Advice on moving to Northern New Hampshire (Campton to Concord area)?

[Verseau]

Is your fiancée krc2290 by any chance? I only ask because you both mentioned Concord and Campton in your threads, and your stories seem to match.

To elaborate on Meredith - yes, it is in much better shape than Laconia. It's a smaller town, more heavily reliant on tourism (being right on Lake Winnipesaukee), but has a lively downtown at the intersection of two major state roads (Route 3 and Route 25). Although it can sometimes feel a little "congested" (by central NH standards) during the summer, it has a lot of that "nice town" vibe you seem to be looking for, while being closer to a variety shopping/food/movies/etc. options than Plymouth. However, the travel time to Concord is roughly the same from both towns.

We're experts at dealing with snow in NH, and I-93 is the state's longest and most important interstate highway, so it gets taken care of pretty well. Of course, if you're driving as soon as the blizzard starts coming down, you'll need to exercise caution. Ice is something to watch out for as well, although fortunately (or unfortunately?) the winters get cold enough that freezing rain isn't a problem for very long. And again, it's only an issue if you're driving during the relatively brief window before the roads have been treated.

If krc2290 is in fact your fiancée, and you're trying to find a town closer to Concord that matches your criteria, this is a wise move for job prospects - you'll almost certainly have better luck in either Concord or the Franklin/Tilton/Laconia area than in points further north. Unfortunately, this limits your options a bit. Some might consider Franklin to be a miniature version of Laconia - another deindustrialized mill town with some issues of poverty, crime, and poor schools (not to make it sound like an inner city hellscape - it's certainly not THAT bad. But everything is relative.)

Based on your desire for a "nice town" feel with access to amenities, I'd probably suggest Tilton or Northfield. I do think that much of downtown Tilton's bygone greatness has been stripped away by the ultra-sprawly shopping areas around the highway exit, but it's still a nice town in a good location, both for access to amenities and for commuting.

The other towns along I-93 that might be commutable to both Concord and Campton (Sanbornton, Canterbury, New Hampton...) are all beautiful places, but are quite rural and sound like they might be too isolated for you.

[wanderer712]

Yes, thanks! She wasn't having much luck with her post so I posted here too.

She and I have both lived in many different places (MI, ID, CT, CA, OR, etc.) so we are trying to be flexible. Too bad there isn't a good-sized town right smack in the middle. Just so happens that she has a much better chance of finding a job in a city and my jobs are always in more remote locations (Forest Service).

All of your insight has been very helpful...it seems like there are a couple options that might work. And hopefully her job hunt won't be too horrible - she had a really rough time finding work in Idaho, but eventually did so things got better. So we are at least someone mentally prepared for how difficult the job climate is. Good thing I am getting a promotion!

[wanderer712]

Hey thank you....! I did end up contacting a realtor and he said he should be able to help, so that makes me feel a lot better!

Great to know the commute is manageable. I am willing to do that for the right position, for sure.

My biggest concern is obviously the job market, since I would love to find a full-time job sooner rather than later. But with my boyfriend's new position we will be alright until then. Thanks for easing my mind a bit!

Sorry this is Kristin (krc2290), on Taylor's account. All your responses to our questions have helped us out a whole lot.

[Verseau]

Since I'm guessing that your boyfriend is wanderer712 (correct me if I'm wrong), I'll re-post what I wrote in his thread:

"Some might consider Franklin to be a miniature version of Laconia - another deindustrialized mill town with some issues of poverty, crime, and poor schools (not to make it sound like an inner city hellscape - it's certainly not THAT bad. But everything is relative.)

Based on your desire for a "nice town" feel with access to amenities, I'd probably suggest Tilton or Northfield. I do think that much of downtown Tilton's bygone greatness has been stripped away by the ultra-sprawly shopping areas around the highway exit, but it's still a nice town in a good location, both for access to amenities and for commuting.

The other towns along I-93 that might be commutable to both Concord and Campton (Sanbornton, Canterbury, New Hampton...) are all beautiful places, but are quite rural and sound like they might be too isolated for you."

I guess Sanbornton could be a strong contender, as it's pretty much exactly between Concord and Campton and is really close to all the shopping etc. in Tilton. While the town itself is very rural, it really isn't that isolated. It just doesn't have really have a "downtown" or anything like that.