New London area anyone? (Manchester, Concord: sales, real estate, crime)

[bryfry]

We are looking to relocate to New Hampshire and I found the New London area to be quite charming. It has most everything I would need for a town (small pop., hospital, full time PD and FD, town water and sewer, smaller school class sizes, reasonable taxes, etc), but I am a bit concerned about jobs. I'm in the automotive field and was wondering if the better jobs are worth the commute to Concord. Any impressions? What are the local larger towns like (Newport, Claremont)?
We are coming up from Cape Cod. The cost of living here in liberal land has gotten the best of me after twenty-five years. Any thoughts on the area? I'm not afraid of snow and cold-I grew up in upstate NY. I even have a wood stove here on the Cape!
Any and all comments are appreciated!

[casey]

New London is a beautiful area but is also known as a "high class " area. As in any town or city you are going to run into the snotty wealthy, definitely there, who came from family money. You are actually not too far from Newport going the back roads. If you are looking for work at a dealership, Claremont or Newport would be closer for you. The 2 are more city than town though. If you continue up 89 a liitle further north to the Upper Valley where there are also dealerships.
NH has a lot of hidden fees such as vehicle registeration (yearly $ depends on the year of vehicle) high property taxes, and expensive home prices in certain areas. If go to the outskirts of New London such as Danbury, Grafton, Sutton or Bradford, prices will drop. You might have a commute mileage wise but not a lot of traffic.
New London also gets more snow too!

[bryfry]

Thanks for the reply casey. You haven't seen hidden fees until you live in Taxachusettes. We have excise tax on our vehicles. It's a fee based on perceived book value and you have to pay it every year. It's basically a annual tax for owning a car. I realize property taxes are higher in certain towns and areas, but it's off-set by not having income taxes and sales taxes. Even your fuel prices are cheaper (by about .30/gal.!). We, too, have high taxes on the Cape due to our property values. As for the "high class area", just try living on the Cape!! EVERYTHING here is about high class, even though the people who have lived here all their lives are much more grounded. It's the rich "wash-a-shores" that try to tell us how to live our lives and like to spend our money.
I have noticed how the house prices lower as you go to the outer towns, like you said, but conversely the taxes are higher. It seems the smaller towns have a much higher tax formula than the larger towns.
My line of work is mainly in the automotive parts area. I have found a number of part stores in the Newport and Claremont area. I don't think getting a job is a huge problem, it's just getting paid properly. A long commute doesn't bother me, it just the traffic. The traffic on the Cape is just horrible. Even in the off-season, it has begun to get out of hand. I like the roads in New Hampshire. They seem to do a good job on the main roads. Some of the back roads are a bit rough, but it's the same way here too.
Thanks again for your comments. Sorry I took so long to reply!

[Kaylaann]

Hi There,
I had to reply, I too live on the Cape & I am sick of the cost, traffic, crime, yes crime, & general filth! When I came down here from the South Shore 16 years ago, it was still beautiful, clean & the traffic not bad except for the summer. I am sick of it all now too. I was looking down south, but I think that the heat & bugs would get to me, so I am thinking NH. I was just up to Laconia for a few days, with all the tourist, little if any trash, I couldn't believe it! The house prices are reasonable, although the taxes on properties in some areas high. I think that it all evens out without state taxes. I am looking too for a simple way of life, quiet, clean, safe, where I can live with my dogs. I will continue to view your thread, good luck!

[NHMT]

I use to vacation at the Cape for years when I was little, my parents took us there from CT and I have great memories of the area. I moved from CT up to NH for similar reasons and wish I had years ago. What you are describing is very similar to the area I live in which is about 30 mins south of New London. Take a look at Weare, New Boston, Henniker, or Hillsborough which all have easy access to Concord and Manchester.

[bryfry]

Originally Posted by Kaylaann

Hi There,
I had to reply, I too live on the Cape & I am sick of the cost, traffic, crime, yes crime, & general filth!....

Thanks for the support, Kaylaann! As you well know, the Cape has changed. I'm a bit concerned for my children in the local school district. It's getting too big and there is much crime associated with the change in demographics.
It's funny you mentioned "filth". That is the one thing I noticed in some of the areas I looked in. There was a lack of it! Some of the roads around here are disgusting. People just don't give a crap about where they live.
The one thing I'm looking for is space. I cannot get it here. Everything is built up and there is no more reasonable land left. I'm tired of looking out my window and seeing my neighbor in his bathrobe. That won't happen if I have five acres!
I've already have come up with an approx. value of my home and it looks like I'll come out ok. I hope to have little or no mortgage after I sell and purchase a new place.
NHMT, thanks for the tips. I've checked out all of those towns with exception of New Boston. I've been up and down the Rt. 114 corridor quite a few times. The proximity to Concord certainly make them attractive. They are on my watch list for real estate sales. I really like the Sunapee area with the skiing and the activity around the lake. It reminds me a lot of area in upstate NY that I grew up in. Sort of like coming home!

[New Hampshire]

Just a quick note on 114 - it floods and becomes impassable for days from Henniker to Sutton.

If you want cable TV and broadband cable (Adelphia), then New London, Sunapee, Newport, and Claremont are your only options from Henniker to Claremont. Please note that without cable TV you will not have TV reception at all because of the mountains unless you purchase a dish.

Those above four towns also have cell phone coverage. Sunapee's PD is not state certified, and the FD fails certification now and then. There is a Catholic school in Sunapee. Sunapee Harbor area is extremely noisy, but beautiful and convenient to water activities.

Kearsearge School District is where you would want to send your children to public school.

Another consideration is whether your prospective house has public water and public sewer. Not all towns have public water and public sewer (i.e. Wilmot does not and only parts of Wilmot have cable) and some houses within towns do not have public water and sewer including New London.

The drive from New London to Newport is a half hour without any traffic congestion except if you get behind a school bus. I know someone who lives in New London and manages an auto parts store in Newport. There are three auto parts stores as you pull into Newport from New London.

Living in New London and environs, you will drive everywhere. Concord is where New Londoners go to shop - 35 minutes to Exit 1 on 89 then 93 north to exit 14. (3 exits). I go to Claremont (Walmart) and Lebanon to shop, but that's me.

New London is a well-managed town. Newport and Sunapee are town hall problematic. I don't know about Claremont's town management.

Driving in New Hampshire is a pleasure - it's a good thing, because you will be driving all the time. You are never in traffic unless you find yourself behind a school bus. The only problem I found after moving here from New York City seven years ago was there are no lights on the highway and few on the side roads. I never knew what night was until I moved to New Hampshire - the proverbial pitch black. So black, that when you look up in the night sky, you see the Little Dipper clearly. The highway uses reflectors.

My vote is for you to move to New London. New London has a high number of retired New Yorkers who summer in New London and winter in Florida so you will find summers congested and winters empty - just like the Cape - and New Yorkers like yourself.

The temperature can get to 20 below zero for two weeks at a time, and the heaviest snow I've experienced is 24 inches in two days. But, New Hampshire places the highest priority on snow removal. There is even a published schedule. One hour clearance on highways, and one and one-half hour pass on side roads. The snow can be knee deep elsewhere, but the roads look as if it had just rained! In the winter, when you drive from Boston to New Hampshire, as soon as you cross into Salem, you immediately see the difference.

Dartmouth Hospital at Exit 18 (the main hospital is at exit 19) is where New Londoners go for any major treatment.

You'll be moving from ocean recreation to lake recreation.

Crime in the New London area: The headline in the local newspaper when I first moved here from NYC threw me for a loop: Police go to house of woman 1 week overdue on movie video. The Sunapee library sends the police also. (Newport is more serious. I have read of drug arrests in Newport. In driving through Claremont, I can smell marijuana.)

Hope this helps. Oh yes, taxes. No sales tax, no income tax, but there is a meals tax (restaurants), room tax (hotel), and unearned income tax (dividends, etc.), yearly car inspection and yearly registration. New London does have the lowest property tax in the area - as I said, it is a well-managed town. To save more money, the current proposal is to remove 62 street lamps in New London.

That's a New Hampshire quirk. They don't like lighting. Walmart is required to keep parking lot lights to barely walkable level. Walmart reminds the towns that lighting is necessary for safety, but they won't budge. They like it dark.
Bedtime in the area is around 7:30 P. M. Guess that's why lighting isn't important.

Oh yes, New London has two town-resident beaches - One on Little Lake Sunapee and one on Pleasant Lake in the Elkins section of New London.

Welcome to the Connecticut Valley.

[sevdie]

Your post was Very informative! I too wantr to relocate, but no one has responded to my osts as of yet. I am very excited to move to new englsnd. I am a native New Yorker living in the midwest.

[New Hampshire]

Originally Posted by sevdie

Your post was Very informative! I too wantr to relocate, but no one has responded to my osts as of yet. I am very excited to move to new englsnd. I am a native New Yorker living in the midwest.

Thanks, where do you live in the Midwest?

[sevdie]

I live in Kansas. Lawrence, Kansas.