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Location: I'm looking for a place to call home actually
16 posts, read 35,723 times
Reputation: 12
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Hey guys, I was wondering about Berlin, New Hampshire? I looked at some of the basics, their newspaper, rent/property looks manageable and it is really looks beautiful from the photos I saw. I was hoping to see if anyone has any experience living there? I'm not looking for a party scene or anything like that, I grew up out in the country in the southwest and I prefer to live out in the country.
Does anyone know if there are driving jobs in that area by any chance? I just got my class A CDL with HAZMAT and doubles/triples and tanker endorsement. I thought I read there was a community college which offered a class B, so in that respect I'll have a leg up in finding work. There is a school here to so the area is saturated with drivers, not the end of the world, but something to consider I suppose. I'm also about to get some experience driving in the oil field until I can find a place to settle down at. The oil field isn't something I want to do forever, plus it feels like you have to be a criminal to fit in this place, and I'm really not all that worried about fitting in lol.
I do not recall if the paper mill is still in operation but when it was the place stank of sulfite pulp. If the mill closed there will be a lot of unemployed people but the place will smell better and be a lot more attractive. Berlin and the other local paper mill towns are in spectacular locations with a polluting industry.
I know the sulfite liquor is the smell of money just like petroleum refinery stink but although both industries have done a lot to clean up their act they still smell. Probably because the human nose is very sensitive to those chemicals.
I would think your trucking qualifications would get you a job anywhere in the country. Hauling liquid Hazwaste is an unusual qualification. Good luck and let us know what happens.
Location: I'm looking for a place to call home actually
16 posts, read 35,723 times
Reputation: 12
A HAZMAT is not as uncommon as you might think. You actually need it to drive any vehicle which would require placards. Many people require you have it here because of the oil and gas industry. Heavy equipment (bulldozers, blades, loaders), concrete, and water trucks are all really common and don't require the endorsement. However crude oil, gasoline, natural gas, certain acids used to treat locations are mandatory. On the flip side it would allow me haul fuel to gas stations, work for a propain or natural gas company, it lets people know I'm not a terrorist, a felon, or to lazy to deal with the paperwork and is really why I got it in the first place. I'm also getting my Canadian passport because some of the larger companies will send you to Toronto. I was looking and that region appears to be three or four hours from Montreal should I need to buy a TV, catch a show, have a beer and relax.
What areas in northern New Hampshire or Vermont would you recommend then?
1. I'd like to be in the proximity of a community college so I can at least finish my associates degree.
2. Crime is everywhere and dealing with it has become second nature unfortunately, but I am leaving this part of the country because it is being over run with illegal immigrants, drugs, and just overall stupidity in general. We can't really do anything about it, everyone turns a blind eye to it, including politicians and law enforcement who by all appear to be corrupt on several layers. My warehouse job was outsourced to Juarez, the state started issuing license's to illegal immigrants, the town's Department of Motor Vehicles was shut down because a teller was busted taking bribes and for id's and licenses. You just can't compete with it, the cost of labor is too low for many of the local businesses to pass up. It's not about race or skin color to me, it's about right and wrong. I hate to say it because this is my home, but I think I will find a better quality of life and opportunities in the Northeast.
3. I'm a country boy and I want to live in a smaller town, with wholesome values, but some opportunites My party days are over lol, people make fun of me and call me old, but I really don't care. I have to put food on my table and that's what is important. That being said, I don't mind shooting some pool and having a beer, I like to have access to at least a the Internet and a Walmart lol. Other than that, a lot of my time will be spent on the road until I save up enough to finish college. A house payment of around $750.00 is about as high as I'll be able to go for now, unless the pay scale has increased and is compatible with the cost of living.
Last edited by Joshua2010; 04-28-2010 at 01:45 PM..
Location: I'm looking for a place to call home actually
16 posts, read 35,723 times
Reputation: 12
What I'm going to try to do is get some loads up in your neck of the woods. I've been through the Rockies so I feel good about handling the roads up there. I'll try and pass through some of the towns you guys suggest and check them out for myself and get paid in the process, the number one reason I got my CDL to begin with lol, thanks for responding.
The dropped the mills to be dusty red brick, and packed it up to move in a cellular Fedral prision which is the new industry in Berlin. Now if you can find work around there driving and live up in the north country not in Berlin, don't mind hard winter, and it did snow up there last night.......again, you could do ok....
Paper is dying, but logging still happens.
That sulfur stink will be gone in another decade maybe
Where to go is everyone's question. I get an assorted part time jobs as I find them...
No frills way to live, but it beats nuthin. This is the last place on Earth anyone wants to go broke, as we don't have a big welfare system. You go broke here and ask for help and you will be told to leave and look elsewhere. That's about it for help in NH.
The other side of that coin is we don't get much trailer trash, and that sort of ilk.
If the plan is to live here, and in the northern 1/2 of the state you can bank on being tested to survive winter. Don't count on anyone making close friends with you for the 1st year. These folks won't bother you any, but they won't help you any either.
Location: I'm looking for a place to call home actually
16 posts, read 35,723 times
Reputation: 12
I spent two winters working outside in North Dakota near Minot. It got pretty chilly, higher elevations northern Wyoming as well. The worse part there is the wind.
Last edited by Joshua2010; 04-28-2010 at 04:18 PM..
Lancaster is the best town in Coos County... I don't care for Berlin either. It literally was a one industry town and I don't think bringing in prisons is really a solution. The mill towns are all on the decline in much of central and northern Maine as well. I think I drove through all the mill towns during their last few years of operation. I hit Berlin, Millinocket, Rumford? etc. I don't know if the mill in Rumford, ME is still around.
You might also want to check out Plymouth. It is home to PSU, has a nice Downtown, and all of the services you would expect of a smaller town. The Laconia area would be good if you want a greater amount of affordability.
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