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I'm currently living in Ohio and am considering moving to NH to find myself amongst more liberty minded folks. I was wondering what area of New Hampshire would be the best parts of the state for a free-stater?
I'm a mechanical engineer working in aerospace, so I'd like to live in/near a larger city where I might be able to find a job. Of course, I'd like to live in an area with reasonable taxes as well.
I wonder if anyone has suggestions? Thanks for the help.
For big cities I really like Manchester and Concord but not sure about aerospace at those two places.
I believe there are some places to find work in Nashua...Merrimack may be a possibility. I would still suggest Manchester or Concord.
Free-stater is anti-slavery, yes? Well it's not really a problem in NH as the number name guy pointed out because there are not a lot of African Americans here...
Whole time I lived in New Hampshire I can only remember one African American and she was a substitute teacher...NH is not that diverse and everyone looks the same :P
Haha thanks for the heads up. Good to know that slavery's not a problem... always good to check beforehand, though. It may not be super diverse, but I'm sure that all types are welcome nonetheless. My grandmother used to have a cabin at Newfound Lake, but I haven't been there for years. Still, I've always thought that NH was a beautiful state.
So, Concord, Manchester, Nashua, or Merrimack? Sounds like some good options. Any thoughts on Lebanon? I got a call about a job in White River Junction a while ago...
Oooooh...Lebanon is very nice. I used to live in Plainfield which is right next to Lebanon. Again, not sure if they have aerospace there, but there is an airport if that is relevant at all. Lebanon has everything you need...but I suggest if you choose Lebanon to check out Plainfield. It is a fantastic town and very close to Lebanon (10-15 minute drive if I remember correctly)...
Lebanon has everything you need (again) ranging from Wal-mart to Gamestop and I remember it being safe whenever we went there as a family. Though, I have heard the high school is average or possibly below average...but there is always Kimball Union Academy 5 minutes from Plainfield. Plainfield also has a nice little general store if you don't feel like going to Lebanon.
Concord is still really nice and should be given consideration.
I'm currently living in Ohio and am considering moving to NH to find myself amongst more liberty minded folks. I was wondering what area of New Hampshire would be the best parts of the state for a free-stater?
I'm a mechanical engineer working in aerospace, so I'd like to live in/near a larger city where I might be able to find a job. Of course, I'd like to live in an area with reasonable taxes as well.
I wonder if anyone has suggestions? Thanks for the help.
Been a "Free Stater" since the beginning of the project, being one of the first people to sign up. I'll try to throw in a suggestion or two if I can.
First, the majority of members seem to reside in the southern portion of the state. A few of them do live up in the northern end (which is where the bigger mountains ranges are - some would say its the nicer part of the state - opinions vary) but you end up a little bit isolated from the others. It kind of depends how often you really want to interact with the other Free Staters, face-to-face, or if you want to do activist work. If you aren't really looking to be all that active, then the northern end of the state would be fine, and you could keep in contact of all the goings-on via all of their forums and twitter feeds and cell phone emergency chain systems they have going on.
Generally, the southern end of the state is what is recommended, though.... unless you just happen to have some overriding desire to live in the mountains, are really active in outdoor activities (all seasons) and like the more remote lifestyle that the northern end of the state offers. Jobs are little harder to come by up there, another factor to consider.
Keene and Manchester are two of the 'biggy' towns the FSP'ers consider first. Manchester is where more of the political types live, and Keene attracts more of the anarchist types (or even the more purist libertarian political types). The Keene folks protest more... if that floats your boat. The movement there used to be a little bit more active, but they've had a few schisms with some people, and the activism looks like it tapered off just a bit.
Grafton is another town that used to be promoted, but that's kind of seen its day, and I don't think many people consider that option much anymore. It was talked about more a couple years ago. Grafton was supposed to be the area for people who wanted to live more rural, and not in cities and towns like Keene and Manchester. A bunch of guys tried to get together to buy a big plot of land together... they wanted to build their own little 'compounds'/cabins and be left alone by government... or so that was the gist of it, but that kind of fell through because nobody could agree on the particulars (herding cats is difficult). A few notable Free Staters lived there though, like the Kannings (who also used to run one of the notable FSP forums).
The FSP'ers have a number of different discussion forums (about five or six) run by different "factions." I don't know if you are a member of any of those forums, but the people are usually very helpful and will not only suggest places to live, but some of them can hook you up with simple jobs or living arrangements (a lot of them live together in different groups - again, there's different cliques).
Have you ever been to the Free State Project week long camp-out festival called "Porcfest?" It's held every year in late June, typically draws 300 - 400'ish some odd people. It's probably going on the seventh year now... I kind of lost track. Been to it four times now. Fairly enjoyable. Coming up... very soon...end of this month.
If you want to continue an aerospace engineering career I think you will be limited to the Nashua area. There is a huge aerospace firm located in Nashua and many more within commuting distance in Massachusetts. There are other manufacturing plants around the state including the Rugar firearms complex in Newport and the research complex around Dartmouth. If you want to live in the North Country bring your own job or income.
I have wondered why someone in a career so tightly linked to government spending would be so involves in a political movement that features less government. That seems to be a substantial internal conflict.
I have wondered why someone in a career so tightly linked to government spending would be so involves in a political movement that features less government. That seems to be a substantial internal conflict.
Maybe he is Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent.....lol.
The really big depositories for freestaters, right now, are Portsmouth, Manchester, Keene, and Grafton. There are also migrations toward Seabrook and Concord, among others.
Unfortunately, many of the average people moving in from New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, etc, are still voting and driving the same way as they did before, and many either aren't aware or just don't care if New Hampshire gets turned into just another New York. Explaining to people how important your constitutional rights are is sometimes like talking to a wall.
There is/was a free state movement in Wyoming too. Don't think that one turned out quite as well, which is a pity, but I suppose many of the people who originally made the move are still living there.
One might think more of the west coasters would have jumped on it, because one of the original gripes was that NH was either:
(1) Too cold for west coasters [I'm guessing the Cali people, in particular, were on that bandwagon - though WY can be pretty cold too, so I could see why they might not like that, either], and
(2) NH was just too far away for them. They were not willing to live on the opposite coast. WY would seem like a good compromise for them, as it's still in proximity enough to the coast so they don't feel too homesick.
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