Considering a move from Long Island to Concord, NH area. (Franklin: fit in, real estate)

[GaryMc]

My girlfriend and I are considering a move from Long Island, NY to the Concord, NH area. I am currently a police officer, while my girl is employed as a corporate recruiter in NYC. We are SICK of Long Island's rising property taxes & cost of living, declining quality of life, congestion, and HIGH home prices. We love New England and find ourselves travelling to Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts quite a bit. Neither of us have been to new Hampshire before, but heard somewhere that the Concord, NH area is a great area to raise a family. We've been researching home prices in the area and are impressed (LI costs $400,000+ !). Are there any Long Island area "relocates" that are living up there that could assist us in our consideration of NH? Thanks!

[skinut74]

we moved from farmingdale to the concord area over 2 years ago. we have endured near record snow, ice storms,wind storms and 6 day power outages. that's the bad. now for the good. fresh air, less traffic, lower taxes, beautiful scenery and too many other things to list. also, i have yet to have to honk my car horn up here. be glad to answer any questions you have. we would move here again in a heartbeat.

[pjguihan]

Hi,
We currently live in Manorville, LI. So if anyone is living in the Southern Part of NH from LI sent a shout out and let me know what places you like. Concord is too far up for us, my husband has many accounts in MA that he will need to visit for work.

[lisa g]

I am originally from Plainview (once potato farms). Currently in Hollis, surrounded by farms and orchards. I guess you could say that NH is similar to the LI of the past in many ways. Hopefully it will stay that way. If you have any specific comparison questions, I would be happy to help answer whatever questions I can. You could not pay me enough to return to LI, despite it being the place most of my family and friends live.

[Mrtwigg]

I grew up on Long Island in the '60's and lived there till 1990. If any of those considering the move north are the typical LI'er I recall who hates snow & cold, please stay where you are.

If you are conservative or libertarian you'll enjoy the hill towns, except for Peterborough which has a nasty liberal infection. What I like might not be what you prefer. Hunting is the rule here not the exception so don't complain about the deer hanging from a tree in your neighbor's yard.

You'll have to be flexiable in your choice of work. If you know a trade or can drive a truck you'll be fine. Chineese food and bagle stores are few and far between - the good ones anyway.

You might enjoy the nice quiet atmosphere we have here and the (relatively) lower taxes we have. That's because crusty old farts like me show up at every town meeting to vote down all the "Improvments" new folk seem to think we need here so they can make my town more like the one they just left.

In a few years the newcomers wonder why the taxes went up so fast.

Take a couple of weekends and visit a few places, do your research and then decide where you'll fit in best.

[Valerie C]

Other than the criteria of NOT being on Long Island, what are you looking for in your next 'hometown'. Are you outdoorsy types who will want to ski, hike or hunt fairly close to home? Do you need amenities such as movie theaters, grocery stores (ethnic or otherwise), malls and restaurants (again, ethnic or otherwise)? What's important to YOU?

You'll want to chose a town that already has the services and conveniences that are important to you--public water & sewer is limited to a relatively few cities and towns, many people bring their own trash to the dump and streetlights are completely unnecessary on the country roads. New Hampshire is a great place to raise a family, for those who appreciate what it has to offer. Others can barely make it through a winter...

You've stumbled onto a great resource for info-gathering Welcome!

[TheLoveys]

Hi - thank you all for your replies. I'm the girlfriend of GaryMc. We love the outdoors and are avid hikers (hiked the Rockies and Saguaro desert in '09!). We also love to garden and hope to grow most of the food we'll cook with. Does anyone know the typical growing season in southern NH? We are most interested in finding a home in a town that offers great schools, perhaps has a town center or "downtown" with mom & pop shops, and is close enough to a food store and home depot, but is not surrounded by mini-malls. I love to cook/bake, so we rarely dine out, so close proximity to an abundance of restaurants is not a priority; however, we don't want to be too far from "civilization". We are very down to earth and enjoy "the simple life". Having to take our trash to a dump would not be a deal breaker. Does anyone have an opinion of Hopkinton (heard the schools are great), Boscawen, Franklin or Henniker? A historic home on an acre or two in a town with a "small town feel" would be ideal. We'd appreciate any insights!

[Mrtwigg]

The growing season is short and helped greatly by fabricating cold frames. Southern exposure is critical for getting maximum yield out of a garden here.

It sounds like you'll really like the greater Concord area.

[GraniteStater]

One of my favorite towns near Concord is Canterbury! It has everything you would want if you prefer rural living, but only minutes to Concord and all the amenities.

[Valerie C]

Of the towns that you mentioned, Henniker is a personal favorite. Home to New England College & Pat's Peak ski area, there's a cute little downtown area, couple of mom/pop restaurants, and real estate is reasonably priced as compared to many towns further south. Hopkinton is closer to the conveniences of Concord, maybe 15-20 minutes, but by no means full of strip malls! Nearby Contoocook is home to the Hopkinton State Fair, one of my favorite NH fall fairs (way too much food to sample though...)

The growing season (or lack of it in some years) has been discussed at length here. As GraniteStater mentions, cold frames are a must to pre-start the growing season. NH is zone 5, but there are microclimates throughout the state. The unofficial 'plant out safe date' is late may, Memorial Day weekend and first frost can be early October. There are just some things that require a longer growing season than we have. I can't grow habanaro or rocoto peppers up here and even though black landscape fabric helps to keep the soil warm, some years it just doesn't seem to warm up enough for tomatoes to ripen before the frost. Last year was one of those years... This year I wanted to try raised beds and 4-square gardening, and if I can't get it ready in time, I'll have a patio garden with tomato and bush-style cukes in pots. Herbs seem to do well regardless of the weather...