Tennessee to New Hampshire (Nashua, Concord: real estate, loan, house)

[tokyopapa]

I was born and raised in a small town in northeastern Tennessee. Many people would agree that this is one of the most gorgeous and beautiful places in the country. I am one of them. Many people would also agree that this is probably one of the least educated, least progressive, and least diverse areas in the country. I am also one of them. With its back and forth bittersweetness (and the fact that half of Florida will be up here after another Katrina), I wonder what keeps people coming to this region. I, being born here, obviously had no choice in the matter.

Someone online recently told me that New Hampshire was nice, and it might be a place for me to consider moving to. I have since looked at many cities and towns both upstate and in the southern part near Boston, and I think I have my mind set on the Nashua area. Is this place any good? How are the school's, and is the commute very long? Is snow a problem, or would I be able to go camping in the fall? I guess I just need help...Is Nashua nice, and are there any other New Hampshire cities or towns somebody may suggest?

[swale]

***Disclaimer: I've lived in NH for 4 years, and plan to leave***

Well, my wife is from Paducah, KY, and does NOT like it up here. She finds the people, as a whole, to be unfriendly (big culture shock for a Southerner). We do like Nashua better than our area (Concord, NH). As you probably know, the snow is pretty heavy here, but people definitely know how to handle it well. Roads rarely if ever become impassable unless the snow is well over 12".

If you are looking for a nice, progressive locale with natural beauty around the area, may I suggest the Portland, OR area? The cost of living is similar (maybe a bit lower in OR) and camping options are great there. It's at least as progressive as New England. The only problem is lots of rain/clouds. But snow is no factor.

[rossc]

Originally Posted by swale

***Disclaimer: I've lived in NH for 4 years, and plan to leave***

The only problem is lots of rain/clouds. But snow is no factor.

I've been here for 7 years and as soon as my house sells, maybe sooner, I'm headed back south. I grew up here, but lived in NC for 10 years. I liked it much better there. Much friendlier atmosphere. I'm moving to TN where a mere mortal can still buy real estate.

Ummm...Rain? Are you kidding. I can't remember the last day that it didn't rain. Can't be any worse in OR.

[tokyopapa]

Rain doesn't bother me at all. In fact, I've even looked at real estate in Seattle/Vancouver/Portland, and it all seems fairly reasonable. Besides, Tennessee gets its fair share of rain as well. Any day that it's not raining here, however, you can basically see the wallpaper peeling off the peoples' walls due to incredibly relentless humidity.

As far as housing prices in North Carolina, they are higher than Tennessee, but nothing I can't handle. I may have to downsize as far as housing goes, but the atmosphere and culture I would gain may make it well worth it.

Thanks for everyone's comments. I'm actually not considering New England much anymore. Maybe I'll try Cary, NC or Charleston, SC.

[rossc]

I lived just outside of Raleigh in a small town called Clayton. Very nice area.

[bfarnum]

i lived in south western nh until about 4 years ago,i now now live in martinsburg west virginia and i can say that i liked nh far better.i find the people here to be a lot ruder and ignorant.not to mention that there is less racism in nh.

[sevdie]

Originally Posted by bfarnum

i lived in south western nh until about 4 years ago,i now now live in martinsburg west virginia and i can say that i liked nh far better.i find the people here to be a lot ruder and ignorant.not to mention that there is less racism in nh.

What city did you live in? Racism is something I was concerned about. I am also thinking of moving to new england area and New Hampshire is a place I am considering. Is there a lot of racism in New hanpshire? For those of you who lived there, what were your experiences with race there? Thanks!

[tunajohn]

Funny, I have lived in NH for 22 years now and want to move to Tennessee or somewhere that offers good golf course living, not so many people, and good weather conditions. The good about NH is that if you own a house it’s like "being paid to live in your own house". The last 15 years have shown 15% appreciation of your home each year. If you don't have to deal with the "townies" you can enjoy life here. If you have to deal with the "townie’s, forget about it! They can’t be trusted and making friendships is almost imposable. They are all for themselves here. I will gladly spend summers in northern Maine and non-summers in a place like Tennessee. Where are the friendliest people in Tennessee?
Thanks.

[aunlanpo]

I'm a Colorado transplant, living in NH for 23 years. I don't like the Nashua area at all. But that's because I like country living, with no crime. Nashua is on the Mass border and more and more has a Mass feel, which is to say, gangs, crime, rude, etc.

It's not the rain and snow that bothers me about NH, it's that there are so few sunny days. It's so cold in the winter, and so hot and humid in the summer. Spring is horrible with the black flies, so fall is the only time I really like living here. And even if I could stand all of that, there's never any sunshine. Well, rarely.

It's taken me 20 years to figure people out here. They seem so rude, compared to CO and Texas, and unfriendly. It's just a different culture here. It takes a lot to get through their shell, but once you do, you get a committed, long-term friend. They are so understated, that they feel like outsiders are ostentatious.

The frost heaves have beat up my cars over the years. Between the salt and the frost heaves, no one ever expects to keep their car very much beyond the loan. We've bought 2 year old cars, and every one of them is driven into the ground after 4 or 5 years.

I'd be surprised if you were well received here. My husband is from AL and he has an amazing gift with getting along with people. The first year he was here, people thought he was loud, obnoxious, and rude. lol.

As far as racism goes, there isn't enough diversity to have the issue even come up. Generally, people are VERY against racism. But then there are all of the old yankee townies who tip the scale the other way. You wouldn't ever know though, because it just doesn't ever come up. I had a black foster child for a couple of years, and she never felt different. In fact, she went to college in DC and returned back to the same small town. When she was about 12, one old townie came over and asked where she came from. He wasn't TRYING to be rude. He was just curious. That's very much the way it is here, people either say exactly what they think, or they say everything between the lines. When I first moved here, for a few years, I constantly thought that people here take everything so personally. You can't joke with them at all. But that was before I realized that most negative things that people really want to tell you, they say it between the lines. So when you make an innocent, negative humor joke, they think you're serious, and they won't believe that you didn't mean it. And that is true unless it's a really close friend. We had a Japanese exchange student for year. She never had any issues here with racism.

As a Christian, it's very difficult. You can be anything but a Christian here. Christians are looked down on, while other world religions are embraced.

And living in the small town is awful. I don't really know how to explain it. It's worse than the southern small town. They just will not accept you. You will always be an outsider. Like I said, I've been here 23 years.

Anyway, that's just one person's experience.



I want to move so bad. It's gray and bleak right now. Again.

[Tarastomsgirl]

Mostly what everyone has said I've found to be true.. As a new transplant in 07 I do find the people to be rude and weary of outsiders.Oh top of that they're nosey, very nosey.. We've had some problems with my husbands job and his upper management telling people our personal business. We just recently had an incident with the local fire department calling his buddies at the PD to let them know I had a myspace page and to comment to my husband about things I write on there. My husband of course is the last to know.
Winters are very cold, bitterly to the point of unenjoyable and I'm in southern NH northern is consistantly colder . They're also long, and its one of those things where you don't understand it until you live in it. Its nice for Christmas and all but after that its like oookaayyy enough now and you realize you're still looking about another 4 month or so after the holidays of shoveling and slipping and de icing etc etc even though you've already had a previous 2 months before the holidays of winterish weather.
Roads are covered in pot holes during the winter from what plowing they do. Sidewalks are also tore up with chunks of cement all mixed in with the snow. I just had to have my whole steering readjusted again because of this. Second time this winter and I never once had this problem in Fla. The thing is when the snow comes down, or when it rains the potholes get covered, and you can't see them and you slam into them and its terrible for your car. Some are so deep the police put orange cones inside of them so you miss them.
There are rarely sunny days particularly in Winter and Fall as others have said, the summer is hot but its hazy.. It makes it feel so intensly hot I'll even go as far to say that I found the summers in South Fla less hot than where I am. Thats just my experience and I'm moving back to Fla in about 5 weeks or so I just personally found it more enjoyable there. NH is grey a lot of the time and with everything so dead and lifeless, and no birds singing in the winter its dreary and kinda depressing. I like cloudy days as much as the next guy really I do but not for weeks and weeks.
Like the above poster said this is just my experience