Looking for info on Bennington (Manchester, Concord: middle-class, section 8, violent crime)

[Makolly]

What can you tell me about Bennington? We are a family of five with three young kids and we're looking at a possible move to NH. I spent a lot of time in Bennington as a kid but haven't been there in almost 20 years so I have no idea about family life, schools, recreation for the kids (other than Crotched Mtn), etc. Also any info you have about any nice towns in between Bennington and Laconia would be great. I am somewhat familiar with Wolfeboro so that's an area we may consider as well. My husband would be working in Laconia. Is Bennington to Laconia a reasonable commute? How is Laconia itself?

Thanks!

[cowbell76]

I know nothing of Bennington, but a fair amount more about Wolfeboro. Wolfeboro is a very nice town I'd love to live in if we could make the commute work. One huge plus for me about Wolfeboro is that the tax rate is incredibly low - 2012 rate is $12.64 per $1000 of assessed value. Bennington is more typical, with $24.90 - just about TWICE that of Wolfeboro. Yes, Wolfeboro has some really expensive property, making the total tax bill for many people very high, but it's not true that property is across-the-board expensive. There are many very reasonably-priced (or even low-priced) houses in Wolfeboro. Looking at assessed values, it looks like if I set my house down in Wolfeboro, it would be assessed the same (unless it had lake frontage) yet my tax bill would be less than half what I pay now.

I was thinking the Wolfeboro to Laconia commute would be long - but looking up Bennington, I see that commute would be much longer. Neither is really all that advisable in the winter, although the drive around the lake would be better.

How about towns like Alton? Gilmanton? Gilmanton is a scenic and historic little town (although, I can see why it is the supposed basis for Peyton Place... absolute stereotypical gossipy and corrupt small New England town. I think if you just don't get that involved, that won't really affect you, though.)

For ease of travel to other cities, I would vote for something somewhat central. Gilmanton, Barnstead, Pittsfield, Loudon. Then you have reasonable travel to Laconia, Concord, and Rochester, and even Boston is an hour and a half or so. I would not want to live in Laconia.

Any of these central places have their own recreational facilities - boat launches, picnic areas, nature trails, swimming areas, ball fields, that sort of thing. There's Gunstock in Gilford, for close skiing. You've got great hiking at Mt. Major and other places. Then of course you're in pretty close proximity to the lake in any of those towns. Wolfeboro has a great rail trail for biking and walking. Pittsfield's school system is known for being bad, although they have a plan in place and have made some major changes in recent years. As it stands right now I would not want my kids in Pittsfield schools but I would not rule it out in the future.

When I moved to NH, I moved to Manchester, for lack of knowing where to live, and because I was coming from a large city and thought I wanted "city" life. I pretty quickly moved to Central NH, for personal reasons. When I moved here, I thought this area was the last place in NH I wanted to live. I now really appreciate it for both its natural beauty and close proximity to everything. I can be in Concord in 20 minutes, Lake Winnipesaukee in 35 or so, Manchester or Portsmouth in about 45. We go to Vermont as often as we go to Maine or Massachusetts for day trips (which is often.) It's kind of both inconvenient yet convenient to everything. Meaning, we have nothing right out our door the way we would if we were IN Concord, Manchester, or Portsmouth, and yet we're much closer to a variety of desirable places than we would be if we lived in any one of those cities.

[Mtneer12]

Laconia is one big crack house. LOTS of drugs and crime. You can read the Laconia newspaper online. Every day day there's violent crime and drug busts. Avoid.

[Brave Stranger]

Laconia does not have a lot of violent crime....in that respect it's much like the rest of NH which has a very low violent crime rate.

Laconia does have drug issues, more so than most. That is in large part because of the terrible job done by local city government in allowing & working to bring a MASSIVE number of low cost & section 8 housing to the city.

Laconia used to be a middle to lower middle-class, blue collar town where most everyone worked....these days not so much.

[nicolem]

Laconia is not one big crack house nor does it have a lot of violent crime. There are good parts and bad parts of Laconia. Union Ave and Bluberry Lane have their share of troubles with drugs. But there are middle class and million dollar homes in Lakeport, Paugus Bay area and Weirs Beach.

The problem with Laconia, as Brave Stranger mentioned, is the local city government. First of all they spend way too much money on things that do not improve the city. Property taxes, despite a so-called tax cap have skyrocketed greatly since 2007. More and more tax payer subsidized housing is being built and that brings with it the drugs and crime, whether or not some people want to admit it. Most recently they have approved waterfront property to go for low income housing. Not a very good use of land in my opinion. But this is also a city council that wanted to spend approx. 1 million dollars to NOT own the Colonial Theater(which had been stripped of all of it's valuable wood and seating and it was full of asbestos, but that is another story).

Those on local city government seldom get voted out, about the only time they leave is on their own, which shows a huge problem on the voters who live in Laconia. So many people I know complain about the spending but continue to vote for them, some of them have been in office 20 years. Quite frankly, I thought there would have been a chance at a house cleaning after they refused to listed to citizens who did not want the ridiculous roundabout that was constructed in Weir's Beach. However the city council did not listen and it was constructed anyway.

Bottom line: Laconia is not a bad place to live. But the spending and catering to those who don't work or break the law is getting out of hand. They also tend to favor certain business owners-letting them get away with a lot while putting the screws to people who want to open a legitimate business. Just look at the leeway they gave the owners of the Wide Open Saloon before they finally attempted legal action.

I would avoid Laconia because of the out of control spending and because of the city counselors who are running the city into the ground, which is a shame.

[nicolem]

Also, regarding the Laconia to Wolfeboro commute, it is doable but not fun, especially in the Winter. You will drive through many towns who all have different ideas as to how well they think they should clear snow covered roads. If you opt to move to Wolfeboro, get snow tires. Also, Wolfeboro is a zoo in the summertime, so depending on where you live, that will add time to your commute.

If your husband is lucky enough to find a good job in the Lakes region, why not live here and save yourself the commute. Why not look into Meredith or Gilford? Good jobs in the Lakes region are hard to find, not impossible but hard. For many years, both my husband and I commuted to Dover from the Lakes region, not a fun commute, especially in the winter or during the busy summer vacation times. He now commutes even further down into the seacoast from the Lakes region but it won't be for too much longer hopefully as we are relocating to the seacoast, as the Rt 11 to the Spaulding tpike commute is tough after doing it for many many years.

[illtaketwoplease]

Bennington is too far for a commute. I lived in the next town over from Bennington and it is a small mill town (paper mill), and has a ski area near one end (Crotched Mountain). Taxes are kinda high there. Think you might do better north of Concord if Laconia is where work is. Some nice towns up near Laconia and of course the big lake is a draw for tourists. Your options are wide open.