Relocation suggestions (Merrimack, Londonderry, Bedford: for sale, real estate, rentals)
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Amtrak runs up the coast, which may be nice for day trips to Boston without having to drive. In NH the stops are in Exeter, Durham, and Dover. It continues up the coast into Maine, ending in Brunswick. Durham is a quiet college town, Exeter and Dover have a bit more retail.
Concord or the surrounding towns (depending on how rural you want to be) would probably be a good choice.
This is just my opinion, but if I were retired, I wouldn't worry about a "day trip" to a large city like Boston. I would simply turn it into a two or three day trip with a decent hotel stay and some good nights out.
Oh definitely, I agree. Sometimes one just wants to get out for the day by the coast for a nice seafood dinner. When we lived in Northeastern PA where it was rural we loved it, however, it was too far to the city and coastal seafood restaurants were over 3hrs.
We live in the Monadnocks near Peterborough. A day trip into Boston on weekends is doable, but a 90' drive each way. Weekdays are tough. MA rush hour is from about 6 AM to 10 AM, and then from about 2 PM to who knows how late. Rush hour trips are 2-3 hours each way.
The advantages of this area, and the reasons we chose it after many years in DC, are that housing is affordable since it's outside the MA commuter zone, nature trumps retail, although the basics are in Keene (Home Depot, Target et al) and there's lots of terrain and water - ponds and wetlands everywhere - a kayaker's heaven. Traffic is light too. Manchester VA is about 1 hour away.
There are a number of distinct regions in NH. You have the SE quadrant - much more heavily settled, easy beach access (if you can find parking), easy Boston access outside rush hour, but congested and with high home prices. Some beautiful towns, though.
The lakes have, well, the lakes, mostly Winnipesaukee, lots . of shopping and dining out in season, but deserted in winter. Summer congestion is off-putting to some.
The upper valley has many plusses including Dartmouth's culture and medical care and easy access to the White Mtns., but it's a long way to any other place. 90 minutes to the nearest Costco, for example.
The White Mtns should be self explanatory, and the part above the Whites is really isolated...
You might do what we did - drove up to Lebanon, then to Manchester, east to Portsmouth, west to Peterborough/Keene, doing drive-bys of houses listed on Zillow. The latter gave us an idea of what you got for how much, a feel for towns and neighborhoods, without having to take the time that dealing with an agent would take. We took about a week.
We eliminated VT and Maine because their taxes are not at all retiree friendly. We did the math and found that, if you included property taxes for comparable housing, MA was only a bit more tax costly than NH, since property taxes in NH ae so high. So we looked a lot in central MA (east of Quabbin Reservoir), but found it all too congested, and more focused on commuting workers than retirees.
So we ended up next to Peterborough and love it.
BINGO!!! You just described a lot of what we find appealing. Having lived in major cities throughout my life as well as suburbs and rural, we want the laid back less congested life style with the option of having a major city accessible within 2hrs. Since we are retired we can always plan our road schedule and time away.
I'm gonna heavily weigh your suggestions as part of our search. Thank you for sharing.
Just about every city in New England has a public library, but I wouldn't call most of them "large", or even "solvent"
Any particular reason to choose NH over, say, western or coastal MA? Since you are retired, the lack of an income tax in NH wouldn't seem to be a factor, and Mass has more VA facilities. Not saying there aren't many reasons to choose NH over other Northern New England states, but I've already had two friends move here, get fed up after one winter, and flee to the West Coast.
The further away from a major city (like Boston) you can get, the more affordable home prices will be and thus the lower the property tax bill.
RENT for two years before buying. And take your time, driving around New England all year around exploring.
Yes, every town has public libraries, but if you really love books, most libraries are dumping the ones not looked at very often and focusing on digital media and offering internet access.
Otherwise, NH has high electric rates, and in the winter time, it can be a lot of work keeping warm with wood and pellets. I am getting faster at cleaning out the ash from our wood and pellet stoves.
NH is wonderful, but living here requires a bit more effort, using commonsense, and planning ahead.
Guys, the OP's very first sentence stated that he wants to "move back" to the area, and you all act like he's never even been to New England before.
But the OP said he's lived in Florida for "many years". You think things did not change in that time? You think when they lived here they knew all the areas worth considering?
I lived out of state, in DC, for "a few years", 11 to be exact. We still took the time to explore areas, and we also looked at them with a different "lens", since working folks with school age children have differing needs from retirees.
I'd venture to say that most returnees know the region just well enough to know they want to come back, like the OP or myself, but not enough to know exactly where. Hence the need to explore and perhaps rent.
Guys, the OP's very first sentence stated that he wants to "move back" to the area, and you all act like he's never even been to New England before.
Then why is he asking us for our suggestions? And then he shouldn't need our input. But NE has changed a lot over the decades. Property taxes have jumped up a lot over 20 years. Some towns are more built up and the traffic patterns are more congested.
I still say that they need to rent first before even thinking about picking a NH town to buy a house in.
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