Alaska to New Hampshire (Manchester, Nashua: sales, real estate market, house)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My husband and I plan to move from Alaska back east after my son graduates from high school in five years. We have been looking at Pennsylvania or Virginia but a co-worker who lived in New York suggested we consider New Hampshire. Both my husband and I have lived in Alaska since we were five but have visited relatives and vacationed a few times in VA, DC, PA, NY and MA. We love it here and it is just beautiful but we would like to enjoy a chance to live somewhere where we can just get in the car and drive to a completely different place in a matter of a day or even a few hours. We are looking forward to a climate resembling four seasons. Here we have winter and construction.
We are looking for suggestions for small towns with a larger city within a 30-60 minute drive. What is the real estate market like? We are looking possibly for a 2-3 bedroom, 2 bath with 2+ acres of land and curious what this may cost and availability. Live in the small town with larger city advantages nearby.
It sounds like we want our cake and eat it too, but why not try!
I don't have a lot of concrete suggestions because what you are looking for is completely available in lots of places around here. I know some people who moved here from AK and are enjoying it, but actually just moved to a place farther away from town to have more alone time . . .they said they had got used to it in AK . . .not sure if you have the same situation. If so, it may be something to consider in a town search.
Do you have any other specifics about kinds of places?
Funny, NH is often considered two season - winter & construction, too. But in reality we have four. Every year is different in terms of how long each season is - don't expect an evenly dived 3-3-3-3. It's more like 6 months winter 3 months summer and 1.5 spring 1.5 fall. But there are surprisingly a lot of perfect days (you get a higher appreciation for them, when they're surrounded by so many crappy ones )
As far as towns, like the previous poster - there are many that fit your requirements. If you could be more specific about your job prospects, type of geography (suburb, lakes, ocean, mountains, city), etc.
NH is a good choice though - it's the closest to Alaska in terms of lifestyle of all the states you mentioned. I think the transition from Alaska to Mass, NY, or Virginia would send you on the first bush plane back to NOME!
We are looking for a small town just off a larger city that would have the basics, medical, grocery and small businesses but close enough to a larger city for the rest. There are no real geographical requirements. However, are there areas that have more desirable weather than others?
For the last 15 years I have been driving 45-50 miles, about an hour each way, to commute to work at the University in the HR/Payroll department and work on finishing a degree. I am not sure what job opportunities I would pursue but if close enough to a larger city I could easily do the commute. Our only child will be out of the house so schools are not a priority.
As to desirable weather, depends on what you 'desire' Weather tends to sweep across NH on an angle, so the south-central and east (from say Brookline-ish east and from roughly Concord south) tends to have gentler weather than North Country. Most of the time (barring cold snaps and such) I've noticed the temps to be around 10d cooler than the mid-atlantic! There is a narrow middle weather band that follows along the same angle, and then there is the 'snow belt' that will have Keene in the south as well as northern NH in it. Personally, I like the milder (such as it is) weather.
For the towns, while most of NH is small towns outside moderate cities, most small towns don't have much in the way of medical, groceries or many small businesses. They tend to be what are called 'bedroom towns': places you live and commute to work from. Often (though not always, Deering being a case in point) they may have 1 gas station and maybe a mom & pop store, but that's about it. You can find groceries and such basics in say Hillsboro (though clothes shopping and such I think goes more to Concord or Manchester), and also Milford, but probably more will be in Concord, Manchester, Nashua, Derry (from the sound of it)... so you'd want to look at towns around there. Sounds like North Conway & Littleton have a lot of shops - but I don't really know Northern NH.
Blum, we are moving from WA to NH the summer of 09... I've only been there once, but all of the pictures, and this forum... I've found that as long as you find the town that fits what you are looking for... NH is a great AK or WA state on the East coast. It is full of small towns and because it is so small, you have quick (2 hours) accessiblity to even Boston! If you love winter - 5 -6 months - you will fit right in! ) Hope to see you there! We are moving from a small town in NE Washington cuddled by the mountains... looking for something similiar where I can teach and my hubby can do what he does ) I'll keep you posted if you would like!
Our big trip is planned for Sept/Oct of this year and our move Spring/Summer of 09. ) DM me if you have questions that may be I can help answer, since we are both doing a cross country move... even if yours is in a couple of years!
Last edited by dzmjp; 05-09-2008 at 08:45 PM..
Reason: silly typo! :o)
I agree! You want it all, and if you don't at least try for it all, you're sure not going to find it if you settle for just some of it...
I like dognh's explanation of our seasons--yes we get all 4, but sometimes we have a summer day tossed into the end of winter (75 degrees January 2007 when my son went SWIMMING in the chilly Atlantic) and many times it seems like we accelerate directly from winter to summer (like 2008 for example--80+ degrees 2 weeks ago, 50's this weekend)
If nothing else, the weather keeps you on your toes How boring to have the same weather each and every day....
Our larger cities are Manchester (Auburn, Goffstown, Candia, Londonderry, Litchfield), Nashua (Hollis, Milford, Amherst, Brookline, Litchfield) and Concord (Bow, Hopkinton, Pembroke) Yeah, that's a long list. I guess it all depends on just how small of a town you're looking for...
Quote:
Originally Posted by blum645
It sounds like we want our cake and eat it too, but why not try!
I'm a little late on this one I think! but you have two years to go...
I'm probably going to pass you in the opposite direction... heading from NH to AK
New Hampshire is great. I'm from the Manchester area and the best part is its less than an hour from everywhere... Boston, Ocean, Mountains ect.. The property and property tax is more expensive but the cost of living is about 10% less.. but so is the income, and the 0% sales tax is the same.
I have found searching online that overall the comparisons balance each other out quite evenly... Also there aren't and brown bears or wolves, just the little black bears and coyotes that run away when spooked.
Last edited by s_staples35; 03-03-2011 at 08:59 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
)
Weather tends to sweep across NH on an angle, so the south-central and east (from say Brookline-ish east and from roughly Concord south) tends to have gentler weather than North Country. Most of the time (barring cold snaps and such) I've noticed the temps to be around 10d cooler than the mid-atlantic! There is a narrow middle weather band that follows along the same angle, and then there is the 'snow belt' that will have Keene in the south as well as northern NH in it. Personally, I like the milder (such as it is) weather.
) Hope to see you there! We are moving from a small town in NE Washington cuddled by the mountains... looking for something similiar where I can teach and my hubby can do what he does 
