Any small, untouched towns left? (Nashua, Concord: live, moving, pine)

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by storybookscribe

I took this test on ****** and Littleton was high on my list. Here's a link to what the site has to say about Littleton. Anyone from Littleton agree or disagree with it? They make it sound like a bit of heaven to me.

http://www.******/survey/R...&REID=113&PL=8

We visited Littleton a couple of weeks ago and were rather disappointed. It's a nice enough little town, I guess, but there's not much there but tourism, and the local businesses are struggling against the likes of McDonald's, Wal Mart, etc. We actually had a hard time sleeping in the hotel because local bored teens were going up and down main street all night with their stereos shaking the whole neighborhood.

Honestly, I thought nearby Bethlehem was much nicer than Littleton. Not much there, but if you want quiet, you'll have it in Bethlehem.

[DareToDream]

Mark S - May I ask how long you stayed in Littleton? I ask because there are things to do in Littleton, depending on what it is you're looking for, of course I've never heard the local businesses say they are struggling because of WalMart or McD's. I have some errands to run today and will have to ask around - whenever I've been in the various stores on Main Street, they've been busy...depending on the time of day. I try to avoid WalMart if at all possible because the place is usually a zoo and I only go there if I can't find what I'm looking for in town, as is the case with most of those we know here. The town is very "touristy" as we get a lot of skiers, hikers, etc., coming through, but that's good for the town's economy. There are businesses in town that aren't directly related to the tourists, although most of them are small and Littleton is not a place to find work if you want to make a lot of money.

I agree - Bethlehem is a beatiful area, but if I'm not mistaken (and someone please correct me if I'm wrong), I believe they either have had final approval or are nearing final approval on either a housing development or a condo complex somewhere near the golf course, which may or may not change that town.

Once you are off Main Street, our street, at least, is quiet, I'm not sure about all the others, of course <g>. We first lived on Route 135 when we first moved her and that was a noise nightmare with all the trucks and motorcyles going by!

Anyway, I was just curious as to how much time you spent in Littleton when you visted........

[nhyrnut]

Originally Posted by Mark S.

the local businesses are struggling against the likes of McDonald's, Wal Mart, etc.
.

I never thought I would be doing this. But Walmart was a Good thing for Littleton. The people in town and the Businesses Have written letters saying Thank You for coming. And Down town Has actually improved Sales wise and Merchant wise. Sense Walmart arrived. I don't know what Littleton has done Different than the other towns Walmart has crushed the Downtowns of. But the local merchants , in Littleton Think Walmart Saved the downtown stores, By bringing customers in that would not have come if not for Walmart. St. J still kicks their self in the butt for Forcing Walmart away. Just don't tell anyone I was Defending Walmart please. Even when true it is still hard to do.

[DareToDream]

That pretty much supports what I was told when I was out running errands. No one I spoke with thought WalMart had been bad for downtown. With the McD, Wendys, Pizza Hut, even Applebee's and 99, people get tired of the "fast food" eventually and look for something different in the town. I have noticed that with all the different places to eat, if you get there before 6 p.m., they aren't crowded, but generally speaking after 6 p.m. you have to wait. For lunch, if you go before 12 or after 1, same thing. Not sure why "the strip" brought people into town, unless it's because it's a pretty much "straight shot" from that area to Main Street and the shops look "intriguing" from the outside, so people stop to see what's in there <g>. I was looking for something one day when my MIL came to visit - she was sure WalMart would have it, they didn't, and the clerk in WalMart told us to check out Duck Soup - we did and she found what she was looking for there, then wanted to check out some of the other stores - that could also be a factor....Of course I have no idea how frequently they send someone elsewhere from WalMart or if this was an "isolated incident."

It will be interesting to see what happens when the Super WalMart opens in Woodsville......

[westerngirl]

Last summer my husband and I drove through New Hampshire and Littleton was one of the many cities we visited. I fell in love with the quaintness of the town. We saw the mill and walked around the main street. Littleton is one of the towns we are considering moving to. We are looking for more information about the town, if anybody would like to “sell us” on your town, it would be appreciated.

[GraniteStater]

It seems like Bethlehem is gaining population fairly fast as well. This town also has many homes on at least a few acres if not more. Also, I think the eastern edge of the town boundary is included in the White Mountain National Forest. Whitefield, which is farther to the north, does not seem to be growing as fast, but it is a little bit further removed. Both areas are very scenic with plenty of outdoor recreation sports activities closeby.

[DareToDream]

Originally Posted by westerngirl

Last summer my husband and I drove through New Hampshire and Littleton was one of the many cities we visited. I fell in love with the quaintness of the town. We saw the mill and walked around the main street. Littleton is one of the towns we are considering moving to. We are looking for more information about the town, if anybody would like to “sell us” on your town, it would be appreciated.

Well let's see....<g>....The mill you're talking about is the gristmill, right? I'm not sure what you're looking for in a town, so it's hard to give you a lot of info, and remember, we're relatively new to the area so I guess the best way is to give you some of our experiences and impressions.....The area is growing, but from what we have seen and heard, it's growing in a relatively "smart" way. The big box stores are in one area, Main Street in another, although both convenient. I can't tell you about the school system, as we have no children in school. We have not had any problems with any of the teenagers, for the most part, they are polite, hopeful and hard working. The only time we experienced "teenagers being teenagers" was when we took my husband's granddaughter to the local park for her to do some sledding - there were teens there, talking as teens do when their parents aren't around, but when we looked at them and made them aware that their voices were "carrying" they apologized and were more careful

There is not a big "night life" in town - if you look, you can find things to do, though. The library and the bookstore both seem to have a lot of activities for kids and kids at heart. There is a river that runs through the town (I can never spell it and won't even attempt to here! <g>) - we got married in NH in the gazebo by the river, which was very nice.

In the spring and summer (at least going by last year) there are church breakfasts, suppers, etc., for the community. There are various sidewalk sales, festivals, parades, the farmer's market, music in the park, and the town seems to be very involved and we've enjoyed all of them. I don't "do" karaoke but I understand there is a place in town now that has it if you're into it <g>. We have 2 Chinese restaurants that I'm aware of, the Littleton Diner, the Oasis, the Eastgate, Alburritos (Mexican food), Wendy's, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, 99, Applebee's, Topic of the Town as places to eat (there may be more, these are off the top of my head). There's Bishops Ice Cream which is seasonal but really good! There's a small BBQ place in the summer which has good food, as well.

There's a Shaw's (the only major grocery store in town), there's a natural food store, which is small, 2 car washes that I'm aware of, 5 or 6 drug stores and there's a food co-op that's moving forward (at least according to their newsletters). There is a radio station in town as well. There's a VFW and a American Legion as well....oh yeah, and a Harley dealership <g>

The pace of life is much slower than what we had in NYS and that's what we were looking for. The people are friendly and very helpful. We have a mechanic who works on our cars when needed and he has never shafted us or tried to (nothing like in NY!). The people in the town hall have always been informative and helpful when we've had any questions. The vet we use is fantastic and there's a kennel just outside of town that takes very good care of our dog when we need to board her.

There is the Moore Dam/reservoir where you can go for a picnic if you are so inclined and some people we know kayaak in the reservoir. There are hiking areas and of course, ski areas in the area.

It's pretty easy to get around, at least in my mind, by using I-93 - having been used to the NYS Thruway, I-93 is a dream! There are many surrounding towns where the people are friendly as well - Lisbon and Bethlehem to name a couple. Franconia is not far from here either.

I have absolutely no idea if this is helpful to you or not - if you have more specific questions, either ask here or feel free to PM me and I will try to answer them. All I know is that we love it here and are very happy we made the move!

[westerngirl]

Originally Posted by windchimes03561

Well let's see....<g>....The mill you're talking about is the gristmill, right? I'm not sure what you're looking for in a town, so it's hard to give you a lot of info, and remember, we're relatively new to the area so I guess the best way is to give you some of our experiences and impressions.....The area is growing, but from what we have seen and heard, it's growing in a relatively "smart" way. The big box stores are in one area, Main Street in another, although both convenient. I can't tell you about the school system, as we have no children in school. We have not had any problems with any of the teenagers, for the most part, they are polite, hopeful and hard working. The only time we experienced "teenagers being teenagers" was when we took my husband's granddaughter to the local park for her to do some sledding - there were teens there, talking as teens do when their parents aren't around, but when we looked at them and made them aware that their voices were "carrying" they apologized and were more careful

There is not a big "night life" in town - if you look, you can find things to do, though. The library and the bookstore both seem to have a lot of activities for kids and kids at heart. There is a river that runs through the town (I can never spell it and won't even attempt to here! <g>) - we got married in NH in the gazebo by the river, which was very nice.

In the spring and summer (at least going by last year) there are church breakfasts, suppers, etc., for the community. There are various sidewalk sales, festivals, parades, the farmer's market, music in the park, and the town seems to be very involved and we've enjoyed all of them. I don't "do" karaoke but I understand there is a place in town now that has it if you're into it <g>. We have 2 Chinese restaurants that I'm aware of, the Littleton Diner, the Oasis, the Eastgate, Alburritos (Mexican food), Wendy's, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, 99, Applebee's, Topic of the Town as places to eat (there may be more, these are off the top of my head). There's Bishops Ice Cream which is seasonal but really good! There's a small BBQ place in the summer which has good food, as well.

There's a Shaw's (the only major grocery store in town), there's a natural food store, which is small, 2 car washes that I'm aware of, 5 or 6 drug stores and there's a food co-op that's moving forward (at least according to their newsletters). There is a radio station in town as well. There's a VFW and a American Legion as well....oh yeah, and a Harley dealership <g>

The pace of life is much slower than what we had in NYS and that's what we were looking for. The people are friendly and very helpful. We have a mechanic who works on our cars when needed and he has never shafted us or tried to (nothing like in NY!). The people in the town hall have always been informative and helpful when we've had any questions. The vet we use is fantastic and there's a kennel just outside of town that takes very good care of our dog when we need to board her.

There is the Moore Dam/reservoir where you can go for a picnic if you are so inclined and some people we know kayaak in the reservoir. There are hiking areas and of course, ski areas in the area.

It's pretty easy to get around, at least in my mind, by using I-93 - having been used to the NYS Thruway, I-93 is a dream! There are many surrounding towns where the people are friendly as well - Lisbon and Bethlehem to name a couple. Franconia is not far from here either.

I have absolutely no idea if this is helpful to you or not - if you have more specific questions, either ask here or feel free to PM me and I will try to answer them. All I know is that we love it here and are very happy we made the move!

Yes, it was the Gristmill we went to. Thank you for taking your time to repond. Right now I am not sure what I am looking for, but I really want to go back and visit. I could see us living in a little town like that. Thank you again.

[mstrssdstny]

I am a Native of New Hampshire but live elsewhere right now. You want an untouched town that little to no upgrades would be around Colebrook, New Hampshire. Littleton would be a major town that Colebrook goes to. Sooner or later everyone will get wind of hidden spots but that town barely has a "Main Street!"

[WannaComeHome]

Originally Posted by mstrssdstny

I am a Native of New Hampshire but live elsewhere right now. You want an untouched town that little to no upgrades would be around Colebrook, New Hampshire. Littleton would be a major town that Colebrook goes to. Sooner or later everyone will get wind of hidden spots but that town barely has a "Main Street!"

lol! sounds like Deering (1/2 hour from Hillsboro). It takes the idea of 'bedroom town' really to heart. Other than houses, there is a town hall and police dept in the same building, the library was a single room building that used to be just about on the lawn of the Town Hall (and only open in summer) but is now year round and located on the second floor of Town Hall. That's it. No convenience store, no drug store, no nothing. Dont' remember even seeing a post office! The schools are regional with a couple of other towns. Heck Deering has mostly dirt roads everywhere - but they do pave the intersections.

It's a very pretty place, and not far from Concord or Hillsboro (or Weare), but just a touch too undeveloped for me.