wolfeboro sunapee keene-pros/cons

[ssrhb]

We've been all over! We had to rule out Sunapee, although it's beautiful. Just doesn't have the year round population, seemed like a ghost town with everything closed for winter. Definitely a great vacation spot...in the summer.

We really liked the downtown area of Keene, great architecture, lots of little shops, helpful people. Unfortunately, due to the crazy high taxes in town, and our desire to have a little acreage, we needed to look at the outlying areas. The surrounding towns seemed to be farther from Keene than we had hoped and lacking in services. It seemed we would have to drive into Keene for everything, including school (middle and high)and with 3 boys that gets tough. Please let me know if I'm wrong. Are there any towns closer in (say w/in 10 minutes) that would be good areas?

It seems we are drawn back to the lakes region, it's hard to beat lakes, mountains, and all the self-sufficient small towns. So, some of the towns we'd like to look at further are:
Gilford, Gilmanton, Plymouth, Ashland, Holderness, and ??????
Can anyone compare/contrast these communities or recommend others?
Again - our goal is to find a few acres, spend 350k or less, definitely good schools that are in the town itself(don't require long bus rides), low taxes and that community feel. We've also been told what a nightmare the summer traffic is and are trying to get a little off the beaten path of that, while finding something not quite snooty and not quite podunk.
No problem, right?

Everyone on the forum and in all the towns have been incredibly helpful and friendly. Thanks again!

[nhfinehomes]

We live in Gilford and think it is a great community. Close to schools, nice main street feel, reasonable taxes and easy access to Laconia, Tilton & Meredith for things to do. Only down side is that there isn't much property with acreage available. Gilmanton has more property like that but sends it's kids to Gilford for the high school so it would be a bit of a ride. Plymouth is nice but you start to get a lot more north and off the beaten path when you go up to Ashland, Holderness that area. Meredith is probably one Lakes Region town I'd suggest you check out. Great schools, low taxes, wonderful main street area overlooking the lake and still easy access to I-93. As for summer traffic in this area, it isn't too bad. There are only a few places it really gets backed up and it's mainly on weekends, Friday evenings, Sunday afternoons and holiday weekends. Most of the summer, it is very manageable.

Link

[buck naked]

I hear you about the Keene taxes - another thing to consider is some places don't offer cable...I know..in this day and age, who woulda' thunk it?


I have a rental property in Hillsboro, no cable available.


love Gilford and Gilmanton. Ashland, and Holderness are very country and picturesque. Plymouth, of course, is another college town.

[ssrhb]

We spent time driving around the areas I mentioned earlier and just loved Gilmanton, the Crystal Lake area in particular. We found reasonably priced homes on large acreage near the lake. Is this possible or are we missing something? We were thinking it was because Gilmanton is a little farther out, but is there more we need to know? We'd like to take a closer look at the homes tomorrow. Anyone out there have any more info on the area?

Thanks!

[NH2008]

Don't know the other towns but Holderness is BEAUTIFUL. Check out the Squam Lake Science Center, my kids' favorite place on earth. It closes November 1 for the season but is a wonderful place.

[nhfinehomes]

Gilmanton is one of the most picturesque towns in NH, in our opinion. We live right in Gilford and know the area very well. Actually, there are a lot of great, new england homes through Gilmanton and we've considering the area ourselves. Yes, Gilmanton gets a bit of a rap for being stuck between Laconia and Concord in terms of accessible population centers. When you get to the Gilmanton Iron Works (the Crystal Lake area you are talking about), it starts to add to travel time to Concord or any other pop. center. If you are okay with the driving distances, Gilmanton is a quiet, safe place to live. The school serves K-8 and then sends kids to Gilford High School. Gilmanton's school, from our research, is not the greatest school in the area and the taxes are not the lowest so those factors may be part of while Gilmanton isn't top of the list. But as far as I know, there isn't any major factor that you're missing. I'm familar with the antique farm on Perkins Road with the barn and 26 acres. The property has a wood lot across the street with a conservation easement on it so it can never be developed. A large farm at the end of that road was sold about a year ago with 150 acres. Not clear what the new owner is going to do with it. Gilmanton is pretty strict with developments and does a good job to perserve it's rural and historical character.

Link

[buck naked]

Squam Lake Science Center,


a fantastic place! highly recommend a visit even without children!

[dubthang]

I don't know all the facts about this, but Ashland has some severe ground issues. There was something there that made the ground water toxic, and now many residents have cancer. It's been awhile since I've been there, but this is what I've been told. I used to deliver milk up there, and several of the people I dealt with were sick. They explained to me why, but I can't remember the details.

Holderness is nice. Gilford is like the Keene of the area. It has all the stores that the surrounding towns shop at.

[notdancingqueen]

Originally Posted by buck naked

I'm so glad you like it ndq...it is one of my favorite places in the whole world to visit. I don't live there...but I wouldn't mind living there.


In addition to skiing, I enjoy the artist festivals at the mountain.

I missed the arts festival this year but my husband went and he loved it. He got a really cool fiddlehead fern wall hanging thing (we have a thing for fiddleheads, don't ask) and some other things.

We ski, too, but this year we bought season passes to Ragged. They were 1/3 the cost of Sunapee passes and we figure that by this time next year we'll know better so we thought this was our only year to go cheap on the passes :-)

We're starting to feel like we belong -- we have a chain saw, a plow contract, driveway stakes, traction sand, and 2 cords of wood.

- Jackie

[buck naked]

Ragged is a nice little mountain - and with the improved lifts, there is hardly a wait any more


when the kids were younger, they used to race there