Info on Tamworth (Rochester, Laconia, Conway: crime, house, to buy)

[samantha10]

Husband and I have finally started our home search. We want to be near the White Mountains and have really started to fall in love with Tamworth.
Since we are really not too familiar with the area I was hoping to get some info here.
So you can understand what we are looking for let me give you a quick rundown on us.
Just the two of us and our dogs. Looking for a SMALL energy efficient home/cottage. (we will remodel to make this happen)
Want enough land so that we are not on top of our neighbors.

Some of my questions are:
What town/towns are the closest for groceries, doctors offices, pharmacies etc?
Where is the nearest hospital?
Are there any areas in Tamworth that are worse than others?
How about crime? (looked on here but was not able to find stats)
How far of a drive is it to Franconia and how would you recommend getting there (RT 25??)

We really just want to be close to the mountains but far enough away from the choas of rt 16 in Conway. Bartlett also seems like an option at this point as well but Tamworth just seems to have such a quaint feel to it.
Any and all opinions/info will be greatly appreciated.

[Gully Foyle]

If you Google a town, or street address, you can also check for hospitals nearby. Just type hospital near (name of town or street address)
That works with every business.
You can check out the City Data listings for most towns. They include everything from Crime to Toxic spills.

[GotBackHome]

Isn't that where Mac lives? He'll know all about it. I'm sure he'll be on soon.

[samantha10]

I thought so too. I hope he chimes in...

[Mac_Muz]

Yup I live in Tamworth, on what was once the fair ground. That went out in 1930.
Hospitals are in N. Conway, Wolfboro , and Laconia.
Groceries are in Ossipe, 1 at Indian Mound, the other at the intersection of Rt's 16 and 28.

Also in N. Conway which has more selections. Wolfboro and the grocery in Center Harbor have the best local International selections.

Market basket in Rochester has the best prices for day to day items if you are willing to go that far. Mostly I am not, unless I am after car/truck parts at VIP Auto parts.

Meds again: There is a walk in clinic in Tamworth on Rt 16, another in Ossipee on Rt 28 and Rt 171.

Also there is pharmacies at Rt 16 and 28 in Ossippe across from Shop N' Save, and one inside Shop N' Save.

In N. Conway there is another in Walmart.

Unless you are a criminal there is no crime in Tamworth

IMO there is 0 reason to post your land for tresspassing, Locals will think your plain silly to post any land, and will cross it if they feel like it anyway. I think there is a cheif of police and maybe 2 other part time cops on holiday weekends.

Once you make a legal address here, you have 30 days to get a NH drivers Lic , reggi up any vehicals, and after the reggi's get 10 days for inspection stickers. Be sure to get a dump permit, as there is no road side pick up. Don't upset the dump man, because if you do you won't be able to get rid of trash. (he's a little grumpy)

Rt 25 doesn't go to Franconia, but you would probably use Rt 25 to get there just the same. The question of how long a drive it is to Franconia does not compute. Yer supposed to take yer time and enjoy the ride.

Just now the Kanc is closed, and it's a long ride to Franconia anyway, and Rt 302 is as closed, but should be passable soon 'we' hope.

I once lived in Bartlett, but couldn't take the harsh winter there I like both towns plenty.

I have no fear of the internet either. It's just a big library to me.

Taxes are hard in Tamworth as most of the towns lands are tied up in conservation areas.

Some people here have moved to Effingham, in case you might like to look there as well.

We have MOOSE, don't hit one if you like suckn' air on this side of the grass. Please don't feed the bears.

[samantha10]

Thanks Mac!!
This is all very helpful information.
Our problem it seems is actually finding something SMALL.
We are looking no more than 800 square feet and would prefer even smaller.
Luckily we are not in a situation where we need to find something immediately but we are pretty anxious at this point.

As far as the moose...we have never seen one
We were hiking Passaconaway a few weeks back and heard a rather large animal walking towards us. We really thought we were going to come face to face with a bear so we made alot of noise and whatever it was just sort of strolled farther into the woods away from us. We were pretty freaked out but then we saw some moose droppings so we think it may have been a moose and not a bear.
It was pretty scary though.
And one thing we were curious about...all of the no hunting with Bear Dogs signs???? Never seen those before!

[NHForester]

Some people,l while OK with hunting, do not want people hunting with Dogs on their property.

it's their property, and they can do as they please, but I don't see what is so bad about using dogs for hunting bear

[samantha10]

Can I ask a stupid question...what kind of dog would one use to hunt a bear? Are they used to trace the scent? It seems to me that a dog would almost scare a bear away instead

[Mac_Muz]

Bear hunting with dogs goes back a long way in tradition. I have never hunted over, or with dogs, and have no argument one way or the other. The one part I sort of disgree with is the use of radio transmiters used with the dogs.

Hounds are the type of dogs used, and for those that post such signs, I can only assume they feel the hunt isn't a fair hunt somehow, but that's just my best guess.

What the dogs do is trace the scent, and tree the bear. The hunter should be in ear shot, and tell by the sounds, when the bear is up a tree. So you can sort see the idea might not be popular with non-bear hunters.

On the other hand this type of bear hunter is dedicated to hunting bears in a traditional mannor with a few moden techy bits to get the job done and loose less dogs.

A good dog will cost rather a lot of money to buy, more to keep, vets, food, and this type of a dog doesn't probably make a good house pet.

Some people who would not allow bear do gs, may be the first to complain when a bear wrecks there property, so it is a catch 22 in life I guess.

I am personally against posting land, but then some people won't respect the land, and that's exactly how land gets posted.

[Ken E]

Originally Posted by samantha10

Can I ask a stupid question...what kind of dog would one use to hunt a bear? Are they used to trace the scent? It seems to me that a dog would almost scare a bear away instead

Plott hounds or Walker hounds would probablly be the best hounds for this area. I had some nice Walkers years ago.