HELP! Moving in 2 months.. North Conway area (Wolfeboro, Moultonborough: appointed, real estate)

[frugalmomma]

I'll try and give everyone the short version of a very long story. My husband and I have been planning to move to Bangor, ME for several months, going to buy a business, gone up and picked out a house, everything. Well... my husband decided he didn't like the business after all, health insurance is outrageous up there as are the taxes, so now we've decided we're going to move up to NH probably within 45 minutes of North Conway. Our house is sold and closing on October 20 (we currently live in Florida but we are originally from Massachusetts.) I'm starting to panic!

Can anyone help me with what towns we should be looking at in that area? Our major concern is the school system. We have been blessed with three children who have made it into the gifted program down here, so we want the best education possible for them. I thought Bartlett and Moultonborough showed some promise, but I'm open to any and all suggestions.

Also, if anyone could recommend a buyer's realtor, an insurance agent or even what businesses might have a need for a Creative Director/Art Director I would be more than grateful. I have so much research to do... I hope some one on here can help me out.

Thanks so much!

[dannydel]

BARTLETT!!??? Puleeeze!
We lived for 9 years in Freedom Village. It's tiny, beautiful and has a nice school. For a realtor, I'd try Dave Scianciolla at Badger Reallty in N. Conway.
Danny

[frugalmomma]

what's wrong with Bartlett? I've never been there, so I'd love to know your opinions. As for Freedom Village, if that's part of Freedom (or just a different name for it), then we've been looking into that town, too.

[oddball]

1- if you live in the "north country" - centered on that side of the kangamangas pass, then conway is the logical center point. You're going to find that everything up there is very small, but generally not exactly rural. There are a fair amount of golf courses, inns, tons of retail shopping in conway, etc I am personally partial to Jackson (just north of noth conway, right before bartlett) because it's small enough to be "cozy" and right next door to the hustle (hustle is a relative term here) of conway or north conway. If you want a 3-floor condo then you can get one on the golf course attached to the Wentworth hotel (there are dozens). Or you can get a house on the mountain - that's only 10 minutes from north conway. There are some decent options in Jackson if you like cozy communities.

2 - if you want to live south in the lakes region (35-60 mins commute to north conway depending) then there are LOTS of options. Moutonborough is very expensive from a property tax perspective -but it a great area to love. Just beware of lots of million dollar homes and busy summers on the lakes (translated - people come to the lakes for respite). There are plenty of middle class homes - but they're gnerally priced higher in the lakes region than other areas of NH, and certainly more than the north country. The lakes region is a lot less rural.

[jipsee]

North Conway is a great little town, especially if you like to hike, ski, climb or whatever. It's beautiful, right in the Mt. Washington Valley. It has a picturesque downtown, with lots of cool little shops and restaurants. The outskirts of town is a mega-shopping area with plenty of factory outlets. I actually go there to do my shopping sometimes. So for it's north country location, you'll probably have most of what you need there without having to drive too far.
The downside is traffic. It's a summer and winter resort town, and people flock here. As you can guess, there are only a few main roads and one main street going through town. There are ways to manage it though. When I want to get into town on a busy summer day I take East Side Drive, which is a beautiful route that skirts the busy main road through Conway and up to North Conway. It's a great road to bike, and there are some wonderful views of the mountains. This is a popular rock-climbing area, Cathedral Ledge on a summer day is packed with hikers, walkers and climbers.
Appealing outlying towns are Jackson (my personal fav), Fryeburg, ME, Conway itself, Chatham, Bartlett. All of them are nice. Jackson is touristy but quaint and has a great atmosphere.
I hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions.

[gcberry]

I think Fryeburg Academy is considered to be a very fine school in that area.

[NH2008]

Sorry you have to move in such a rush - sounds very stressful.

That's a beautiful area, but unfortunately the public schools are not considered that great. As a pp mentioned, it's a vacation area, so many of the "residents" are only there seasonally and don't use the schools. Some of the schools have very high per pupil spending for that reason but still don't produce great results.

Freedom is a wonderful town but the school has been having some issues lately between the principal and the teachers and that has the potential to get ugly. Kids commute to Kennett as they get older (which also serves North Conway) and Kennett does not have a great reputation. Many people in this area choose to send their kids to the private Waldorf school in Conway in their younger years and to the private Fryeburg Academy in Maine for high school. Note, though, that both of these are private schools. (I think Fryeburg is tuition-free for residents of that town, but you already mentioned that you don't want to live in Maine.) It's also a pretty long commute. If you're willing and able to go that route, you could consider Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro as well.

There is a little bit of tech in North Conway but it sounds like some of the towns further south might have more opportunities for you and your family. Otherwise, if you're willing to compromise on schools and career, that area does have a lot going for it - lower real estate prices, natural beauty, great people. I know you are probably feeling panicked right now, but don't rush into anything - if you move to the North Conway area expecting fabulous schools and great job opportunities, you could be very disappointed. If you know what you're getting into and decide it's worth some compromises, you might love it.

[GraniteStater]

^
The OP originally posed this question back in 2006.

[NH2008]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

^
The OP originally posed this question back in 2006.

oh my gosh you're right - what a waste of time!

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by NH2008

oh my gosh you're right - what a waste of time!

It will still be very helpful for anyone else considering a relocation to the area with school concerns!