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My wife and I are in our 40's, we have two young children, and we currently live in Baltimore.
Our goal is to leave Baltimore in two years (summer 2021). At this point in my research, our #1 destination is NH.
A little background…I have also lived in the Rockies, Carolina Coast, Lake Ontario, and SoCal; she lived in CT and WV before MD. We have both lived in cold weather climates so we know what to expect with harsher, longer winters. I telecommute so the job market doesn't matter. My wife will be focused on taking care of our kids so whether she works PT or not will not be a determining factor in our new hometown.
We both have graduate degrees (although, I don’t put much emphasis on higher education anymore). We're outgoing and make friends easily. I typically get involved in the community (little league coaching, volunteering, etc.). Furthermore, we plan to homeschool our kids.
Also, I should stress (and the priorities list should emphasize this point) that despite currently living in MD, we want to ESCAPE big government. We have put up with Baltimore because our families are in the area but we can’t wait to get out of here and find a great place to raise our kids.
That said, our priorities for our new hometown include:
- Preferably a low to mid-level property tax city/town (although with no sales and income tax, if our dream town has high property taxes, I’ll accept it)
- Low crime
- Less government involvement (particularly, low spending on social services)
- Internet access - Since I telecommute, I'll need access to decent speed and consistent service
- Water - 15 min or less drive to ocean, lakes, or rivers
- Accessibility to small farms, organic produce, farmer's markets, etc.
- Open-minded, common sense, real people, not PC zombies
- Neither of us will be commuting but we’d like an area with little or no traffic congestion (seasonal is acceptable if we wind up at a beach or other lake/snow resort type area)
- Near a community of other homeschoolers (this may be most of the state, I don’t know at this point)
We plan to rent for the first year to make sure that we make the right choice before purchasing a home.
I would highly recommend the Lake Sunapee Area. Newbury, New London, Sunapee and Sutton are a good place to start. I don't know about the homeschool community in the area but New London is the home to Colby Sawyer College and there are some very good private schools in the area.
Less government involvement (particularly, low spending on social services)
We plan to rent for the first year to make sure that we make the right choice before purchasing a home.
Read this one LINK. Gives you an idea of more government and less government.
If you are renting for a year then pick anywhere. Then start driving around to view different towns.
There is/can be a rental shortage here. NH currently has full employment with help wanted signs all over the place.
Cable, internet, cell service can be spotty in some rural areas.
As the above post/link states - find a town that has no zoning. Read up on the Carl Drega affair. A dastardly terrible situation. But read up on what caused this fellow to break. Read the whole story. Read the beginnings.
I would highly recommend the Lake Sunapee Area. Newbury, New London, Sunapee and Sutton are a good place to start. I don't know about the homeschool community in the area but New London is the home to Colby Sawyer College and there are some very good private schools in the area.
Lincolnian, thanks for the recommendation on the Lake Sunapee area. I've been researching that area a lot and it really seems like a great fit for us.
We plan to rent for the first year to make sure that we make the right choice before purchasing a home.
Good idea to rent first, assuming you can find something suitable available in the area you like. If you make it through one real winter, you'll probably stay.
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Originally Posted by unit731
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- Internet access - Since I telecommute, I'll need access to decent speed and consistent service
Cable, internet, cell service can be spotty in some rural areas.
I carried two cell phones with me when checking out houses, just to get a point-in-time idea of cell service levels.
When Internet access is crucial to you, only consider homes which already have broadband Internet, never trust those "prequalification" lookup websites from Comcast, etc.
Great idea, Nonesuch! Need to remember to do this when visiting.
And be even more focused on asking about existing internet. It can take a year or longer for Comcast to hook you up if you don't already have service. DSL here often means speeds <1mbps, and satellite internet is abysmal. Some towns in the Keene area and hopscotching up to the Upper Valley are fortunate enough to have fiber-optic cable with a choice of ISP's.
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