to be.

I did not grow up in NH (or the region) so I don't know what that used to be. There does not seem to be any area of the country that is immune to this, only those which are changing by various degrees.

That said, I can recognize a clear delineation between southern and northern VT. I imagine the same could be said of NH. But, even then, I will still be closer to my favorite spots (within 2 hours), as opposed to where I'm coming from now (around 10 hours).


My best friend will be moving to Lewiston, ME this Summer. Ever been there?

 

[birdman]

HVP, give some specific things you'd like to know and I can probably help you out. I grew up in Chesterfield, about 10 miles south of Keene, went to Keene Hight School, and spent all my free time there.

 

[hvp05]

HVP, give some specific things you'd like to know and I can probably help you out.

I don't know what specific things to ask; I'm looking for more of a general idea/perception of the region.

I am used to VT, traveled all over. I have barely touched NH - I know it's the same but different - and I'd better not say that to anyone local.

Everyone knows Northerners are skeptical of 'outsiders', but I have never experienced that in VT. (Although a friend nearly found himself in a fight for visiting... ) How much is this still around?

Your hometown is about the distance [away from the city] I would like to be. Walpole, Alstead, Marlow, somewhere like that. They seem to be the small town kind of place I want, but I'm not totally sure if they are still that way.

As for downtown Keene: I have read that the city's population grows up to 1.5 times normal with daily commuters. I'm used to driving through Waldorf during rush hour, so I'm wondering where Keene falls relative to that.

 

[Karaanne]

Southern New Hampshire

Southern New Hampshire, including southern New England, is a beautiful area and great placed to live. The weather is mild in the summer with long and harsh winters, but it is truly New England at its best. No where else do you have full access to the coast and coastal towns. Beaches along the coast from Conn. to Maine are public with free or minimal parking charges. Yes, it can be cold and the winters are long, but the areas along the picturesque New England coast and areas inland to the west are less populated and still in some ways truly untouched.

Yes, I am biased. I go home to Maine every christmas break and summer for 6 to 12 inches of snow at christmas and beaches right off the atlantic ocean for the summer. Enjoy New Hampshire!!!

 

[toppick08]

I don't know what specific things to ask; I'm looking for more of a general idea/perception of the region.

I am used to VT, traveled all over. I have barely touched NH - I know it's the same but different - and I'd better not say that to anyone local.

Everyone knows Northerners are skeptical of 'outsiders', but I have never experienced that in VT. (Although a friend nearly found himself in a fight for visiting... ) How much is this still around?
Your hometown is about the distance [away from the city] I would like to be. Walpole, Alstead, Marlow, somewhere like that. They seem to be the small town kind of place I want, but I'm not totally sure if they are still that way.

As for downtown Keene: I have read that the city's population grows up to 1.5 times normal with daily commuters. I'm used to driving through Waldorf during rush hour, so I'm wondering where Keene falls relative to that.

First time you say ya'll, the cat will be out of the bag.........

Have a safe move man.......

 

[birdman]

It's probably hard for me to give you a good opinion, the more that I think about it. I lived there my whole life until I went to college, so I was under my parent's roof, didn't have to deal with finances, politics, "real life" type stuff. I'd defnitely say that the southern part of NH is a "mixing pot" comprised of folks mostly from surrounding states, but also a handful from all over. There are still plenty of natives interdisperced among them though. In many ways, it is similar to S. MD in that respect. So you can get a taste of true NH but will not feel out of place. Everyone's pretty friendly, I've never noticed any attitude toward "outsiders" so long as you don't go there telling everone how things are done and what is wrong with where they live. Again, like anywhere. One thing you've got to remember, one of NH's leading industries is tourism, so there are always foreigners around.

Keene is kind of a cool place, you've got the local college which keeps the town "young", bars, some shopping, decent restaurants, etc. It's actually come a long way since I lived there with respect to shopping.

There is a fair bit of traffic during rush hour, but I don't know that I can give you a good gauge on that as I haven't really dealt with it in 10 plus years. When I was there it didn't even come close to Waldorf. Not sure what it's like now. I still don't think it compares traffic-wise, and I definitely like the overall feel of Keene MUCH better. For one thing, there is no dumpy mall! (on the downside, the closest mall is Ingleside in MA, about an hour away, or you can head over to Manchester) Once you get outside of Keene, all of the towns are somewhat similar. The west/southwest areas (like chesterfield, walpole, westmorland) are a bit more spread out than the others. The northeast side of Keene is more "backwoods" in my opinion, which may or may not be what you're looking for. I'd definitely say the majority of the sprawl is centered around Keene though, a few minutes of driving will get you into some podunk towns that haven't changed alot to my knowledge. There isn't a whole lot to do out there unless you're into fishing, boating, hiking, etc. You probably don't want to live too far from Keene if that is the general area you want to be in. Alot of the roads that lead to the smaller towns are one lane in each direction, not alot of passing opportunites, so it can be slow going. (example, I've got friends just outside of Hillsboro who work in Keene, takes them about an hour to get to work)

I've spent plenty of time in VT, I played hockey in a VT league and traveled all over that state. There are definitely things I like about VT but I like NH better. NH seems to be less economically depressed, and a bit more developed. Alot of VT'ers come across as a bit "weird", very nuts n' twigs, fru fru, hippy'ish, but if that's your thing, that's cool too.

I can try to answer more questions for you but I'm not sure that my ramblings help much at all anyway.

 

[birdman]

Southern New Hampshire, including southern New England, is a beautiful area and great placed to live. The weather is mild in the summer with long and harsh winters, but it is truly New England at its best. No where else do you have full access to the coast and coastal towns. Beaches along the coast from Conn. to Maine are public with free or minimal parking charges. Yes, it can be cold and the winters are long, but the areas along the picturesque New England coast and areas inland to the west are less populated and still in some ways truly untouched.

Yes, I am biased. I go home to Maine every christmas break and summer for 6 to 12 inches of snow at christmas and beaches right off the atlantic ocean for the summer. Enjoy New Hampshire!!!

True, all true. That said, I could never move back there. Can't stand 5 months of winter. If it wasn't for the long, cold winters, I would think about going back, it is really beautiful up there.

 

[itsbob]

I knew all that. The state's overall tax rate is considered very good, but they do [supposedly] pay for it with lesser services, crappier roads, etc.

I have wanted to move to VT, but the business environment in NH is much better, so that's a positive.

And I like the cold/snow.


I did not know that.





Let's go with... Keene.

I do not want to live in the city, but somewhere within ~15 miles. Everything I have read about Keene makes it out to be a bustling little place, with an active community that has retained its identity.

I read your post [in BSG's Maine thread] about how the Ma$$holes have taken over so much of NH, turning it Liberal. And making it crowded. And changing it in other ways.

But... consider MD. MD is more Liberal, more crowded, and there are even more people moving in from all over changing what "Southern MD" used to be.

I did not grow up in NH (or the region) so I don't know what that used to be. There does not seem to be any area of the country that is immune to this, only those which are changing by various degrees.

That said, I can recognize a clear delineation between southern and northern VT. I imagine the same could be said of NH. But, even then, I will still be closer to my favorite spots (within 2 hours), as opposed to where I'm coming from now (around 10 hours).


My best friend will be moving to Lewiston, ME this Summer. Ever been there?

Well, i f you are looking at Keene, the area between Keene and Nashua is mountainous (East coast mountain, not West Coast mountain). Very beautiful, and sometimes remote. Franklin Pierce College is in that area, in the middle of nowhere.

If you go a little closer to Nashua, Milford and Amherst are VERY nice. If you have kids, especially high school age, they would be my choice. they use to share a small High School (MASH) but Amherst built their own so they could have more control over their kids education. Made a small school into 2 VERY small schools.


Both SMALL High Schools, but very well funded. Lot of money there, and you can see it when you look at the student parking lot.

Dublin, Peterborough and Jaffrey (little further South) area is VERY rural. Picture Ridge. Schools out that way are not as good, very small with a LOT of problems.

The entire area between Keene and Nashua, from the Mass border up to a line intersecting with Manchester is VERY rural.. BEAUTIFUL tree lined two lane roads. What I saw when I was there is a lot of OLD NH is still prevelant in these areas.. lot of woodsmen, farmers.. hardy stock.

There are ski areas between Keene and Nashua, but in NH the Queen City has a ski slope DownTown!

I worked out of Nashua, but my area extended almost to Keene.. it was tough in the winter time as I had to go through the mountain pass to get to my schools in Jaffrey, Rindge and Franklin Pierce College.

Northern NH is still the NH of old. Mostly natives that live up there, and they are steadfast as to the way of life. (with the exception of the area around Conway and N Conway) The old country stores are still prevelant, but not many big cities to be had. Berlin is probably the biggest, and it's economy isn't robust by any stretch. (we pulled our recruiters out of Berlin, most of these areas as we couldn't find enough qualified people to warrant the cost of having a recruiter there.)

I can't say for sure that property taxes are a lot less here than in NH.. they were, but property taxes used to be local, and different as to where you lived, it didn't seem to be fair, and now the level is set at the state, and there's a lot more equality(so it seems). In the 90's I owned a house in Rochester that I paid 65k for, I was paying more in taxes on my house, then Dean Kamen paid on his multi-million dollar mansion in Bedford.

My parents were to be assessed last year on the view from their back deck, and the state was going to place a value on that view, and raise their taxes accordingly. They live in N Haverhill, on the Ct River in NH overlooking VT.

The entire area is BEAUTIFUL, there is no doubt about that. It's a great place to live, but I got tired of the snow and ice. My dream place for retirement was Dover Point, NH, right on the Piscataqua River, now I'm in the EXACT same place without the snow!!

 

[hvp05]

So much for assuming I would not hear much from a bunch of So. MDers.

You guys have been great! I appreciate anything you have to relay, and I am optimistic about what I will find once I get up there.

If I was independently wealthy, I would move into VT's Northeast Kingdom, or northern NH; I have never been disappointed traveling that region. Towns like Peacham, Danville, and Craftsbury are fantastic for me. Unfortunately, I do still need to work, so I think moving into the outskirts of a small city like Keene should provide some strong potential to find the balance.

And thinking of snow... they are supposed to get more tomorrow night. Some 18° colder than here.

I go home to Maine

What part of Maine? Ever been into/around Lewiston?

 

[Karaanne]

Maine

I was born in Biddeford, Maine. Grew up in the towns of Alfred, Portland, and Gorham. Now when I go home it is to Old Orchard Beach and the South POrtland Scarborough area. I am a southern Maine girl and live for my trips home.

Wish I was moving back to the area, but I get paid alot more here as a Calvert County Teacher. I love my job here as a teacher and my students are awesome, but I miss the New England way of life!! I have looked at the Maine public school system pay Good luck with your move!!

 

[Karaanne]

oh yeah, start checking out the somewhat local news station site from Maine which also gives Mass. and New Hampshire news too.

WCSH6.com - Portland, Maine - Home
"Go Patriots" enough already right?? Just got me homesick! Enjoy the area up there

 

[toppick08]

I was born in Biddeford, Maine. Grew up in the towns of Alfred, Portland, and Gorham. Now when I go home it is to Old Orchard Beach and the South POrtland Scarborough area. I am a southern Maine girl and live for my trips home.

Wish I was moving back to the area, but I get paid alot more here as a Calvert County Teacher. I love my job here as a teacher and my students are awesome, but I miss the New England way of life!! I have looked at the Maine public school system pay Good luck with your move!!

We miss our traditional way of life too...............

 

[Pete]

What part of Maine? Ever been into/around Lewiston?

Lewiston is half of the L/A duo of cities of Lewiston and Auburn. One lies on one side of the river and one directly across on the other side. Together they made the largest metro area in Maine. Portland and South Portland probably are bigger now.

Lewiston had a terrible problem with a huge influx of Haitian and Somali immigrants. The city is very old and depressed looking compared to here. There is little industry left and it was the highest crime area at the time.

Personally I wouldn't move to Lewiston, but that is just me.

 

[kris31280]

My great grandmother lived in Newport, NH up until the day she died. My Aunt Karol still lives there.

That area is very beautiful, and it's very idealistic. I used to spend at least a month up there every summer from 1985 until about 1996.

Traffic isn't so bad in that area, and you're close enough to bigger cities if you need something that you can't get in the smaller town.

IMO, it's idealistic small town living. People remember who you are and everyone waves hello to everyone else.

 

[hvp05]

I was born in Biddeford, Maine. Grew up in the towns of Alfred, Portland, and Gorham. Now when I go home it is to Old Orchard Beach and the South POrtland Scarborough area.

Sooo... Portland.

I have looked at the Maine public school system pay

My friend's wife is also a teacher (in administration now), but for a local private school. They assumed Portland would be a good spot to settle in for its size and offerings, but most of the job offers she has received have come out of Augusta. They plan to settle near Lewiston because it has a certain type of school they want their son to attend.

oh yeah, start checking out the somewhat local news station site from Maine which also gives Mass. and New Hampshire news too.

One of the first things I did when I began considering Keene was check out the local papers; the best (and only) one I could find was The Sentinel. I laugh every time I pull it up and see a story about a wild animal sighting - as opposed to so many MD news stories about a crime.

"Go Patriots" enough already right?? Just got me homesick!

No, not at all. In fact, next time you're up you can invite me to a nice seafood dinner if you want.

Lewiston had a terrible problem with a huge influx of Haitian and Somali immigrants.

I have read about that; rather odd place for them to settle.

There is little industry left and it was the highest crime area at the time.

Personally I wouldn't move to Lewiston, but that is just me.

I checked a couple Maine forums and the consensus has been that life downtown can be unnerving, but not really dangerous. So, after dark, you might here some people screwing around in the streets, but violent crimes are still rare. But I think my friends know this, as they have been through Lewiston, and they're not planning to live within the town, so they expect to end up in a fairly peaceful area.

Those are the same reasons I would not want to live in Keene; I can work and play there, but I want to live well away from downtown.

My great grandmother lived in Newport, NH up until the day she died. My Aunt Karol still lives there.

I kind of wish I was moving closer to Claremont/Lebanon, since I know that area slightly better than down south. Thanks for the input.