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My girlfriend and I are both young professionals..(25 yrs old) and are looking to relocate to NH asap.. (in fact we've been looking for almost 6 months now). haha Anyway, we are currently living in Scranton, PA.. she has grown up here her entire life and I am originally from staten island,NY but my parents had a vacation home in the scranton area (poconos) since I was young and I also went to college in Scranton.
We both currently hold stable jobs, but more importantly, we want more for ourselves.. career and living situation wise. My gf works in the mental health and human services field and has a masters in art therapy. I have a bachelors of fine arts in photography, but have been working for the last 2plus years in the economic sanctions monitoring/anti money laundering realm of the financial industry.
We basically live at my girlfriends parents home currently to save money and while her parents are 100% supportive (in fact her mother rather us stay)...uhhh thanks but no thanks. haha we want out. (we've wanted out for sometime now). There isnt much career advancement in this area, especially for us as we are almost at the apex of what we can make salary wise (although it still isnt a lot at all) and we generally just want to go live together somewhere we're we will both be happy settling down in the next chapter of our lives.
We are very much outdoors people.. we have a smaller dog (corgi mix) who we like to take places (not always) and we love to go on hikes, both leisurely and more streneous climbs. We love kayaking, camping, and mountain biking as well. Last May we spent time in Burlington VT as well as the Adirondaks, and drove through small ares of NH. We loved Burlington, mainly bc of its access to outdoors activities (just as NH provides) but also due to its thriving small downtown area.. being able to have access to shops and cafes and restaurants is all the fun we need. We are not big party-ers, more the type that likes to spend a weekend going to some stores/the local cafe for coffee and maybe an outdoor lunch (in warmer months) and doing our outdoors activities.. other than that, we're happy relaxing at home watching movies. Burlington seems like a great place for us.. BUT, there isnt as much emplyement opportunity there, and quite frankly it was a little too hippie-dippy for me.. (not to sound rude).. Living in a place that can provide us the closeness to outdoor amenities but also somewhere to have a downtown to take visiting friends and spend a nice afternoon on the weekend is what we want. plus, I can't help but love a state whose motto is "Live Free or Die".
Any advice on what would be good areas to move would be appreciated.. currently, we both have potential jobs lined up (nothing for sure yet) but if they work out, I will be working in Concord, my girlfiend working in Salem. We both like the idea of Nashua..is that a good spot for us or is the 40 minute commute to Concord too much of a pain? I like Concords small town little city feel as well and closer to hikes, but would prefer the commute be easier on my gf than me. Is manchester more of the party part of town/not as relaxing or is that just native NH's thinking its too big of a city. Would there be enough for us to do in towns like Derry and Merrimack? Also, if we did decide to come with the intention of finding work when we got there, what areas would be most conducive to what we are looking for/job market opportunities?? we would be looking to spend aroudn 1300 on rent including utilities.. and could get by with a 1 br/1bath with maybe an office for additional storage/futon for guests. thanks for your help and hope to see you around NH soon!
PS.. we know we shouldnt move to a state like NH in winter months.. if this is avoidable, we will go in Spring.. but if jobs have us move in the winter months, it is what it is.
I know exactly what you mean about Burlington, VT in terms of small town but lots to do, etc. We have thought of moving there many times over the years! Yes, the city center is hippy dippy, but the surrounding areas are not so much, and are a mecca for 20's-30's people.
Back to NH -- As far as commuting from Nashua to Concord? Easy. You're going in the opposite direction from people going to Mass. for work. Salem is the other border town. I think it is route 111 that connects the two. Could be dicey in winter weather.
You may want to look at Londonderry area for someplace to live. That could be a bit of a medium for commuting.
Thanks for the thoughts.. even though the outskirts of Burlington is a bit different and while it is very nice and we do love the outdoors, there didnt seem to be a whole lot to do outside of burlington in terms of businesses/shops. Just a lot of farm living. In time, maybe we will end up in a more rural area, but for now..we are still young and although not looking for nighclubs... we'd like some shopping/pubs.. and Im sort of a big kid and I NEED a comic book store in the area. lol. the towns/small cities of NH are calling us. Good to know the commute from Nashua to Concord is not bad.. If there is any advice we can get from a NH'er about living in Nashua in mid twenties, that would be great. Are our financial needs posted earlier realistic for the area... I know places around the Seacoast are a lot pricier.
I'd say that areas around Manchester would be a good choice, it's almost equal distance between Salem and Concord on I-93, and it's NH's largest city. I was born in Nashua and raised in Amherst/Milford....too crowded and expensive for me nowadays (so is Manchester, but I don't live there). Besides that, the Manchester area is convenient to the mountains and seacoast if you are heading for a daytrip for some outdoor activities. Nashua is convenient to Mass. but I can't think of too many reasons why anyone would want to go there besides a Bruins game. Check out the Mass migration (is that a pun?) on Fridays Northbound on the interstate trying to escape our neighbor to the South. We do have a great state motto, don't we?
Nashua sounds perfect for you.
Your comparison of Nashua to Manchester is very accurate. We live in Nashua. When we were your age, we would hit the nightclubs and party in Manchester. I never saw downtown Manchester in daylight, and when I did, I was kinda shocked.
There are sports bars and smallish nightclubs in Nashua too. But they are more low-key like Burlington.
I think the commute to Concord would be more than 40 minutes. It took me 35 to get to Manchester.
I also recommend Nashua because you are likely to find more jobs, higher pay, and better companies just over the border in MA. Don't let the threat of MA income tax dissuade you. The higher wages usually more than makes up for the income tax.
Manchester has comic book stores. There is Elm Street, which is no longer full of meat market clubs. There is a nice mix of shops, restaurants, some bars (catering to different age groups)... The Verizon Wireless Arena has many national acts, a local hockey team, and the Fisher Cat AAA baseball team.
I live in north Manchester, and I grew up in the same neighborhood I live in now. I love it. There are parts of Manchester that have gone downhill in the past 20 years - but most places can say the same thing. Truth is, the world is changing.
I would not live in Nashua or Salem, but that is just me.
All the highways connect in Manchester - 93, 293, 101... Beach, mountains, lakes, Boston - all in under an hour. Taxes? Yes, they are high. So is most of NH. Schools? Not great, but you can live in one of the Manchester suburbs and get better schools. Or, you can homeschool (we homeschool - NH is one of the easiest states to do this!) - but that is not a debate for this thread.
What financial needs are you referring to? I'm sorry I missed that part.
If you're both the outdoorsy type you don't want to live in Nashua. you want to live somewhere along the i93 corridor around Manchester so that you can get to the mountains via 93 or the coast via 101. i live off of 101 myself and would reccomend you look into places like Candia, Auburn, Chester.
NH is a great place to live. It's just unfortunate that the entire country is going to have a complete financial/societal collapse in the next five years and everything is going to turn to sh1t overnight. Oh well, enjoy it while it lasts my young friend for there are some very dark days ahead for all of us.
Everyone's words of wisdom have been very helpful and I'm sure this is going to be an ongoing research sort of thing, but it seems to me there are multiple locations that could fit our needs which is great news. RainbowHope, the financial needs I was referring too was our costs of living. Here in NEPA things tend to be much lower cost wise than other areas, there's higher unemployment and a general underachieving feeling to area, just IMO so lower costs of liing can reflect that I guess... The average 2 bed 1 bath apartment will run you under 1000 a month including utilities. We are not expecting that by any means but will be looking to spend hopefully no more than 1300 a month for rent and utilities. We don't require a ton of space. 1 br 1 bath an extra office for storage space and a futon for guests would be good. Is this realistic? 800 sq ft maybe? Or will we be living in a 400 sq ft box with that kind of budget? I look on craiglsists all te time for price ranges and it seems to be cutting it close for a decent place at that price.
If you're both the outdoorsy type you don't want to live in Nashua. you want to live somewhere along the i93 corridor around Manchester so that you can get to the mountains via 93 or the coast via 101.
Don't buy this. There are so many parks and recreation areas around Nashua I won't attempt to list them all. Mine Falls park right in the middle of the city is good for a couple hours of walking/riding. Merrimack, Hollis, Milford, Amherst, Hudson, all have hiking trails and parks within 15 minutes drive. Ponds, rivers, streams, etc...need I go on? You can also day hike in the White Mountains & Monadnock.
For that money it would depend on where you choose to live.
We lived here for 6 months while house hunting and it was affordable: Overview | Waterford Place Apartments in Manchester, NH 03102 - - and in a fantastic part of the city. Close to shops, the highway, etc. We are sensitive to other people's sounds, so we felt like we could hear everything (but it is that way in most apartments, yes?)...
I can really only speak to Manchester as this is where I live. But in your budget, yes, you could afford this place. Also, they had gas heat, so that bill was less than $50 on the coldest months because the buildings were energy efficient.
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haha we want out. (we've wanted out for sometime now). There isnt much career advancement in this area, especially for us as we are almost at the apex of what we can make salary wise (although it still isnt a lot at all) and we generally just want to go live together somewhere we're we will both be happy settling down in the next chapter of our lives.
