Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
OK, my bride and I are living in Cleveland OH, and have just started to consider a move to NH. We are both in our late 30s - early 40s, with one young son. She is from a rural part of NE Ohio, and likes the idea of a country setting. I like that the State of NH has wisely decided not to have a state income tax, and differs from Florida in that I like a change of season.
So, I am hoping for a few answers. We are in education -- I teach special education, mild/ moderate licensure, and she is a school counselor, witha background in mental health counseling. What are some cities to look at? Where is the best place to look for a job in the education field? Where can we find a reputable realtor? What are some areas to avoid -- Cleveland is a nice city, but there are some places in Cleveland that look like Baghdad.
Where is a good site to look for education jobs, besides NH DOE? Also, if a city's economy is going well enough, what firms in the private sector are expanding?
What are some cultural attractions of NH that we should be looking to see? What questions might I be overlooking entirely?
cultural attractions? NH is mostly known for it's scenery (and winter), not for a great deal of cultural attraction - unless you specifically looking for general lack of diversity. Sure there are occasional symphonies, chorale societies, assorted amusement parks (primarily for the fairly young set, although Canobie Lake is better for maybe teens). there's not even all that many movie theaters! There a reason most kids tend to find NH pretty boring as a place to grow up. Its a nice place (and I can't wait to move back), but....
There have been other posts that mentioned a website for job hunting teachers - don't recall it at the moment. Definitely get jobs first and then move up, though.
There have been other posts that mentioned a website for job hunting teachers - don't recall it at the moment. Definitely get jobs first and then move up, though.
I found one, www.edjobsnh.com -- aside from the state DOE site, are there any others?
The edjobsnh site mentioned above is the best place to look for the type of jobs you are looking for. Seems like there are always jobs in Special Ed at a variety of levels.
As far as culture, the Seacoast is the place to be. Although this list is 4 years old, much of what is listed is still available today. Seems like the cinemas and movie theaters are dwindling fast though.
GOseacoast - A New Hampshire Seacoast region and South Coast of Maine web site. (http://www.goseacoast.com/listing.ihtml?pID=5 - broken link)
Can't answer your question about where to search for a job, but I would agree that you should find the job first before moving. While NH is a small state, it's spread out (lots of back and secondary roads vs. highways), which means you generally want to live and work in the same area.
Most jobs are in southern NH (south of Concord). You may find a teaching job north of their, but I would think about whether or not you want to live up north - there is very little to do outside of outdoor activities - Being young and with kids, you may prefer a slightly more active setting found Concord south.
Personal preference, but the only city I would avoid is Nashua. It's more Mass than NH and just kind of turns me off. I would focus on towns along the Manchester/Concord corridor or in the Portsmouth/seacoast area.
cultural attractions? NH is mostly known for it's scenery (and winter), not for a great deal of cultural attraction - unless you specifically looking for general lack of diversity. Sure there are occasional symphonies, chorale societies, assorted amusement parks (primarily for the fairly young set, although Canobie Lake is better for maybe teens). there's not even all that many movie theaters! There a reason most kids tend to find NH pretty boring as a place to grow up. Its a nice place (and I can't wait to move back), but....
There have been other posts that mentioned a website for job hunting teachers - don't recall it at the moment. Definitely get jobs first and then move up, though.
agreed and you'll find that in the winter while the season change is nice a lot of things close down like ice cream parlors, Hampton Beach and other places for 5-6 months. With a small child the weather can get dangerously cold for them and you'll find that while you may be stuck inside in the summer in Fla from the heat expect to be stuck inside for certain lengths of time in the winter. Really ur gonna be trading intense heat for extreme cold. It can be shocking to ones system when you think 40 degrees is cold and you will go weeks without even getting above 25. Some towns don't have cable outside of main street or internet. Also while they don't have certain taxes you will make up for it in other places..like food taxes and high property taxes. You'll find things like registering your car will be double or triple what it costs in Florida as well as utilities will be double or triple monthly not yearly. If you can find and secure a decent job you could be okay but just make sure the town u find has things like movie theaters and a bowling alley (thats open more than just weekends) and resturants and close stores and a mall. Things like christmas shopping could be difficult last minute if u live in a small town and the closest town with a mall is an hour away. In the winter it might be very difficult to get to that mall if you live in a very mountainous area. I rec. sticking to either south eastern NH or the Seacoast seeing as how ur coming from Fla I believe? It won't be such a culture shock to you. Some of the small towns there can be very boring and secluded in the mountains, lacking certain utilities like cable and it may be just too much of a change to start out with. Also consider things like if you live in a very small town out in the middle of the state u may be more likely to loose things like power in an ice storm and the last to get it back as the populated areas with more stores and people in general will be the first..good luck!!!
*edit sorry your in OH.. you know about cold lol disregard that stuff I thought u were in Fla!!*
Snowdoesn't scare me -- I served in Iraq, where I learned what 45 degrees celsius is -- and it isn't pretty.
B/C the school year is getting close, more so in OH, I think that this is going to be a goal for next year, but as someone said, spec ed jobs are in demand.
I had a preconception about Portsmouth NH -- being a navy town, I figured it looked like a lot of other military towns, and if you've seen one, while they have good people, they are rough on the eyes. I understand Portsmouth is not really like that, can someone help me out?
(And 45 degrees C is only 113 Fahrenheit -- no need to do any math, I already got you squared away .)
There have been pics of Portsmouth posted in the photo sticky at the top of the forum. I can't tell you which page, as I'm still running on dial-up and it takes way to long to load pics for me <sigh>. But I recall they were very nice. Worth looking for if you want an idea what the town looks like.
Portsmouth is beautiful, more than any other "military" town I've been to, but it's probably not as supportive to the troops as other military towns you've been stationed in. Actually, the base's gates are in Kittery, ME, so really Kittery is the military town that should be associated with the base. For all intents and purposes, the shipyard is in Maine (workers there pay ME income tax) so Portsmouth doesn't have that military town feel. Besides, DoD civilians outnumber sailors probably 50 to 1 (estimated guess)
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Sure there are occasional symphonies, chorale societies, assorted amusement parks (primarily for the fairly young set, although Canobie Lake is better for maybe teens). there's not even all that many movie theaters! There a reason most kids tend to find NH pretty boring as a place to grow up. Its a nice place (and I can't wait to move back), but.... 
