anyone made the move from California to New Hampshire (Concord: sales, real estate market)

[family first]

Greetings... I made this post for Maine as well, but I would also like opinions on NH also . My wife is from Maine and is always asking about making the move back to New England. We would be looking at New Hampshire or Maine as the two possible states. I've grown up on the west coast, Northern CA. and am grownig tired of the west coast. We would ideally like to find a town of 5 thousand or less population, great schools, a nice downtown for walking and family friendly. Religion is important and we would like to find a house with a little acreage or spacing between other homes. Is the climate harsh throughout the state or are there "banana belts" with a little warmer weather? I've been in sales for years and the hardest thing would be walking away from my current employer. Anyone that has made the move please give me feedback how it went for you. We would be looking south of Littleton and south of Banger (Maine)

[Rexicana]

We did! But we are originally from the Northeast, so we weren't too shocked by the differences.

It is very different from CA here and really hard to compare. There are good things and challenging ones about both. Do you own now? I strongly suggest a year of renting (your current home and here) and checking it out before committing. The real estate market in CA is much livelier than here, so you would not feel "trapped" if you decide it is not for you. You should give it a full year though, especially if your wife is excited about the idea, because I think it is hard for a CA person to appreciate the whole package unless you have been through all the seasons.

We're in Peterborough NH, which is a lot of what you describe except location and being in the "banana belt." Coastal towns would have less harsh weather (in general).

[maestramommy]

Hi there! We just moved from L.A. We were hoping to find a walkable downtown, but the closest we came was Concord. It wasn't a practical choice because the houses walkable to the downtown area (which I've heard is really nice) were on tiny tiny lots, and very old. If you wanted any kind of land you'd have to move out at least 3 miles from the center.

When asking about schools I was told that Bedford, Bow and Londonderry schools were at the top, but that Hollis, Amherst, and maybe Goffstown were very good as well. Amherst in particular has a top notch high school. The HS in Bedford and Bow are quite new. We ended up buying a house in Bedford because this particular house was close enough to my husband's work to make bike commuting an option.

For someone who has always lived in urban areas, I find the average lots around here huge. When we first went to see our house, the only neighbor we could see was across the street. The neighbors on either side were hidden by all these trees. We have just about 1 acre of land.

As for weather, I've been following it since this past winter, and it's been a really weird year. Tons of snow, and now tons of rain. I don't know how cold it can get, but obviously it's going to be much colder than even the coldest day in Northern CA.

Good luck with your search! We are so glad we moved!

[lisa g]

Hi, we also moved from LA Cty to S. NH. Not much time to write tonight but I'll write more tomorrow! What don't you like about N. Cal? I actually like N. Cal compared to SoCal!

[Radio Flyer]

We moved from Northern CA. to NH. I'm originally from Maine though, so I knew what to expect. My husband is a CA. native and he's glad we made the move.

Lots of advantages to living here...Cheaper real estate, the change of seasons and the people are more genuine (IMO). But the biggest advantage by far is the public school system.

[Radio Flyer]

Oh, and no fair weather sports fans here either.

[family first]

lisa g...here is a quick list of why we would pull the plug from CA. Overpopulation legal and other, cost of living; homes, fuel, taxes, politics, very dry spring and summers (days over 90 degrees), the price of acreage and home. We live in the foothills of Northern CA. and in a very desireable town, but feel all the negatives of the state are only going to get worse. We definitely want to see our kids raised in a better environ and also find a home with some acreage. Bottom line is to get out of the rat race and into a better quality of living for the family.

[family first]

flyer, how is the man ram baseball trade feeling right now? I mentioned to my wife a (Mainer) that we should move to LA now that he's wearing Dodger Blue. She told me I would move by myself...enough said!

[Radio Flyer]

I wonder if the headlines in the L.A. papers read, "The Clown Comes to Town!". I like Manny, but he wanted to leave. So Adios goof ball.

I hear you on the dry weather in CA. Our lawn was crunchy in June. The whole state's a tinder box by the time October rolls around. To be fair, we've had the opposite problem here this summer, too much rain. But this is out of the ordinary.

Where is your wife from in Maine? I grew up in the Ellsworth area.

[lisa g]

Family First (love your screen name!!), Those sound like the reasons we left SoCal! I guess I had the wrong impression of N. Cal then. We left for all those reasons and them some - won't get into it again right now, lol! We moved from S. NH to SoCal then back to S. NH (pop about 8000) now with 2 elementary school aged kids and much to our entire family's relief. The only thing we miss from SoCal is the kids amazing private school, which was the hardest thing for us to walk away from. There are parts of the state that get more snow than others, I believe N NH gets more snow than S NH, and SW NH gets more snow than S-Central or SE NH. Hopefully I've got that right. Finding a house w/acreage was easy here compared to SoCal.