Claremont, NH? (Concord, Keene, Lebanon: sales, real estate, renters)

[cbags]

My wife and I are moving to VT, not too far over the boarder from Claremont, NH. After doing research I see that NH doesn't have sales tax, so shopping in NH vs. VT makes much more sense financially.

What is Claremont like in general? For shopping? I see online that they don't have a Target, but there is a Super Wal-Mart. Any good grocery stores, Restaurants, Best Buy, etc...

Thanks for any input!

[nicolem]

As far as shopping-there is not too much. You will have to go Keene or Hanover/Lebanon for many things. I do believe that I did read a while back that there were some stores being proposed in Claremont but I do not know whatever became of that.




Nicolem

[cbags]

No kids. Just two little muts from the animal shelter.

[GregW]

Claremont has some problems. A bustling industrial economy is not one of them.

[jthibodeau]

Claremont has had some very difficult problems in the past with the closure of many manufacturing businesses. But, I wouldn't bury the "city" just yet. If you haven't driven Washington Street within the last 10 years, you'd be in for a big surprise. It's been a tough road for Claremont but, they have come a long way since the the closing of Joy Manufacturing.

[notdancingqueen]

I drove through the main street area and onto Rt 11 (?) -- whatever the main road headed east toward Newport (Newbury?) and Sunapee is. Ha - can you tell I'm new to the area?

Anyway - I remember seeing a super wal-mart and a pizza hut (actually it was a Pizza Hut "Italian Bistro" which made me ROFL) but I don't recall any other box stores. Lots of character downtown (and characters) but lots of empty/boarded storefronts, too.

My first impression was that the main street/historic/downtown area had potential and was perhaps on its way back but not quite there yet.

Oh - there was also a brand new Rite-Aid on the outskirts of town.

- jackie

[GraniteStater]

I would suggest doing a quick real estate search and tax rate search for Claremont. Property taxes are completely out of control in Claremont. Buy in a neighboring town with lower tax rates.

[itsjustme64]

As someone who has spent decades here, I have some thoughts.

1. Property taxes are higher than nearby lake towns, but not "out of control". I lived in Concord for a while, and those property taxes were just as high on a similar home.

2. Claremont had a tough time recovering from large manufacturer employers that started leaving in the 70's. They've been gone for twenty years, and the economic base is now much more diverse.

3. Claremont does not have the Best Buy or Targets, and won't for a while. There is a Home Depot, and a Lowe's is being built. We have a Staples, but that's about it for box stores.

4. Restaurants? We are sorely lacking, especially franchise restaurants. For some reason we have 4 Chinese restaurants and 4 pizza places.

5. The mill district along the river is being refurbished with a new restaurant and hotel, and the top floor of one of the mill buildings will be housed with a computer company from the upper valley. That construction has started, and will be amazing when done. There is significant outside money being put into that project.

6. The parks in Claremont are wonderful. A brand new community center will be built in the next two years.

7. Economically, there are a fair amount of renters in the area, so it is not a high end town. That is changing, but slowly.

8. Property values are higher than 5 years ago, but lower than other parts of the state. Many people have come down from the Upper Valley because real estate is much cheaper here.

9. Claremont sued the state almost 20 years ago over education funding, and a black eye resulted. I have had my kids in different schools in NH, and Claremont's are very similar to other similar towns. You get out of it what you put into it.

Claremont is vastly improved over the last 10 years, and the next 5 years will show a lot of fruit of that labor.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by itsjustme64

As someone who has spent decades here, I have some thoughts.

1. Property taxes are higher than nearby lake towns, but not "out of control". I lived in Concord for a while, and those property taxes were just as high on a similar home.

2. Claremont had a tough time recovering from large manufacturer employers that started leaving in the 70's. They've been gone for twenty years, and the economic base is now much more diverse.

3. Claremont does not have the Best Buy or Targets, and won't for a while. There is a Home Depot, and a Lowe's is being built. We have a Staples, but that's about it for box stores.

4. Restaurants? We are sorely lacking, especially franchise restaurants. For some reason we have 4 Chinese restaurants and 4 pizza places.

5. The mill district along the river is being refurbished with a new restaurant and hotel, and the top floor of one of the mill buildings will be housed with a computer company from the upper valley. That construction has started, and will be amazing when done. There is significant outside money being put into that project.

6. The parks in Claremont are wonderful. A brand new community center will be built in the next two years.

7. Economically, there are a fair amount of renters in the area, so it is not a high end town. That is changing, but slowly.

8. Property values are higher than 5 years ago, but lower than other parts of the state. Many people have come down from the Upper Valley because real estate is much cheaper here.

9. Claremont sued the state almost 20 years ago over education funding, and a black eye resulted. I have had my kids in different schools in NH, and Claremont's are very similar to other similar towns. You get out of it what you put into it.

Claremont is vastly improved over the last 10 years, and the next 5 years will show a lot of fruit of that labor.

It is good to see some solid changes in the town. I have not visited the area lately, but remember how much it was struggling 10 years ago.
In terms of tax rates and equalized tax rates Claremont is at the high end of the bracket with only two towns with higher equalized tax rates as of 2006. Those two other towns would be Northumberland and Berlin. Property taxes on current houses that are listed for less than 200K in Claremont are in the 5-5.5K range. That is quite spendy IMHO.
New Hampshire Tax Rates 2006

[celchlepp]

Hey all, I have a question for ya about the town and area of Claremont, NH. (sorry about lack of proper grammer, but need to hurry up and type here). is the town and area depressed economically? we just moved to bennington, vt from bozeman, mt expecting to arrive in a respectable new england town, but very much to our sad surprise, bennington has proved itself to be a welfare driven town. it's residents are not only "low rent" types of people, they are downright rude and disgusting. we have possible work potential in claremont, nh, but don't want to move to another dumping ground for derelicts kind of place. I just read in the above posts that it is likely not a particularly gleaming area.

I'll get to read and post any more in the next few days, but for now I have to close up here.

Any helpful info will be GREATLY appreciated!!!
Chuck