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Some random thoughts: New Hampshire does have more wild nature than England does, but both have a good many small villages and farmland as well as a number of smaller cities. While there's no metropolis in New Hampshire, if you don't want to live out in the woods, there are still plenty of places one can live. I suppose it would help though to at least appreciate nature, as that's one of New Hampshire's best aspects! For what it's worth, I went to grad school at the University of New Hampshire, and one of my best friends there was from England, Charlotte, and she liked New Hampshire just fine - she'd go backpacking and skiing with us. As she finished her studies, her parents came to visit, and they rented a boat for we students to do a sunset "booze cruise" on the Piscataquah River... she went back to England later but I think she always remembered her time here fondly.
To the OP, I would seriously recommend renting instead of buying when you move here because you're likely going to be in for a shock when you experience your first northern New England winter. We just had a week of subzero (in Fahrenheit) temps at night, and it's only mid-December. Winters here are long, cold, snowy, and dark, and transplants from other climates have been known to flee after their first winter, while trying to unload a house they bought prematurely. If I were you, I'd think more about this than about trees, frogs, and snakes.
Thanks guys. The winters there are what attracted me. I love winter sports and the three seasons( excluding summer). Living in England, you're only a 90 minute ferry ride to Calais France( Dover) , and then onto our favourite holidays: Southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland, for a couple of weeks.
Of course, when we move there, it'll be too expensive yo go to those places, since from England, they're like going from NH or Vt( haven't decided yet on NH or VT yet) to another state in distance.
We have warm, lined boots, warm toasty coats, thermals, air muffs, scarves, mittens, microwave inserts, etc. you can dress for winter, but sweat even with a bathing suit in summer.
To us, you can dress for Winter, Summer, you can be naked and still roast.( I know there's AC, that's only for indoors though, know NH doesn't get that hot, that's why we love what we hear about it and VT.
We love parts of Maine too, but know that is mainly woods.
Maybe, we just have a wrong perception of upper NH. Just attracted to the Dartmouth hospital complex and closeness to that highly rated hospital in Boston( and hockey!!)
It's purely personal taste of course, but to me northern New England is the nicest part of the country. This area was first settled in the 1600s, and still hasn't had the kind of modern population boom like they have had in Florida or Texas. So it's about as historical as it gets for the USA, and there are lots of beautiful older homes, churches, town greens and town squares throughout the region like you just won't find in other parts of the USA. It's not the most productive area for farming with its hills, rocky soils and the relatively high land cost per acre, but there are still many beautiful orchards and farms operating that produce local meats, milk, cheeses, as well as fruits and vegetables that have ripened fully on the plant/tree before harvest - not that tasteless crap that's been transported from thousands of miles away. There are plenty of inland lakes and streams that are clean for swimming and fishing, and a rugged coast that is beautiful if not warm. And yes, we have decent skiing, good medical care and some fine universities. It's a good place - not saying it's right for everyone, but you should take an extended visit to have a good look and see.
Thanks guys. The winters there are what attracted me. I love winter sports and the three seasons( excluding summer). Living in England, you're only a 90 minute ferry ride to Calais France( Dover) , and then onto our favourite holidays: Southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland, for a couple of weeks.
Of course, when we move there, it'll be too expensive yo go to those places, since from England, they're like going from NH or Vt( haven't decided yet on NH or VT yet) to another state in distance.
We have warm, lined boots, warm toasty coats, thermals, air muffs, scarves, mittens, microwave inserts, etc. you can dress for winter, but sweat even with a bathing suit in summer.
To us, you can dress for Winter, Summer, you can be naked and still roast.( I know there's AC, that's only for indoors though, know NH doesn't get that hot, that's why we love what we hear about it and VT.
We love parts of Maine too, but know that is mainly woods.
Maybe, we just have a wrong perception of upper NH. Just attracted to the Dartmouth hospital complex and closeness to that highly rated hospital in Boston( and hockey!!)
Well, I don't think you should expect NH to not get very hot. We definitely do have plenty of hot & humid weather in the Summer. Typically it will go back & forth. We'll have a few days of unbearably (to me) hot days, and then it will break and we'll have some gorgeous Summer days. Most years, to me, the worst seems to be July. By August the extremely hot days seem fewer. This year we had a fair amount of unusually hot days well into the Fall.
In any case, in Southern NH, I do end up running my A/C for most of the Summer. I know plenty of people who are not as affected as I am, but if you hate hot weather (as I do), you should be prepared to experience some of that here. We end up with plenty of 90° days most Summers and even will dip into triple digits once in a while. The good news is, however, is that it typically breaks after a few days (as described above).
Note: I am speaking from the perspective of Southern NH. Of course that will change somewhat, farther North.
"Hot" is subjective. For me, Hot is 90+ and I welcome the few weather patterns that bring us 90+ degree weather. The summer of 2012 and 2013, each summer had two heatwaves that brought temps to 100+. I loved it! I used the opportunity to head to the White Mountains and swim in the colder water.
Thanks guys. The winters there are what attracted me. I love winter sports and the three seasons( excluding summer). Living in England, you're only a 90 minute ferry ride to Calais France( Dover) , and then onto our favourite holidays: Southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland, for a couple of weeks.
Of course, when we move there, it'll be too expensive yo go to those places, since from England, they're like going from NH or Vt( haven't decided yet on NH or VT yet) to another state in distance.
We have warm, lined boots, warm toasty coats, thermals, air muffs, scarves, mittens, microwave inserts, etc. you can dress for winter, but sweat even with a bathing suit in summer.
To us, you can dress for Winter, Summer, you can be naked and still roast.( I know there's AC, that's only for indoors though, know NH doesn't get that hot, that's why we love what we hear about it and VT.
We love parts of Maine too, but know that is mainly woods.
Maybe, we just have a wrong perception of upper NH. Just attracted to the Dartmouth hospital complex and closeness to that highly rated hospital in Boston( and hockey!!)
I'm glad you like cold weather, but there's a big difference between two weeks in the Alps and 5+ months of cold, dark, endless winter.
OP, if you don't want woods and have fears of snakes and frogs, how about the coast of Maine? If you can afford the southern part, you are near the ocean. No snakes, no frogs (?) and it doesn't get that hot in summer. Kittery Maine is convenient to Boston and yet it's not that wooded and is cooler in summer than inland. The coast of Maine is really beautiful. Just an idea.
Thanks guys. You've all helped a lot. I always read about areas before I move.The pictures of the area all look like, or remind me of a wilderness campground. I wasn't expecting endless forest, which ( in my mind)brought up images of snakes, poisonous or not.
I don't go in woods, so don't care if they're there and stay there,
Most houses are right next to or in forests. That part freaked me out at first.
The frog concern is mainly because they attract snakes.
We just wanted to be near a main hospital ( both older and have health concerns) and lived the low crime report and lack of long, hot muggy summers.
I just want to find neighbourhoods themselves that are treeless around the houses, will probably just have to look near the town centres.
I'm not talking about a few trees, of course, that's normal, just not s forest in our backyard
I live in the Upper Valley (near Dartmouth College and the medical center; have been here 3+ years. We basically have a collection of small towns. There are "in-town" homes, more suburban-like neighborhoods and rural homes, all within a small area. The overall area of VT and NH is forested. Go to realtor.com to see what kind of housing is available. Go to google maps to explore a neighborhood... you can "go" up and down the streets to look around.
The only snake I ever saw was a very small one my daughter-in-law found in the wood pile. She picked it up on the end of a shovel and threw it into the woods. I saw a coyote once trotting across the interstate
highway. My son saw a moose at the side of the road once. My dog got skunked once in front of the house by the garage door. I have seen deer and turkeys running wild. Lots of birds coming to the bird feeder this time of year.
What I don't understand is, if you are not an outdoorsy type person, why would you pick VT or NH?
As to summer heat. People will tell you it goes up to 80 or 90 F here in summer. But what I find (having moved here from Maryland) is the high heat only lasts for 2 or 3 hours in the afternoon. As to humidity, we do have some due to the lakes and rivers, but I have heard lifelong residents of this area complain about humidity when it is at 40% or 50%. To me, high humidity is 80% or 90%, not 50%.
As someone else mention, read the various posts in the VT and NH forums. Lots of good information. If you search on my username, you will find some of my early impressions of the area when I first moved here.
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