Is New Hampshire as good as it sounds? (Rindge, New Ipswich: sales, real estate)

[Tatti]

Hello all. I'm a European, living in Finland (done so my whole life). And I've got a problem: I find the lack of freedom in Europe alarming. I love my country, but I hate the rotten socialist nanny state what are our politicians are enforcing.

So, I've started to think about moving to the USA once I graduate, and got enough money (and the green card). So I've been searching info about states from Alabama to Alaska, and New Hampshire starts to look appealing to me.

I first tought about Vermont, but when I found out more about it as a state (made a thread here on the forums, discussed about it with my american mates etc), it started to seem like a worse option, as the state seems to have a lot higher taxes (correct me if I'm wrong) and it seems to be more socially liberal (I'd consider myself as a libertarian, but I'm not very eager about legalizing gay marriages etc).

New Hampshire seems appealing to me, because it seems climate&culture-wise pretty much like Finland, but your are politically the exact opposite of us.
I don't want the goverment to tax out 30% of my salary away. I don't want the goverment to tell me what to drive or what to eat. I don't want to pay ridiculously high prices for my products, just because goverment taxes everything to keep up the poor welfare-system. I don't want the goverment to take care of grown up people like babies by banning stuff and playing a nanny, just because some individuals can't take care of themselves. You get my point?


So, I'll list things about your state which are important to me. Correct me if I've understood something wrong, or if the picture of NH in my mind doesn't correlate with reality.

I am making assumptions here, based on what I've read about you. It's up to you people to correct me, if my picture of New Hampshire is distorted!


-4 seasons. Proper (but not too cold) winter, mild summers. Beautiful autumn. Just like in Finland.

-Pro-gun. Good gunlaws, just like in Vermont. Though I heard that Vermont has a ban on silencers. Is that true? How about NH?

-New Hampshire Motor Speedway I prefer NASCAR over F1.

-Not too religious. I don't have nothing against christianity, conversely, I like that christianity&conservatism work as a stopping force to this over the edge-liberalism and islam which are both destroying Europe. I just want the state and the church to be firmly separated. I don't want that a church which I'm not even a part of limits my freedoms (not that I'd like to do "sins", but I just dont want things to be banned in the name of false safety).
I will respect your faith and will not criticize it, as long as you won't try to "convert" me.

-Loads of nature. I like fishing, off-roading, rally, ice fishing, hunting and just generally living in the woods.

-Low population density (I want to live in a forest or in a small village ), but yet still you got couple of bigger cities.

-Small, conservative towns which like to remain as they used to be.

-Homogeneous population. I treat people from other cultures and ethnicities just like anybody else, but I want to live in a monocultural society. As an american citizen I would do my best to assimilate on to your culture myself too, naturally.

-Low taxes

-Constitutional right for a revoultion in a situation, where your freedom(s) is/are endangered (Atleast according to the finnish wikipedia)[NH.gov - The Official Web Site of New Hampshire State Government - State Constitution, Bill of Rights art 10]

-"Live free or die"



I am worried about the following things:

-Radical change. Like your name suggests, "the granite state", you seem to be independent and "immune" to change. I hope your state would remain like that, as the "small town spirit" you see on movies about the idyllic country side of USA is something I'm looking for.

-Cost of living. I've heard you got a quite high COL, partially because of your real estate prizes. Is this true? Is gas, electricity and food essentially more expensive, if you compare the prizes with states like Florida, Texas and Alabama (heard that they all got very low COL)?
I don't mind paying a bit extra for all that good your state has to offer, but when/if I move there, I won't have that much of money at the start, so the lower COL, the better.

Also, I'm sure that your prices are still a lot lower than here. As far as I know, even New York (which is super expensive on your scale?) is a cheap-ish city compared to Helsinki

-A feeling of not being welcome.

I think that it's important for a society to be on the alert with new members. And I've heard that such vigilance is common there, especially in the smaller towns (which of course is a good thing).

But I don't want to be a nuisance to the community. If my existance bothers some members of the community, I'd rather leave it for the good of both of us.

I'm not a very social person, nor do I easily get to know with new people. Also my accent might sound a bit weird to your ears before I start to adapt the local accent. So I don't want to be an "outlander" freak people talk bad about in the community meetings.


The following list is the list complaints I've read about considering NH, which I do not really mind about myself (I don't even know if they are true or not).
These things aren't a probelm for me:

-Bad roads. I'll buy myself a sturdy pick-up anyways. Also, I rather live in a more rural place with a low real estate prices, but bad roads than in an area with higher population density, higher real estate prices but better roads.

-Bad (?) schools. I will not have kids for a long time yet, if ever. Also, I've heard that it's cheaper to live on areas with no schools near them, so it's only a good thing if it means cheaper rents etc.

-Cold winters. Dark winters. I like to have 4 seasons, not too hot summers, dark&rainy autumns and I don't mind proper winters with snow and ice either.

-Being isolated. Living in a rural area. As long as the biggest fast food chains are well presented, and the driving distance to the nearest mall isn't too long (20 mins?), I don't mind. I actually prefer to live in "middle of nowhere".



Couple of general questions I'd like to ask

1. a)I'd like to become a private entrepreneur, and start up a gun shop of my own. Is there room for firearms shops, or is there already a tight competition between the existing ones for the customers?

b) Is it hard for an immigrant (clean criminal record etc of course, but I don't have [atleast yet] any education from a business college) to start up a gunshop (a. get loan from a bank b. get the federal firearms dealer lisence)

2. Is it unusual to build up a fortress from your home just in case the zombies or an evil goverment conspiracy try to take over the world? I'd really like to be as self-sufficient as possible. That means owning my own shop, being my own employer, owning my own acreage, owning my own house. Having a source of fresh water, growing some plants and maybe having a small bomb shelter of my own. Barbed wire-fences etc.

As far as I know, preparing for the doomsday is somewhat popular in some parts of the USA. How about there in NH?


3. How strong is the motor culture there, and what's the car taxation like?

I know you've got NASCAR, ATVs, snowmobiles and Harley's. How about monster trucks, rally (I know that it aint as big in US as it is in EU), car tuning and drifting?
I don't want to cause any noise pollution or disturb my neighbours, but I'd like to make that V8 roar occasionally Here in Finland there is loads of space on the country side, and a lot of good roads for rallying, and no cops (or anyone) around, so you can just drive in in the embrace of nature while enjoying both the speed and the views.

Are there are a lot of car tuning shops etc where you can buy tuning parts and such? How about the supply of 2nd hand cars? Are there a lot of 2nd hand muscle cars on sale? Or pickups (Dodge ram 3500 or Ford F650 would be nice)? Hummer H1 would be a dream come true, but I understand that they are kinda expensive even in there.

And about the car taxation. Do you have a yearly car tax? Is it a good state to own couple of hobby-cars (aka no unnecessary taxes, regulations or bans. I know about the seatbelt-law already ).




In summary: I'd like to live in a rural small town or in middle of nowhere in a forest, and own a gunshop of my own within a tolerable driving distance. I'm looking for a slow pace of life, low taxes, small goverment, high individual freedoms, pro-gun, a lot of nature, moderateley conservative community and high self-sufficiency.
I want to enjoy from 2nd Amendment rights, nature, motor sports, computer gaming and quiet small town-living. Big cities, traffic jams, suburbias, bars&alcohol&drugs and eternal summer are things I'm not intrested in.


Your state sounds like a heaven on earth to me. I hope it is the same paradise I picture it in my mind to be, if I ever get to live in there. If there are bad sides of your state you would like to bring up, please do so.



I apologize if the text is long-winded, and if there are a lot of typos (it's soon 9am here and I've been up all night, so I'm tired as hell :P).

[yinduffy]

Well! I won't try to address all the things you mentioned in one posting but here goes,
Silencers have been banned in the U.S. since 1935 and to poseess one you need a Class 3 Federal Firearms license (which also covers machine guns).
While gun ownership is high in NH I don't know if there are enough gun sales to support a business. A lot of people already have their guns and the sales profits on guns aren't that high.
As for "dark winters", more often than not it is sunny after a snow storm and on those cold clear days sunglasses are needed.
Yes, New Hampshire has been changing as has the country. However, the average citizen here has a greater chance to be heard by politicians than in New York or California. And we are not afraid to speak our minds. Our two Federal Congressional Representatives have been very shy and not willing to meet with groups of constituents but State and town representatives are very accessible. In fact, their home adresses and phone numbers are required to be printed in the papers.
As for living expenses, a smart person can find a way to get by without spending a lot of money. Some expenses of course are fixed but "discretionary income" expenses can be reduced easily.

[Tatti]

Silencers have been banned in the U.S. since 1935 and to poseess one you need a Class 3 Federal Firearms license (which also covers machine guns).

Is that lisence hard to get? Here there are no special permissions or licenses required for silencers, as they both reduce the noise pollution and the damage to your ears.
It would be also awesome to own a working M60.

I assume that I also need that license in order to sell machineguns and silencers?

While gun ownership is high in NH I don't know if there are enough gun sales to support a business. A lot of people already have their guns and the sales profits on guns aren't that high.

Damn. Maybe I could have a side business, such as knives and hunting&fishing equipment?

Selling guns as a livelihood isn't an absolute must for me, but I'd rather work in a trade I'm intrested in personally, than sell stuff I do not know anything about.

As for "dark winters", more often than not it is sunny after a snow storm and on those cold clear days sunglasses are needed.

That's not a problem for me. We get sunny winter days here too, but I prefer dark winter days



BTW, how popular is Ron Paul over there? I'm not an expert in US politics, but to me he seemed like the best choice in the '08-elections.

[ph9642]

Originally Posted by yinduffy

Silencers have been banned in the U.S. since 1935 and to poseess one you need a Class 3 Federal Firearms license (which also covers machine guns).

This is completely wrong. Please do your own research. You will find that sound suppressors ("silencers") are quite common. They are regulated and taxed.

Here is a primer on the subject:

http://www.silencerresearch.com/Silencerguide.pdf

As far as a business, this will require more research than the info you will get here. The idea that "everyone has their guns" is about as relevant a point as "everyone has a car." It is true that the margins can be low on new guns, but this is more a function of online sales. You can buy firearms online and have them delivered to a local FFL where you must complete the necessary background check as a buyer. The advantage a local gun shop in NH has over a gunshop in most other places is a lack of sales tax. This would allow the local NH shop to compete more effectively with the online sellers, as most FFL transfers for online sales cost $25-$50 to the buyer, plus shipping of $25-$75.

Lots of good info on the internet. Unfortunately, lots of bad as well. You need to take some time to figure out which is which.

[CrazyDave]

New Hampshire will be exactly what the present and future residents of it want it to be. Currently it is still a fantastic state and a fantastic place to be. Will it remain that way? That depends what the residents and the people who are thinking of moving here ( like you for example ) bring to it, and whether they decide to work at keeping NH great.
There is not a single issue that you have addressed that cannot be changed for the better or the worse by the people themselves. So come join us.

[WannaComeHome]

Hi Tatti,

Ok, I've been to Scandinavia a few times (mostly summer), and Helsinki in March. You'll be fine with the climate in NH. Actually, New Ipswich and Rindge have high Finnish populations, you'll see a lot of Finnish surnames and see a few Finnish words, you're accent won't be thought that odd (actually, most people would love your accent anyway just on general purposes). But, there is a very odd ethnic divide of 'us and them'. I don't understand it, but it's there. Some people on either side don't like the others and run them down, and many don't give a hoot. In general, people are very friendly, though slow to be 'friends'. They will all show up to help in a pinch (like a bad ice storm), but not necessarily be asking you to dinner right away. NH folk like to make sure of you first, before making too much of an investment (you might not stay long, you might want to start changing things....)

Actually gun stores have a mixed background. There was a gun store in New Ipswich that we were looking forward to visiting, but they've gone to mail order only. There is another gun store right on the Mason NH/Mass border (State Line Guns) that has apparently been doing very well. There were a couple newspapers articles that I read saying how gun shops were doing a booming business because of the election, may have slowed down a little now.

the roads are fine. They are plowed well in the winter, and are kept up as best as the towns' taxes (or state if it's a highway) can manage. Keep in mind that every year there are, and always will be, frost heaves! they make potholes and you just have to wait until the ground settles out from temperature change and the potholes will get fixed. roads are much better in NH than in MA. Car registration can be high - depends on the value of your car. It decreases with the age of your car also.

COL, not all that bad. People like to make it out as if it's worse, but it isn't any worse than many states. Sure, some may be better, but.. they have other problems (like FL).

Self sufficiency: most houses have their own wells. Very few towns have houses on city water. The real-estate listings will tell you whether the house has it's own well and septic or not. In general NH is very self sufficient. Although bomb shelters and barbed wire fences may raise some eyebrows! There is an unusual attitude of open-access to acreage, especially for hunting, or if there are snow mobile trails. usually people are pretty polite when they come onto your land (there are always a few, though!). bomb shelters really aren't very common. Most people I know (my late brother not included) don't buy into the doomsday stuff).

NH is full of little towns, quite a lot of forest - even more up north. Pretty much what you've said you're looking for. But.. one thing you may find very surprising: cell phones. In Finland cell phones are everywhere and sometimes state supported. In NH, they don't often work well because the land is too bumpy for decent reception, and many areas are too sparsely populated for the companies to bother with cell towers (and some towns don't want them). So... cell usage is difficult. some companies are better than others, I find the rates to be appalling, but then I'm not a big cell phone user.

If you can manage it, you might want to come over for a long vacation and drive around a bit and see where you like.

[GraniteStater]

Tatti,

NH does offer many of those traits. Have you also looked into the upper peninsula of Michigan around the in rural areas near the towns of Marquette, Sault Ste. Marie, and Iron Mountain? The UP has the largest concentration of people in the US with Finnish ancestry and the culture as well as the climate is similar to Scandinavia. The hunting culture is extremely large in that area with plenty of self-sufficient people out in the woods. The cost of living there is also quite a bit lower there compared to NH, but the populace tends to be a bit poorer.

[Mrtwigg]

My responses in red.

Originally Posted by Tatti

<snip>I am making assumptions here, based on what I've read about you. It's up to you people to correct me, if my picture of New Hampshire is distorted!


-4 seasons. Proper (but not too cold) winter, mild summers. Beautiful autumn. Just like in Finland.
You'll feel right at home here.

-Pro-gun. Good gunlaws, just like in Vermont. Though I heard that Vermont has a ban on silencers. Is that true? How about NH?
1. Yes, no supressors in Vermont.
2. No, Supressors, short barrel rifles, fully automatic firearms and AOW (Any Other Weapon) All require regestration with the BATFE and a $200.00 tax stamp. No special licensing required.

-New Hampshire Motor Speedway I prefer NASCAR over F1.
You'll feel right at home here.

-Not too religious. I don't have nothing against christianity, conversely, I like that christianity&conservatism work as a stopping force to this over the edge-liberalism and islam which are both destroying Europe. I just want the state and the church to be firmly separated. I don't want that a church which I'm not even a part of limits my freedoms (not that I'd like to do "sins", but I just dont want things to be banned in the name of false safety).
I will respect your faith and will not criticize it, as long as you won't try to "convert" me.
Don't like church ? Don't go. No problem.
Althought it appears worshipping Oblabla may becone the new national religion.

-Loads of nature. I like fishing, off-roading, rally, ice fishing, hunting and just generally living in the woods.
You'll feel right at home here.

-Low population density (I want to live in a forest or in a small village ), but yet still you got couple of bigger cities.
You'll feel right at home here.

-Small, conservative towns which like to remain as they used to be.
Keep to the hill towns and you'll feel right at home here.

-Homogeneous population. I treat people from other cultures and ethnicities just like anybody else, but I want to live in a monocultural society. As an american citizen I would do my best to assimilate on to your culture myself too, naturally.
Keep to the hill towns and you'll feel right at home here.

-Low taxes
Keep to the hill towns and you'll feel right at home here.

-Constitutional right for a revoultion in a situation, where your freedom(s) is/are endangered (Atleast according to the finnish wikipedia)[NH.gov - The Official Web Site of New Hampshire State Government - State Constitution, Bill of Rights art 10]
You'll feel right at home here.

-"Live free or die"
Amen.

I am worried about the following things:

-Radical change. Like your name suggests, "the granite state", you seem to be independent and "immune" to change. I hope your state would remain like that, as the "small town spirit" you see on movies about the idyllic country side of USA is something I'm looking for.
Then move here had help us keep things free.

-Cost of living. I've heard you got a quite high COL, partially because of your real estate prizes. Is this true? Is gas, electricity and food essentially more expensive, if you compare the prizes with states like Florida, Texas and Alabama (heard that they all got very low COL)?
I don't mind paying a bit extra for all that good your state has to offer, but when/if I move there, I won't have that much of money at the start, so the lower COL, the better.
Your cost of living depends on how you feel you need to live. If you "need" a 2.500 sqft stick built home your costs will be higher than if you choose to live in a mobile home (Newer ones are very energy efficient).

Also, I'm sure that your prices are still a lot lower than here. As far as I know, even New York (which is super expensive on your scale?) is a cheap-ish city compared to Helsinki

-A feeling of not being welcome.
You'll feel right at home here.


I think that it's important for a society to be on the alert with new members. And I've heard that such vigilance is common there, especially in the smaller towns (which of course is a good thing).

But I don't want to be a nuisance to the community. If my existance bothers some members of the community, I'd rather leave it for the good of both of us.

I'm not a very social person, nor do I easily get to know with new people. Also my accent might sound a bit weird to your ears before I start to adapt the local accent. So I don't want to be an "outlander" freak people talk bad about in the community meetings.
You worry too much. You'll feel right at home here.


The following list is the list complaints I've read about considering NH, which I do not really mind about myself (I don't even know if they are true or not).
These things aren't a probelm for me:

-Bad roads. I'll buy myself a sturdy pick-up anyways. Also, I rather live in a more rural place with a low real estate prices, but bad roads than in an area with higher population density, higher real estate prices but better roads.
Even the back roiads are in prety good shape, there are still a few unpaved roads in some towns but I've found them to be well maintained.
Opinions vary. Up north having a 4X4 truck or SUV helps in winter.


-Bad (?) schools. I will not have kids for a long time yet, if ever. Also, I've heard that it's cheaper to live on areas with no schools near them, so it's only a good thing if it means cheaper rents etc.
Opinions vary. as you don't have children this won't be a factor.

-Cold winters. Dark winters. I like to have 4 seasons, not too hot summers, dark&rainy autumns and I don't mind proper winters with snow and ice either.
As earlier stated, You'll feel right at home here.

-Being isolated. Living in a rural area. As long as the biggest fast food chains are well presented, and the driving distance to the nearest mall isn't too long (20 mins?), I don't mind. I actually prefer to live in "middle of nowhere".
IIRC there aren't any Malls up north. You'll like the mom & pop stores in the smaller towns.


Couple of general questions I'd like to ask

1. a)I'd like to become a private entrepreneur, and start up a gun shop of my own. Is there room for firearms shops, or is there already a tight competition between the existing ones for the customers?


b) Is it hard for an immigrant (clean criminal record etc of course, but I don't have [atleast yet] any education from a business college) to start up a gunshop (a. get loan from a bank b. get the federal firearms dealer lisence)
PM inbound.

2. Is it unusual to build up a fortress from your home just in case the zombies or an evil goverment conspiracy try to take over the world? I'd really like to be as self-sufficient as possible. That means owning my own shop, being my own employer, owning my own acreage, owning my own house. Having a source of fresh water, growing some plants and maybe having a small bomb shelter of my own. Barbed wire-fences etc.
Shhh ! PM inbound.
As far as I know, preparing for the doomsday is somewhat popular in some parts of the USA. How about there in NH?
Opinions vary


3. How strong is the motor culture there, and what's the car taxation like?
You can find a "Cruise night" at a fair number of popular gathering places in just about every town. After all, this is America.

I know you've got NASCAR, ATVs, snowmobiles and Harley's. How about monster trucks, rally (I know that it aint as big in US as it is in EU), car tuning and drifting?
I don't want to cause any noise pollution or disturb my neighbours, but I'd like to make that V8 roar occasionally Here in Finland there is loads of space on the country side, and a lot of good roads for rallying, and no cops (or anyone) around, so you can just drive in in the embrace of nature while enjoying both the speed and the views.

Are there are a lot of car tuning shops etc where you can buy tuning parts and such? How about the supply of 2nd hand cars? Are there a lot of 2nd hand muscle cars on sale? Or pickups (Dodge ram 3500 or Ford F650 would be nice)? Hummer H1 would be a dream come true, but I understand that they are kinda expensive even in there.

All I can say is; You are gonna love it here.

And about the car taxation. Do you have a yearly car tax? Is it a good state to own couple of hobby-cars (aka no unnecessary taxes, regulations or bans. I know about the seatbelt-law already ).
Vehicle registration fees vary by town and are based on what the town says your vehicle is worth. The town ckerk responsible for registrations will give you a qoute on what the fee will be if you can provide then with the 17 digit VIN number. That's what we did before we moved here.




In summary: I'd like to live in a rural small town or in middle of nowhere in a forest, and own a gunshop of my own within a tolerable driving distance. I'm looking for a slow pace of life, low taxes, small goverment, high individual freedoms, pro-gun, a lot of nature, moderateley conservative community and high self-sufficiency.
I want to enjoy from 2nd Amendment rights, nature, motor sports, computer gaming and quiet small town-living. Big cities, traffic jams, suburbias, bars&alcohol&drugs and eternal summer are things I'm not intrested in.

Personally we'd love to have more folks like you as our neighbors !

Your state sounds like a heaven on earth to me. I hope it is the same paradise I picture it in my mind to be, if I ever get to live in there. If there are bad sides of your state you would like to bring up, please do so.
It is for some of us. PM me if you make the move. We'd be glad to show you around.



<snip>

Originally Posted by yinduffy

Well! I won't try to address all the things you mentioned in one posting but here goes,
Silencers have been banned in the U.S. since 1935 and to poseess one you need a Class 3 Federal Firearms license (which also covers machine guns).
While gun ownership is high in NH I don't know if there are enough gun sales to support a business. A lot of people already have their guns and the sales profits on guns aren't that high.

As others have already stated, do some research before posting your lack of knowledge. While firearm sales have slacked off from the panic buying of the past year this is still a brisk business despite the so called "ammo shortage".

[Brave Stranger]

I can't do a better job than Mrtwigg did for you.....so welcome home

[GregW]

FWIW - there ar a lot of small independant gun shops in NH. Moderator cut: no advertising!