how do you like living in New Hampshire? (Londonderry, Conway: hotels, houses)

[Katlakat]

I enjoyed these posts-One of the things I discovered was "you don't know what you've got until its gone" adage.

After 14 years I finally get to return to NH. I used to think the people were "reserved" not very friendly as they were in Texas when I would visit winters down there growing up. But after living in the small towns, I'll take reservation anytime. My neighbors are nosy, gossip too much, and start trouble. I see police on our street at least once a week. I can't remember seeing police having to patrol anywhere I lived in NH.

All be it, we most likely live in a rougher neighborhood here than we did in Nashua. But the gossip and nosiness extends this entire county. NH has its charms, its beauty, its peace, but also it has activities throughout the state not only for tourists. I have found every place I have lived has exploaded and changed in the course of 10 years. I just hope NH hangs on and doesn't go with the ebb and flow of America, at least not at its current pace.

One can hope

[MtnFlyer]

This is a wonderful thread. Thanks to everyone who included such wonderful information.

I'm looking to relocate and NH is one of my two final picks. The area around Conway and North Conway seems very nice. Could anyone offer insight on living there?

Thanks in advance.

[JMishy]

Originally Posted by MtnFlyer

This is a wonderful thread. Thanks to everyone who included such wonderful information.

I'm looking to relocate and NH is one of my two final picks. The area around Conway and North Conway seems very nice. Could anyone offer insight on living there?

Thanks in advance.

I live in North Conway. What, specifically, would you like to know?

[MtnFlyer]

I'd be open to hearing anything you feel would be good for me to know.

I suppose first of all, what if any are the differences is residing in Conway and North Conway? It seems to me that they almost blend into each other, and the housing prices look very similar. I do realize that most all the shopping is in North Conway, but that's only a few minutes away.

What about the schools? Do kids from Conway and North Conway attend the same schools or are they seperate districts?

The housing prices looked very reasonable there, but something that seemed odd to me when looking at housing demographics on one of the major realtor sites was the unusually large number of vacant houses. In North Conway for example, the numbers showed 36% of the homes were owner occupied, 23% were rentals, and almost 41% were vacant. Does this seem right or is it more likely that the "vacant" homes are probably second/vacation homes that aren't occupied year around?

How do you like living there? What about things to do for kids?

Here's one for you. Knowing what you know from living there, if you were to relocate to New Hampshire, would you pick North Conway as a place to live, or would you pick someplace else? Basically I'm just trying to find a better place for my kids to grow up.

Thanks for your help. I really do appreciate your taking the time to answer my questions.

[nocturnal rooster]

I'd like it better If I could find a decent job. I suppose the job market is bad everywhere though, with the unemployment rate being 6.1% in all.
Otherwise, I think the people are very nice. People have changed up in NH over the years. Being from MA, I remember them being @--holes. But today they are really nice. It's weird. In PA, people were downright mean and nasty. A couple of my PA friends have also moved away because of the job situation. People in New England in general have gotten nicer since the last time I lived in New England back in 2001.

[JMishy]

Well, for starters, there isn't really a difference between Conway and North Conway. Conway is the name of the town (Town of Conway, County of Carroll). North Conway is an area of Conway. We also have Center Conway, East Conway and a lesser known South and West Conway. North Conway is the built up area with restaurants, hotels and most of the shopping. I live here and like the closeness of everything, but it is pretty busy (in a New England kind of way). Center Conway has the town offices, but is pretty rural. East Conway is out in the sticks (I've lived there and it's nice and quiet) and including Center Conway, both are the closest Maine (they border it, actually).

The children all attend the same schools in Conway (same district). I send my children to private school, so I can't attest to the quality of the schools unbiasedly (is that even a word? Hehe).

Yes, there are a lot of vacant houses due to them being 2nd homes. There aren't a ton of bank owned properties. In fact, I've only recently seen a couple of bank owned properties.

I love living here.

I'll finish answering your questions tonight. I need to run out the door right now...!

[MtnFlyer]

Thanks for the information JMishy. I'll be looking forward to the rest of your reply. Also if you don't mind my asking, why did you opt for private school for your children?

Nocturnal rooster, I've considered job limitations in the areas up there and I can imagine that they would be limited. Fortunately being a true entrepreneur, I began thinking of moving years ago, and started moving all my enterprises toward things that can be done from anywhere. Today I can pretty much make a living from anywhere as long as I can get an internet connection, cell service and FedEx. Perhaps if I end up that direction we'll have to meet and you can fill me in on what you do.

[JMishy]

Ok, I'm back.

Well, the answer as to why I don't send my children to public school is pretty much a personal preference. 1st of all, it's a Christian school in my church and that's important to me. Also, I graduated from the private school myself, so that's why I send my kids there. My father was a police officer and saw too much at the public school, so he preferred to keep us in the private school. So, because of him, I only know the negative. I feel like I can't give an unbiased view of the schools.

There are a bunch of things for children to do. We have a children's museum, children's mountain top music, children's plays, ballet, sports teams, hockey/ice skating, hiking, playgroups, ect. I have to say the children's museum has an excellent calendar of things to do and different activities for the kids. They even bring in live animals on some days.

I would definitely pick Conway as a good place to live and raise a family. That was one of the reasons my family settled here and raised us here. It's getting to be more busy as it grows, but there are still parts of Conway that are untouched and nice and quiet.

I hope that helps!

[MtnFlyer]

That helps a lot actually. It's confirmed a lot for me.

I can certainly understand your reasons for private school. I attended a Christian school at our church too back in elementary school. I was also a K-9 officer for the police department many years ago as well, so I understand your dad's concerns. I will say that the schools must be doing something right though, or at least better than many states as New Hampshire seems to come in first in the annual Kid's Count report each year. It's free to download if you're ever interested and it's got some interesting data.

The Children's Museum sounds wonderful. I pulled up their website and it reminds me of the one in Durango. I really liked that one when we visited and the kids had a great time.

Can you tell me if there are any areas of town I should consider or shy away from when looking for houses?

Thanks again.

[dollycool]

yes I really wanted to move to Plymouth area of NH, job interview from Apria Healthcare fell thru, everyone tried to turn me off of it due to the expense of living there??