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I'd like to hear more about your thoughts about Portland, Maine. I think Portland has more to offer than any of the towns and cities mentioned so far, but it's not close to mountains or lakes. Maine is a huge state, so you might end up driving a lot farther to recreation than is the case in New Hampshire.
I'm focusing on this: "proximity to mountains, cross-country skiing, hiking, biking and paddle boarding." I share those interests (though downhill skiing and kayaking). I used to live in Concord and found that I always drove 45 minutes to an hour and a half out of Concord for outdoor recreation. You quickly exhaust the opportunities in Concord. The mountains, skiing, hiking, and kayaking are mostly north of Concord---but you can't go too far north because the White Mountains lack lakes.
Your dilemma is to find a small city with a convenient drive to mountains and lakes. There are no other small cities north of Concord. South of Concord is very built up, expensive, and the outdoor recreation is lower quality. I would rule out Manchester. In my opinion it's not a pleasant place to live.
Plymouth, NH, is well located---very near both lakes and mountains---but it's a small college town. It does have some culture related to the college. It has a hospital and all necessary stores. Portsmouth is a lovely and active town, but expensive and far from the mountains and lakes. What about North Conway? It has skiing, hiking, all services, and access to a lot of lakes to the east in Maine. It's main problem is being far from larger cities and it has a small hospital.
I moved 30 minutes north of Concord for recreation and love the accessibility to the lakes and mountains. There's a lake in my town. Lots more lakes and mountains are 30 to 45 minutes. But honestly I dislike my town so I'm not going to recommend it. You could look at some of the more desirable towns in the Lakes Region---Gilford, Meredith, Moultonborough, Wolfeboro.
I think you should put the things you're looking for in order of priority and figure out which ones are deal breakers for you.
If snow is your thing, you have to think about the effects of global warming on outdoor recreation. Namely: much lower snowfall at ski areas (some have closed entirely due to this), much higher winter temperatures that will close down ski areas for days, significantly shorter ski season. Some years there is a low likelihood of being able to cross-country ski.
For water sports, the problem becomes incredibly hot and humid summers. New England is no longer a refuge from summer heat the way it used to be. I barely even kayak in July and August due to extreme heat and humidity, like 95 degrees and 95% humidity for days or weeks. Even June is very hot much of the time. In recent years we've had heatwaves in September and October.
In my opinion, to escape those effects of global warming you need to go father north. But for the last couple of years we've had to contend with smoke from wildfires in Canada, from both western Canada and our neighbor Quebec. Last summer through late September smoke significantly impacted outdoor recreation across northern New England.
Finally, if you're impacted by the politics of the people around you, you should look up the voting trend in the towns you consider. I find that this has a real impact on whether you can find a sense of community and hence on quality of life.
My thoughts keep coming back to Plymouth. One strategy for you would be to live in a place like Plymouth and go to Concord, Boston, etc. for cultural and social activities. We do that a lot in New Hampshire. There's a good busy from Concord to Boston.
Your dilemma is to find a small city with a convenient drive to mountains and lakes. There are no other small cities north of Concord. South of Concord is very built up, expensive, and the outdoor recreation is lower quality. I would rule out Manchester. In my opinion it's not a pleasant place to live.
Plymouth, NH, is well located---very near both lakes and mountains---but it's a small college town. It does have some culture related to the college. It has a hospital and all necessary stores. Portsmouth is a lovely and active town, but expensive and far from the mountains and lakes. What about North Conway?
For the OP? Definitely not. Belmont is sort of a non-town. Population 7,000. It has a microscopic downtown. Correction: it has no downtown. The rest of the town is rural. Easy drive to Gunstock ski area and mall and major stores at exit 20 off route 93. Not too far from mountains and lakes. If you move to Belmont, the majority of your activities will be somewhere else.
Friend of mine purchased a huge, fine house near Boscawen (between Concord and Franklin) for an almost reasonable price in this day and age, works at the VA clinic in Franklin. The NH retirement home is in that area, in Franklin the NH Veterans Home, both by definition short of all sorts of medical staff.
Agree with the need for prioritization. Culture and outdoor recreation aren't often found in the same place. And social opportunities for a single 50 yo woman are not plentiful in northern NH.
I live in Pittsburg N.H. at the very Northern tip. We have a 30 year average of 174 inches of snow .This year is down to 70 pluss inches The cold may turn you off.Here at the property we hit 40 below couple of times a year with out a Windchill.snow on the ground Late October to early May .
Good luck in your search.
In terms of the cost of living, it may be worth considering income and sales taxes; New Hampshire has neither.`
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