Moving to Berlin - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

FunnyGirl1010 · 04-27-2012, 11:29 AM

Is there a good resource to find rental homes in Shelburne or Milan?

Caracoid · 05-02-2012, 06:37 PM

I'm thinking of moving to NH from Baltimore. So I guess the grittiness (?) of Berlin might appeal to me. I can hardly imagine its as bad as you guys are saying. But I'll check on the crime stats. You sure seem to have a beautiful riverfront and nice old buildings in a striking setting. I'm surprised you haven't opened up the waterfront for a promenade or something to take advantage. But I definitely come away with an overall dower outlook from the responses.

I was looking at Littleton as well. They seemed to be a bit more enthused over there. Problem with Littleton is it seems that it never went south like Berlin seems to have after the mills shut. Which, ironically, can be a negative since housing continued to be built in Littleton and new homes are eyesores to a one and can really distract from the old authentic look of a city. For this reason, I came to Baltimore: so depressed for so long its still pretty.

GregW · 05-03-2012, 05:07 AM

Much of Main Street in Littleton has avoided uglyfication. Change has happened in the surrounding stretches along RT 10 with the building of many big box stores but they had to put them somewhere. I think the difference was caused by Littleton’s industry collapsed slowly and new industries moved into the industrial parks. As a result Littleton maintained a semi-functioning economy. Most of the rest of the riverside towns, Gorham, Groveton, Milan, Berlin, had become completely dependent on the old paper mills so when they closed, after being milked by a succession of ever more stingy owners, the town's economies completely collapsed.

I have noted a new type of economy developing in the North Country. In the tiny town my S-I-L lives in this week there were four people in the local Volunteer Fire Department off on business to four different countries on three different continents. These people live and spend much of their income in the North Country while travelling the world for business. Providing these people with services may become a substantial part of the future economies of the North Country in addition to accommodating the tourists.

Caracoid · 05-03-2012, 07:27 AM

Yeah, I think you guys are way selling yourselves short. I mean, I can understand coming from the recent history, but--really--an outsider can see tons to market in Berlin. That waterfront needs to be exploited and you guys need to get your minds off lost factories and your minds on tourism and retirees/telecommuter-types/etc. Just don't do it cheesy like most cities do with big developers who have three (lousy) designs to choose from using fake bricks and aluminum sticking out of things. Make it look authentic. If the NYC design community poo-poos it, stuff 'em.

I even checked on your crime statistics on this site and found that not only is your crime rate way below the national average per capita but its even low by New Hampshire standards, itself a low-crime state. 2011 saw a jump but was still way lower than most places. And in a small community, a jump or drop over a single year is usually just an aberration.

Looking at Berlin from the outside, it appears anything but scary. Uh, other than that prison coming in. Is that in-town or off in the mountains somewhere? If its anywhere near town, that could truely give people the creeps.

Caracoid · 05-03-2012, 07:35 AM

BTW, how in the world does this site figure out how many times your post has been read?

CarawayDJ · 05-03-2012, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caracoid

BTW, how in the world does this site figure out how many times your post has been read?

It's easy. Anytime a browser requests or views a page from a web server the server can and usually does record various information.

Caracoid · 05-03-2012, 03:57 PM

That assumes that the person requesting the page read all the Replies that appear on that page, right?

Arabel · 05-04-2012, 12:49 PM

It's been many years since I've been to Berlin (1996 to be exact). I spent a year living in Groveton, not far from Berlin. Not the easiest place to live. As GregW mentioned, the area has suffered from a stagnant economy. However, I recently saw a news clip on the beautification being done in Berlin. If you go to WMUR and search for "Heart of Your City: Berlin", you'll see a short video featuring Sylvia Poulin who is working on rejuvinating the downtown area. I found it inspiring. A big part in building a community comes from each individual working towards making a difference.

Bosenaw · 02-22-2013, 11:33 AM

Sister in Law just bought house in Berlin and I am considering making offer on one too. Have been a few times, stayed over a couple days each time, and met prospective neighbors and toured town a lot. I think it is beautiful with some well kept housing (although some not), spectacular mountain views, the people are the salt of the earth and those that have lived there all their lives are very proud and devoted citizens. There is new investment in town indicated by rehabbed buildings and some interesting and artsy new shops and restaurants. The state is committed to investing there in facilities under construction, there is decent public transportation and it is a short drive to mountain attractions in all seasons. What's not to like?