Potential future resident

I'm maybe/probably/soon-to-be moving to NH. I've visited before and it looks like the Concord area was our favorite compared to Nashua and Keene. I'm looking for input on the towns of Bow, Bedford, and Hollis. I know Bedford and Hollis are further south but I'm keeping our options open while trying to land in a town with good schools. Plus, the futher south, the better the IT jobs, right?
Why does it seem that NH is lacking in craft breweries compared to their upside down neighbor Vermont? Also, further north, how is off-season life in the lake region north/around Laconia?

There's plenty of stuff to do in the off season in the lakes region. It is snow related tho. Best way to keep sane.

VT does have a lot of highly rated breweries but NH has a lot of smaller startups. I just went into a bottle shop in Nashua and found 4 breweries I had never heard in the state. A lot got honors in competition. Just fun to find and tryout. Smuttynose just opened up a large brewery restaurant I've been meaning to hit.

I've lived in several towns in NH. I almost bought a house in Hollis/Nashua. My jobs are all south too. Initially, Nashua seemed like one strip mall after another but it is unique and I enjoyed living there. There's a lot of small neighborhood enclaves within the town. There's places like Atkinson, Windham and Hampstead that are nice. Portsmouth is nice too.

Now why did you like Concord over Nashua? What interests drew you to that area.

We liked Concord over Nashua just from walking around the two towns. I went in thinking Nashua was my #1 choice but we found a lot of closed businesses, litter, a few crazy-eyed people, and were just uncomfortable overall in Nashua. Concord didn't give us that feeling at all.

Yea. It's a large area and varying sections of disrepair. Most town/cities in NE seem that way but there's hidden gems too. Ping nhwrecker on here. He lives in Nashua. It's been a while since I lived in Nashua. I still visit. I'm sure he could a more recent review of the town and places to visit. To me if you're commuting down to Mass you want to live on the border with all the snow and stuff. The good thing about Nashau is you're about an hours away from a lot of different stuff like Boston, the seacoast, the mountains and lakes. IT is kind of different. I'm sure there's jobs all around the areas you speak of. He might have been one of the crazy-eyed people you ran into tho

My Thoughts:

Work - Best from Concord, South, especially your field. I work at a dealership (car sales, fleet leases, and long term rentals) in Hooksett, NH (manchester area) and our IT group is huge. Mostly huge becuase we are now developing our own fleet management software that is supposed to be cutting edge stuff --- a program that we expect other fleet leasing companies to own. So, that being said, check out www.merchantsauto.com and look at what we have to offer.

there are MANY an IT people I know that commute to Mass. each day for great pay in your field. If you need some contacts, PM me and I'll hook you up.

Living - I grew up in the Lakes Region (Belmont to be exact) and just bought last year in Gilmanton (still the lakes). I commute 40 minutes south each day and even though it can be rough in the winter, I still enjoy the wind down time during the commute, plus the fact that I can walk down my road and get in my kayak or walk in the woods from my backyard, for hours.

NH has no sales or income tax, which is great, but you make up for it in Property Taxes! We have a couple of acres with beach access, and a 2,100 sq ft house. I pay just over $4k/yr in taxes.

Concord - Great city, clean, decent restaurants, but no breweries.
Nashua - Ok City, dirty, getting full of "crazy eyed" people from Massachusetts.
Keene - another nice city, but getting flooded with some of the above as well. There are also these freedom fighter people taking that city over. I used to love to go there in college (2002-2005) but the last time I went there (2010) made me not want to go back.
Seacoast - Probably one of the best places to live in the country, but it can be pricey. Great food, great beer, good night life, nice shopping. Plus, it's only 17 miles long and then you hit Maine north or Mass South.

Breweries --- Your opinion is tainted here. The seacoast has a TON of great breweries, and more are opening all of the time. Places like Garrison City, Earth Eagle, Stoneface, Throwback, Portsmouth Brewing, Smuttynose, are great. Plus, you are literally 20 minutes to Maine Beer Company, plus many other of the new great places Maine has opening up. Also, again, Mass is just south, and they have some good small breweries opening on. If you go north, you have Woodstock Inn, and some others (escaping my mind) that are opening and making quite the stir.



I love NH, but hate winter. But, in my 30 years, I can't leave it. I tried to move to San Diego, but knew my heart would miss this State. Plus, our motto is "Live Free or Die" , how badass is that? I've live in the Lakes Region and Seacoast mostly, but can help you find a good place to be if you wish. Let me know, I welcome anyone to the idea of moving to NH, I don't think you'll be disappointed!

-Murph

Thank you for all of the information! We didn't have time to explore the seacoast area. It sounds wonderful but the real estate prices pretty much rule us out. I don't need to live on the beach but finding a place closeby and with good schools and a more realistic real estate market seems to be tough.
I'm fine with living farther north, I spent some time in Conway during a couple summers when I was a kid. I may still have scars from the alpine slides. My ideal spot would be private, water/fishing access on the property or nearby, but close enough to commute to where the jobs are.
At this point, I really really really don't want to commute to MA but I know it may be my only option. I would love to get out of IT altogether but I don't know what I'd do to pay the bills. Like a lot of people here, I'd take a job in a brewery in a heartbeat but that's not going to pay the bills. SWMBO is a physicial therapist so she can get a job just about anywhere. I'm the problem in the scenario.

Check the lakes region. Gilmanton, Belmont, Gilford all have respectable schools and there are plenty of medical facilities close by, and you are also within 20 or 45 minutes of concord. I live in Gilmanton, I'm 20 minutes to concord, a 5 minute walk down my road to the lake, and woods everywhere I look.

Don't forget there are numerous colleges in the areas you're speaking. I'm guessing there's a need for IT there.

It looks far enough but do you get much noise from Loudon on race weekends? What is it like getting around one those weekends? I like the fact that it's a 5 min walk to the lake.

Get ready for bike week if you're worried about noise I never had it on my calendar but you know when it happens all over NH.

@murphy2012 What's vacation traffic like? I use to live off of 93 and you couldn't do anything on Sundays in the summer on 93 south for the returning campers and 93 north Friday nights in the winter for the people heading to the slopes. I'm sure heading east<->west is easier than north-south.

todd_k said:

It looks far enough but do you get much noise from Loudon on race weekends? What is it like getting around one those weekends? I like the fact that it's a 5 min walk to the lake.

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Well, I am literally 5 minutes north of NHMS, probably 4 miles as the crow flies. It's honestly not that bad listening to the engines ( I also race cars and don't mind the noise), it's never bothersome while in the house and/or watching something else. But that being said, no other neighbors complain about it. We do live off of a side road that shortcuts to the track, but it is still easy to go the other way and get to where we need to go. Although we plan our Sundays to be more for floating on the lake, brewing, or playing frisbee rather than go run errands.

TheDudeLebowski said:

Get ready for bike week if you're worried about noise I never had it on my calendar but you know when it happens all over NH.

@murphy2012 What's vacation traffic like? I use to live off of 93 and you couldn't do anything on Sundays in the summer on 93 south for the returning campers and 93 north Friday nights in the winter for the people heading to the slopes. I'm sure heading east<->west is easier than north-south.

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The bike week noise is just a constant rumbling, but nothing obnoxious.

I agree, 93 north sucks a lot of Friday's in the summer, but luckily I have 3-4 option on how I get home, 2 of which a GPS would never take you down (towny roads). Besides that, I don't think it's bad at all. I've lived in the lakes since I was 2 and never wanted to leave due to traffic. I found living in the seacoast for a couple of years for school and a job for one year, the traffic is much worse down there.

Hope it helps! -- Murph

Well.....I've been struck down in my quest to move, at least for this year. SWMBO had an opportunity at work she couldn't pass up so it looks like I'm stuck for another year and change. Thanks for all of the advice.

No problem, we'll be waiting!