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I'm moving to Dover, NH soon and would like to know more about the city in terms of the community, the people, the weather, natural disasters, safety, etc. I'm relocating all the way from the west coast, so it will be quite different. How is the traffic? Are the people hospitable? How are the crime rates? Thanks!
There is a lot of threads for Dover. I tried to link a few here, but it's not working....
When you're on the main page for the New Hampshire forum, there is a search feature in the upper right hand corner, click on Search this Forum, type in Dover, then click Go...many threads pop up with good info.
Let me welcome you also to the NH forum. I don't live there, but everyone I know who lives in Dover really likes it, and that's true for some of the regular forum posters as well. I believe TheFlynns live in Dover, and also consider sending a direct message to fishinfool, who lives on the seacoast as well. I think my favorite thing about Dover is that it's got a great downtown (traffic can back up along the downtown areas, so you'll be seeking out the back roads....) Lots of options whether you're looking to buy or to rent. People for the most part are great-not a pretentious town at all... Anyway, have fun in your research
Links not working, but multi-quote comes to the rescue! Valerie after reading your post & seeing that you mentioned theflynns & fishnfool I thought these would be worthy of a repeat....
Quote:
Originally Posted by theflynns
As I have posted many times prior singing the praises of Dover...
We are MA transplants who have lived in the Garrison City now for eight years (it still amazes me it's been that long!). We moved to NH from the Merrimack Valley in MA because a home was more affordable. We drew a square on a map based on commute times to MA (both working there at the time), then narrowed down our search based on tax rates. Dover was initially further North than we wanted to look, but our Realtor encouraged us to"broaden our horizons" and I'm glad we did!
There are still some negative impressions of Dover left over from years ago and that colors some people's impression of the city today. We live in a relatively small subdivision on the north side of town; we relocated from the south side five years ago. Our neighborhood is about seven years old, with two cul-de-sacs, a city-maintained ball field, city-maintained playground, and nature trail. We have city water, city sewer, trash and recycling pick-up curbside, and publicly maintained roads. We are convenient to everyday shopping (ie: groceries, Target, Home Depot, etc.) and close to the Turnpike.
According to the last reported statistics I saw, Dover had 2 (that's TWO) violent crimes in 2005 or 2006. We have a wonderful, full-time police department (including motorcycle and mounted officers), a great fire department with full-time EMS, and, in my opinion, a very good school system. Granted, it is not Oyster River (Durham/Lee/Madbury) or Stratham/ Exeter, but then again we don't pay their tax rates either (not that ours are cheap by any means). We currently have one child in public school and will have a second entering this fall; the public school system here in Dover is one of the reasons we bought here in the first place.
When we first bought here, we chose our starter home over others we had considered in Stratham and Exeter. I was a Realtor when we sold that house three years later (no longer licensed...kids take up too much time!). We made a killing and could have bought anywhere here on the Seacoast, yet we CHOSE to stay here in Dover.
My husband is an ED nurse at the local hospital, and I am primarily a stay-at-home mom. I find plenty to do here for myself and the kids: great (although small) walking downtown with GREAT restaurants (try Christopher's On Third for a terrific meal!) and good small-city bars (although probably not for the newly-legal set-usually a bit older crowd than that), many city-sponsored events throughout the year (Apple Harvest, outdoor concerts, outdoor kids series shows), city pool and skating rink (although talk of pool not opening this year due to budget constraints), sledding/tubing hill, train station, etc. Great city sports programs (although they do cost extra), after-school programs...I could go on! Also, the Children's Museum is relocating here from Portsmouth.
Obviously, I like my city! PM me with any particular questions or if I can be of help in any way! Good luck!
Quote:
Originally Posted by NH2NCMom
Kim -
I lived in Dover over 18 years, and in neighboring towns until I moved to NC 5 years ago. My sister and family, and my Dad STILL live in Dover. Dover is a residential town with businesses to keep many of the residents working in town. Most of the shopping for a "mall" and such is done in Rochester and Portsmouth. Everything is usually within a half hour drive - Boston is 45 minutes to the airport (trust me I've driven it thousands of times).
Rents are a little high in Dover, Somersworth and Rochester are just slightly lower - after all everyone prefers Dover Dover is considered Seacoast because half of Dover is waterfront (river or the bay). To research rents try craigslist and the local DAILY newspaper "Foster's Daily Democrat" at Fosters.com - Dover NH, Rochester NH, Portsmouth NH, Laconia NH, Sanford ME
Schools are on par with the state in my opinion. I grew up throughout the whole system and even attended a college or two there. As far as expensive - Portsmouth, Manchester, and Nashua are way more expensive than Dover - but Dover is higher than the smaller towns in the area - it's all relative. I don't mind living in Dover and traveling 15 minutes or so to some of the sites - though don't get me wrong if you look around there's plenty to do in Dover. I highly suggest the Woodman institute (museum) you could be in there for days!
Any questions - direct message me and I can tell you tons more LOL. It's my hometown and I want to go back!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by fishnfool
Hi kim, just to quickly reply your post, I don't live in Dover but have friends that do and am up there frequently. I've only lived in NH for a year and I think Dover downtown is pretty nice, but I've been told it's undergone quite a renaissance in the last few years though from being previously empty or run down. It still doesn't have that vibrant, upbeat feal that Portsmouth does though. The housing prices seem considerably cheaper than other seacoast towns and while there are definitely nice and new houses, I don't think overall the neighborhoods are quite as nice as the rest of the seacoast. My friends say they get pretty bored sometimes there and usually head down to portsmouth for things to do, which isn't exactly far though.
I briefly looked into Dover but fiance works in Mass and that extra drive, toll, and traffic on 16 would just add too much extra commute time. Personally I hate trying to get anywhere from Dover other than the white mountains because the 16 traffic over the bridge gets to be a pain during rush hour, and it's juuuuust far enough to make dover more than a "quick" drive to Boston, the beaches, 101, etc. It's considered a seacoast town but everytime I drive up there I feel like it's pretty secluded from the rest of the area. That said, if my fiances commute time wasn't an issue I would probably look around there for houses and consider moving there.....but I would prefer Hampton, Portsmouth, Exeter, Rye (sooo not in our price range), N. Hampton, etc.
I do not know much about DOVER, but from I have read, it seems pretty
nice! I believe that "NH2NCMOM" one of our regular posters knows the area
well!
And YES, the LINKS and City Data are a bit slow right now....
GOOD LUCK with it ALL!
Both "VALERIE C" & "BOOSHUTTERBUGG" have given you GREAT advice!
WELCOME & BEST OF WISHES!
Take care!
Countrylv22
Quote:
Originally Posted by whojoedaddy
I'm moving to Dover, NH soon and would like to know more about the city in terms of the community, the people, the weather, natural disasters, safety, etc. I'm relocating all the way from the west coast, so it will be quite different. How is the traffic? Are the people hospitable? How are the crime rates? Thanks!
Last edited by countrylv22; 06-24-2008 at 05:48 PM..
Reason: SMILE & WE WILL SMILE WITH YOU!:0) :0)
dover is a pretty nice place. i used to live in rochester and i worked in downtown dover. my dad also worked in dover. it has grown alot over the years. imho i would live in dover.
Sorry didn't answer this sooner, been sick here...but DOVER IS AWESOME. I loved it and still want to move back every day! It might not have everything, but everything is within a short drive. I like that it is a little residential and a little commercial. The schools are decent, the people fantastic, great restaurants, nice places to walk - and they are long in history too.
If I had a job and a place to live I'd be back there in 2 shakes!
I'm moving to Dover soon and would like to know how much is it to get my utilities set up. How long does it take to start up my electricity, gas, water, cable/internet, etc. Do they require any kind of deposit? I hear that there is a trash pick up fee, sewer fee, etc? I'm from the west coast, so this is all new to me. Thanks in advance.
Welcome to the forum, WhoJoe! Have you been through the Dover website? Welcome to the City of Dover Website
I see that one of it's pages addresses trash pickup (not all towns have this service, seems Dover does). Apparently they sell you trash bags to use or stickers (?) and that money generates the funds for the service.
I've driven around in Dover - it was quite lovely.
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Hello WhoJoeDaddy!! WELCOME!!!!!!!!!!!!
