Tired of people telling me to not move to Keene (Peterborough: smog, transplants)

[GregW]

Suzette - Courage is doing what you fear. It is a lot easier to be courageous than panicked. Just realize you are a human being and humans have adapted to scary situations for a very, very long time. We all know how to do it but sometimes we don't believe that we can.

I think you are going about the move in the correct manner by renting for a few months. Come on over and sit a spell, we are pretty good people.

For what it is worth, compared to CA the weather is going to feel like living in a Margarita

[Suzet2262]

Originally Posted by GregW

Suzette - Courage is doing what you fear. It is a lot easier to be courageous than panicked. Just realize you are a human being and humans have adapted to scary situations for a very, very long time. We all know how to do it but sometimes we don't believe that we can.

I think you are going about the move in the correct manner by renting for a few months. Come on over and sit a spell, we are pretty good people.

For what it is worth, compared to CA the weather is going to feel like living in a Margarita

Thank you Greg for the encouraging words. They really mean a lot to me. Everyone here has been so wonderful, just makes me more sure that moving is the right thing to do.

[statistics nut]

statistics nut

Suzet2262

Here is a perspective from moving the other way, NH to Northern CA.

Born and raised in Walpole NH, lived in Keene NH for 15 years and then off to Northern CA for work purposes.

I do not regret moving to CA but for me it was something I had to do. Family was upside down about the situation. All of my family still lives there, my wifes family also.
The situation (s) you post are real and emotionally the no go versus the go are fear related by both sides. No one wants you to get hurt and you are torn by the advice from every side.

I visit family every two years or so and get a picture of how things were and how they are each time I visit. Gotta tell you that I can go back to my home town or Keene and it is virtually unchanged from the outside view. Yup, some trees removed, mabey a street change here and there but change is NOT in the sense of the California experience.

Most of the buildings are old but the outsides do not reflect what is inside. The character of each community is similar yet different. People are generally warm , inviting and they often carry the traditional New England mentality that historically is rationally conservative but applied with a liberal sense of reality. Small towns, terrific for raising children, generally very good schools and concerned people.

NH is advertised as having a low taxation but be aware that property taxes are a major source of revenue for communities. If you are prop 13 protected in CA on you 600K home, the comparison is subjective, but you will pay more in property tax but probably in home construction have a heck of a lot more home for less real estate dollars. The home I sold in Keene NH was built to withstand heavy snow loads, had full cellar and substantially more robust that the typical slab built CA home on a postage sized lot.

I worked for a NH company in CA at the NH pay scale. That was not the greatest financial move of my life. However, going the other way promises to have some very nice advantages. This is true today as I look for a place to live in retirement. For family issues just remember that you CAN be there in probably less than 24 hrs and the same works for each! It's not far away at all.

You need to do what you feel is the best for you! You cannot live your parents life, brothers, sisters etc. Fear cripples a lot of people with attempts to find a place that is percieved better for thier future. This is called "moving forward" instead of staying in an environment that YOU percieve is just NOT working for you. Attitude is far more important; you move and make it work! Cold is a perception, old, backward, and your perception is the important one. You will never know if you were right until you do it and expirence it. Can't move back to CA if you do this due to Housing cost? Possibly this is true but my guess is that what you find in NH will satisfy those things you post in ways you have not yet imagined.

My expierence is identical moving from NH to CA , something was nagging at me and I had to find out if there was a better place for ME. I still love the place but it simply was not for me at that time in my life. CA is now not the place for me because it's a different time and place. However, I know that I can go back to NH 10,15 years from now and it will still have those basic qualities of slow change but it will still be modern on the inside versus looking old on the outside.

I moved in 1980, Highest interest rates on home loans of the century, 14-15% mortgage in CA on 3X priced home. Family thought I was truly an idiot. For them , they wanted to stay and for me I had to see how the rest of the world managed to make it where they lived. There had to be something better. There was, it was CA and for 27 years it met my projections and needs. Nothing is forever and now I'm looking again but it won't be NH because it doesn't meet my current needs. Am I concerned I can't get back in if it doesn't work? No, I will make it work becaue I want to! Frequently we imprison ourselves in an environment that kills us out of fear that we will fail.

You WILL do well in NH and most likely anywhere else if you want to be there.

[baobob girl]

Hi Suzette,
My family and I just moved to Peterborough (20 min. from keene which I am sure you already know) three weeks ago. We are originally from CT but lived in Southern CA for 10 years before coming back. I wanted to move back here for all of the reasons you stated, the smog, the intensity, the amazing amount of money you spend, the lack of seasons. We have two young children and I wanted them to grow up the way my husband and I did, with yards and nature and not living 10 minutes from every chain store known to man. I really thought I hated Southern CA and wanted to leave for years. Even though I am from New England and have visited often since I left, first arriving here to live was a huge shock. California is like another country in my opinion. It is a really amazing place and after living there I can honestly say that I think it is great that it exists and I love many many things about it but I wouldn't want to live there. That being said, my first week here in New Hampshire was really scary and I wanted to run back to CA. I suspect you might feel that way too but after being here for the past 2 weeks since then, I have to say I think this is a better life (at least for my family). People here seem more thoughtful and intellectual. Besides being kind, I just see people who are more down to earth and really take the time to think about important things in life. I think part of it is that life is not as easy here as in CA. Here you have to deal with the weather and you have to drive further for things but I think it makes you more thoughtful about life and gives everything a deeper sense of meaning. For me it does anyway. I found people from CA to be wonderful but very busy all the time and unable to have conversations about important issues. I also found most people from there to be very very loyal to CA. I can't tell you the number of times people said to me "California is the best place to live". Often this was said by people who hadn't really visited many other places. So, in my opinion, things here are a little more serious, things sometimes take a little longer, things have less glitz and ease but more charm and meaning. I am still a little scared about my decision to come back here but I am really glad that I did because if I hadn't, I would always wonder. I hope this helps

[DareToDream]

Originally Posted by baobob girl

Hi Suzette,
My family and I just moved to Peterborough (20 min. from keene which I am sure you already know) three weeks ago. We are originally from CT but lived in Southern CA for 10 years before coming back. I wanted to move back here for all of the reasons you stated, the smog, the intensity, the amazing amount of money you spend, the lack of seasons. We have two young children and I wanted them to grow up the way my husband and I did, with yards and nature and not living 10 minutes from every chain store known to man. I really thought I hated Southern CA and wanted to leave for years. Even though I am from New England and have visited often since I left, first arriving here to live was a huge shock. California is like another country in my opinion. It is a really amazing place and after living there I can honestly say that I think it is great that it exists and I love many many things about it but I wouldn't want to live there. That being said, my first week here in New Hampshire was really scary and I wanted to run back to CA. I suspect you might feel that way too but after being here for the past 2 weeks since then, I have to say I think this is a better life (at least for my family). People here seem more thoughtful and intellectual. Besides being kind, I just see people who are more down to earth and really take the time to think about important things in life. I think part of it is that life is not as easy here as in CA. Here you have to deal with the weather and you have to drive further for things but I think it makes you more thoughtful about life and gives everything a deeper sense of meaning. For me it does anyway. I found people from CA to be wonderful but very busy all the time and unable to have conversations about important issues. I also found most people from there to be very very loyal to CA. I can't tell you the number of times people said to me "California is the best place to live". Often this was said by people who hadn't really visited many other places. So, in my opinion, things here are a little more serious, things sometimes take a little longer, things have less glitz and ease but more charm and meaning. I am still a little scared about my decision to come back here but I am really glad that I did because if I hadn't, I would always wonder. I hope this helps

baobob girl - I had to laugh at your comment that California is like another country We moved to Littleton from NYS and I keep telling everyone NH is like another country!

I've found a lot of what you said to be true - people here are more "real" for lack of a better term. We really love NH, but it did take some adjusting, even just coming from NYS - we had snow and cold there, although not as cold as up here, but the snow didn't bother us.

It's really kinda weird - I talked to my mom tonight who is in NYS and they have more snow on the ground than we do up here in the north country - she doesn't believe me!

ENjoy your new life!

[rmcewan]

Originally Posted by baobob girl

Hi Suzette,
My family and I just moved to Peterborough (20 min. from keene which I am sure you already know) three weeks ago. We are originally from CT but lived in Southern CA for 10 years before coming back.

Welcome fellow CA leaver! Seems like we all have the same reasons for leaving the smog.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by DareToDream

baobob girl - I had to laugh at your comment that California is like another country We moved to Littleton from NYS and I keep telling everyone NH is like another country!

I've found a lot of what you said to be true - people here are more "real" for lack of a better term. We really love NH, but it did take some adjusting, even just coming from NYS - we had snow and cold there, although not as cold as up here, but the snow didn't bother us.

It's really kinda weird - I talked to my mom tonight who is in NYS and they have more snow on the ground than we do up here in the north country - she doesn't believe me!

ENjoy your new life!

Don't worry, you will get some more snowfall over the next few days. Be prepared for some really cold low temperatures in about 5-7 days.

[Captjob]

Hi Suzet and all,

Ok, I just got back from my New England trip yesterday and I wanted to share some of my experiences with you as I feel the same (exactly) as you and others do about the So Cal/New England move.

If you have a few minutes please indulge:

First,

We left Cali the day before the last big rain storm and spent the last 14 days traveling all over the East Coast from DC to Littleton and back again.

We did the typical tourist things staying and enjoying DC for a few days, moving on to Gettysburg for a few days, Hershey PA and the factory and then up to my brothers house in Uxbridge MA before moving on to NH.

The further North we traveled the nicer communities, people and places we found. We hit the snowline just North of Boston; however, we brought a California heat wave with us as it began to get unseasonable warm for NE this time of year. The first week of the trip the temps averaged in the 50s and 60s with no weather worries at all. We were disappointed as we were hoping for some winter weather.

We spent time looking at property and homes in most of the states and had a good example of what to expect as far as price and taxes in each state.

What I found, as expected, was NE is probably the exact opposite to So Cal. Never stuck in traffic, clean air, slower pace, lots of land and open space, very few rude people to speak of and those we ran into were typical city dwellers.

It was strange to see horse and buggies parked in front of the super Wal-Marts. (Amish country) Although we tried, we never found one good Mexican restaurant anywhere so if you have a passion for real Mexican food…well good luck.

Wide-open spaces, farms, old Victorian homes separated by acres and acres of land were the norm.

The kids played in the leaves in the lower states, had snowball fights in the upper and ice-skated in front of the national archives.
There was always something to do or see.

All in all it was a great experience and I hated to come home. When we arrived home we were met by a two-hour bumper-to-bumper commute of only thirty miles with the A/C running in January. Ahh…nothing like the So Cal experience.

The only draw back for me is now my wife AND kids want to move tomorrow. Having to wait these next several years is going to be hard.

I will have to share more experiences, as some were very interesting, and post some pictures as well.

Don’t let anyone rain of your dream, there is a large leaf pile with your name on it waiting for you back there.

Captjob

[rmcewan]

Originally Posted by Captjob

Don’t let anyone rain of your dream, there is a large leaf pile with your name on it waiting for you back there.

Yes indeed....

[Valerie C]

What a little cutie!!!
Now that's reason enough for Suzet to move here to NH!!!
Thanks for sharing Rmcewan