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Why not Vermont? Too liberal or progressive for you? Since you'll be retired you don't need to work, right?
Yes, Vermont is one of those state that taxes SS income, I'm not sure about NH though.
I disagree that Exeter and Portsmouth are the only artsy towns in NH. I wouldn't even really consider Exeter to be particularly artsy. Peterborough (home of the famous MacDowell Art Colony) also immediately came to mind. I LOVE Peterborough, but it's definitely quite remote. I'm thinking about moving there, for their great little downtown. Concord is also becoming more artsy, in the downtown area.
I have only lived in NH for 5 years, and only recently started visiting more towns around the state. I'm discovering a lot of little areas which are kind of cool.
Someone in the military in CA may or may not be paying for their own non-military housing, so it's hard to say whether the cost of living will seem high in NH. Who knows where this person is originally from, too.
I've just bought a house with my boyfriend in Northwood. Our UPS guy, who lives in Manchester, says great things about our town. He did also comment that the people in Nottingham weren't very nice, and he cautioned us about Pittsfield.
I've just bought a house with my boyfriend in Northwood. Our UPS guy, who lives in Manchester, says great things about our town. He did also comment that the people in Nottingham weren't very nice, and he cautioned us about Pittsfield.
He know's everyone in Nottingham? It's all a matter of personal opinion. I can't stand Nashua but if I say that on here at least 4-5 people immediately get their panties in a bunch ...."what's wrong with Nashua...."
He know's everyone in Nottingham? It's all a matter of personal opinion. I can't stand Nashua but if I say that on here at least 4-5 people immediately get their panties in a bunch ...."what's wrong with Nashua...."
Well he's worked his route for 23 years, so of course he's have many opportunities to interact with the people living and working in all those towns. Whatever. We're just really happy with our new place and our next door neighbor.
I've just bought a house with my boyfriend in Northwood. Our UPS guy, who lives in Manchester, says great things about our town. He did also comment that the people in Nottingham weren't very nice, and he cautioned us about Pittsfield.
In my opinion, Pittsfield gets a bad rap, and it's a shame. I find it difficult to believe what someone who lives in Manchester says about a town 45 minutes away, even if he has been driving his route for 23 years. The unwarranted reputation scares people away, which makes it difficult for the town to improve. I'm not saying I would recommend Pittsfield to people... not really my cup of tea... but there is really nothing wrong with it for someone who wants to live in a rural area, and in fact, for a rural area, it's unusually convenient - close to Concord and major highways, has a small grocery, two banks, a Rite-Aid, a cafe, some restaurants, Dunkin' Donuts, etc..
If you drive around on both sides of 28, you see the town has a lot of natural beauty, and the downtown has "good bones." It has much of what is needed to become another town like Exeter, if only it could attract people... architecturally interesting historic municipal buildings, an enviable location on the Suncook River, a compact and walkable downtown (which is very unusual among the other small towns in the area), and a great volunteer spirit. Almost the entire downtown is on the National Register of Historic Places, which is unusual. It has a number of "hidden" and not-so-hidden recreational areas, many created by volunteers - a town forest, a great new ball field, a park with picnic tables and grills in a wooded area on the river, a swimming area, outdoor tennis courts, etc.. There are a lot of perfectly nice houses on large lots, outside of the downtown area, for much lower prices than in surrounding towns.
Unfortunately, Pittsfield has ridiculously high taxes (last year they were the third highest in the state, and I think now they're 5th or 6th... the total tax rate is still over $30/$1000, and I believe the full value tax rate is over $35/$1000, making it the highest full value tax rate in the state.) I don't see it as a huge problem for people who may buy in town, since the prices for homes are much lower than in surrounding towns which have lower taxes. It evens out. There is also crime, but little violent crime, and most violent crime is not random. It's also largely confined to the downtown and much of it is from out of towners who burglarize homes in all the surrounding towns. There is crime in many NH towns and cities now but I don't see people warned away from those areas.
I think the downfall of Pittsfield began when the town allowed a number of single family homes to be turned into multi-family rentals, and other apartment complexes to be built. Pittsfield now has something like 38% rentals, which is extremely high and extremely unusual for a small rural town (which, like most small towns, has very little in the way of a commercial tax base.) This is what drives up the tax rate - many of the rental properties are in disrepair and not assessed any higher than a single family house. But multiple families are living there... increasing the burden on services, without increasing the tax base the way they would if they lived in single family homes. Without the commercial tax base, this lack of residential taxes cannot be offset. In addition, a high number of rentals (many of them cheap rentals) leads to more turnover in the community, and bring in a certain "element" which wouldn't exist without available rentals.
I don't really see how most of Pittsfield (the rural lots outside downtown) is so dramatically different from the surrounding towns. One difference is that Northwood (like Chichester and Epsom) doesn't have a downtown. It has a major road running through it and the municipal buildings are spread out along the road. In contrast, one could park in downtown Pittsfield and walk to the library, walk to the post office, walk to the bank, the drug store, the cafe, or whatever. If, as the town is encouraging, people were to buy up multifamily homes and revert to single family, it could actually be a very desirable place.
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