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Everyone thank you thank you for all the advice and information I appreciate it all and will definitely take it all to heart. Keep it coming if anything comes to mind.
MrsM--
I had a Saturn and I never had a problem with it in the snow. It did get stuck when I got plowed in over nite when i left it on the street but handling was never an issue. And I got stuck in a storm going through Cinncinnati, man....tractor trailers spinning wheels, cars sliding everywhere. I watched a truck trailer swing out and take out three cars as it slid off the road--like slow motion. The snow hit the ground, about an inch, and made traffic crazy. Right at rush hour. My saturn let me hit the shoulder, slow and steady and right around the mess. IT was green grass and glory....ummm...probably black asphalt and relief was a better term (sorry random childhood football flashback)
I do have a Subaru now and I LOVE IT. Amen to that. Greatest car. Would definitely consider another one. I just wish they realized they are not an upscale luxury competitor, brought their prices back down to Earth and embraced their core buyers allowing them to buy again and all.....aside from that if the price was right I am definitely getting another one. THe Subie defintely lets you get out of the way of those "other" drivers
Thank you also for the NOVELLA
You gave me a lot of information to consider and I appreciate it all
Mark S--
Thank you for taking the time to break down all my questions. I feel you gave me a mini road map into my potential situation
nyhrnut--
Thank you for all the advice you have offered in this thread and countless other threads I have read
Whoa! Rampant overgeneralization! Plowing in many towns in seacoast NH is admittedly on the iffy side - one notorious problem is the plow guys keeping their plows an inch or two above the road surface so you get a packed-down, icy, slippery mess, and three of the towns I've lived in (12+ years in Dover, 3+ in Exeter, and not quite 2 in Stratham) took forever to get the side streets and back roads done.
How long ago was that?
I ask because we were there during the big storm a few weeks ago. We roamed all over, from the cities of NH, VT, Maine, and upstate New York to all the middle-of-nowhere places in between. We were driving through heavy snow much of the time, and we never once had a problem, even in the boonies of Aroostook County.
People's driveways and such were certainly the responsibilities of the homeowners, but we didn't find a single road, street, or public parking lot that was not free of snow, even when the big wet flakes were still coming down.
I was really impressed by this, because I've spent the last 9+ years in the Seattle area, where an inch of snow shuts down the entire metropolitan area. It's a mixture of being completely unprepared and having tens of thousands of California-expatriates who can't drive in anything that isn't 70 degree sunshine.
Spring storms are different in that the ground is usually warmer so the snow tends to melt when it hits pavement. Storms in the dead of winter do tend to mess up the roads a bit, but our road crews do a good job (in my neck of the woods anyway). They're out there day and night trying to make the roads safer for us and deserve a lot of thanks IMO.
I think you'll love the seacoast area too. I think you should check out Exeter as the previous poster mentioned. I just got back from there as a matter of fact, late this afternoon. They have a sale going on at the Exeter Hankerchief Shop in town! What's that you ask? Well it's near Phillips Exeter Academy and it's got all types of fabric, material and all that for sewing! I got a beautiful funky print for my wing back chairs, that's the place to go for fabric, trust me on this! In any case, check the town of Exeter out, or the towns of Stratham, Brentwood, No. Hampton or even Hampton Falls or Hampton. All very nice towns in the state to reside in.
As an example, I was in the new Exeter High School's auditorium in the past few months and I thought it was absolutely amazing to see! What a wonderful job they did building this stunning complex. It's truly out of this world, or at least it was to me! How any one in their right mind could find something wrong with this mega-complex is beyond me. It's definitely a beautifully built school and it's so nice to see SO many utilizing it.
My nephews & nieces all graduated from St. Thomas Aquinas in Dover, it's non-denominational from what I understand, in that it's a Catholic institution but it's any religion that can attend? If that's what non-denominational implies, then that's what it means, I would think? In any case, it's a fantastic school with a wonderful reputation and following, I wouldn't hesitate to send a kid there one bit. The kids in our family all went on to terrific colleges because of their education that they got there. It absolutely pays off and believe me, it certainly wasn't cheap for my siblings to all go this route, but we tell them all the time that they did the right thing with this decision. It was absolutely a "good one!"
I commuted for years from the Hamptons. You can either drive down I-95 and go through a lot of cars through the years, or you can take the C&J trailways bus from Newburyport or Portsmouth OR take the downeaster from Exeter or Dover OR the commuter rail from Newburyport, whatever is easier to get to for you.
As the previous poster mentioned, it's a buyer's market now, which is too bad for the sellers, but that's the way the ball bounces and you know? It's about time it bounced this way--for a change!!!!
Good luck wherever you decide to live. I think you'd really enjoy living on the seacoast. We've actually got the best of both worlds living here. We're all only a little over an hour away from the Lakes region and a little further away are the White Mountains.
We head up to Portsmouth, NH in no time and can cross over to Maine in a matter of seconds; over one of the 3 bridges connecting NH with the state of Maine. Do you like the ocean? You can check out NH's Seabrook Beach, Hampton Beach, No. Beach, Rye and head right in to Portsmouth via stopping in at the lovely Marriott's Wentworth By The Sea Resort in New Castle, NH., have a cup of tea or a frozen drink on their stunning veranda! You could take a ride right up to Kittery to the Outlets, then head up to York, Ogunquit or Kennebunkport, all along the coast and be back in no time along NH's seacoast. Also, the City of Newburyport isn't that far, going the other way, heading south on I-95 or straight down Rte 1-A. In fact, we go to Ipswich all the time on (Rte 1-A to B) and get the clams at Woodman's and the Clam Box or sometimes we'll have dinner at the Village in Essex, remember these gems! We can even get down to Gloucester on Rte 133 from there, in no time. It's a beautiful scenic drive too and what an area to live in, being able to see all of this! AND if you want? You can be in downtown Boston for the night in the North End, grab a pizza at the famous Pizzeria Regina's on Thatcher Street or get in to Mike's Pastry Shop on Hanover St. for a cannoli! An hour drive down I-95 and you can be back that night right on the seacoast again before you know it! So I would say we have the best of all these worlds right at our finger tips!
The main roads are always plowed fantastic by the NH public works. They do a fantastic job up here and have a terrific reputation in this state over this issue. Even people from other states surrounding ours? Will always comment on how the roads always always look AND they're as neat as a pin after our major snow storms, no matter what; and I tend to agree with them. There hasn't been one winter storm in this state for as long as I've lived here that our family and I had any trouble. We always get out of our driveway, the main roads, even our side roads are always done. We can always hear the plow guys out working away in the middle of the night. They're awesome that way up here. Always remember that, they truly deserve a LOT of credit from all of us. They're magnificient people that they have working for the state, getting out there all hours of the day and night to get the roads straightened out!
Wherever you do decide to reside in this state? Enjoy New Hampshire, it's truly wonderful to live here AND I never thought I'd admit that one! EVER!! I'm right from the heart of the City of Boston, and believe me, my heart will always be in that City, always! It took me a LONG LONG while; BUT it's definitely worth living an hour away up here on the seacoast, you'll see what I mean when you move here I bet.... I used to always call it "no where land" because it was always SO SO far away from my old neighborhood in Boston, well guess what? It's only a hop, skip and a jump away, it's 45 minutes, 50 miles from the City of Boston!
Last edited by CityGirl52; 05-10-2007 at 06:25 PM..
Reason: typo...
Well, I moved out of Dover in 2002 (and am a graduate of the Dover school system as well), then lived in Stratham until I bought the house I currently occupy in Exeter in 2004. So I think I have just an eensy-weensy bit of clue about local conditions. *chuckle* Hubby commuted to Boston off and on from 2001 to early 2007 so we know from the snow delays on that commute too. I will not argue that the plow guys do deserve credit for the sucky hours they have to work, I would not want to do that job. It's not something that would keep me from living here but it IS something to be aware of and be prepared for, that if you don't know how to drive well in the snow you are going to have to learn right quick.
And as citygirl52 says, the Exeter Handkerchief Company is a can't-miss, especially their third floor everything-is-$6.99 (or is it $7.99? brain cramp) room. You can get $100/yard designer fabrics for a pittance in the third floor room! There's a killer barbecue joint right next door, Goody Coles Smokehouse. I think it's better than Muddy River in Portsmouth. I know people who come down from Portland to go shopping for fabric and then have barbecue!
Except for 2 years in West Virginia as a kid, a little over a year each in Chicago and central Missouri as an experiment, I have always lived in New England, and all gods willing I always will. I was born in midcoast Maine, graduated from the University of Maine at Orono. Spent a year in the Berkshires as a teen. We moved back up here after a not-quite-five-year stint in metro Boston (2 years in Lynn and then down to Southie) and a very brief stop (just a few months, changed jobs and the new commute was a bear) in Gloucester, and it was a relief to get back to calmer, more relaxed, New Hampshire from buzz-buzz-buzz run-run-run Massachusetts. Hubby has been offered very lucrative jobs in other parts of the country but we'll take less money to live in a place that we truly love, warts and all. I truly agree that we have the best of all worlds right here.
By mentioning Vermont, NY outside Albany, and the Berkshires of MA, you may be thinking of a kind of rural, agricultural, pastoral landscape--a mixture of farms, woods, pasture land... My impression of much of NH is more of woods and lakes than open country. Vt and the Hudson-Mohawk valley parts of New York State seem much more agricultural than NH. And southeastern NH has a lot of ugly strip development, like any other fast-growing region in the USA where towns need the tax revenue that strip development brings. Am I wrong? Anyway, no one has yet cited Peterborough or the Monadnock region. If you like the outdoors, especially if you like to hike, this is a very scenic part of NH, but it's southwest NH and not so close to Boston.
Wow - ya'll make New Hampshire sound so awesome. Do you think a Texas twang will be accepted? We're from Texas and have spent the last 8 months in Kansas and haven't been exactly weclomed with open arms. We're moving to the Portsmouth area in July and have our fingers crossed we'll find a great community. From all the posts here, it's looking like we will.
Will the seacoast of NH people accept you? Of course they will! Come on up! It's Live Free Or Die remember, that's the NH motto!
You wouldn't believe all the many many different accents coming out of people's mouths up here these days; are you kidding me? Once you start talking away to various people? Texas is just ONE (big) state where they're from! In fact, here's what a small world it is, that's where the Town of Hampton's Town Manager was from, Texas! His name was James Barrington and he was the Town Manager for a good 10 years or so. He just left to go back to Texas this past year. There's people from Kentucky, other parts of New England; a ton of people from New York, California, Pennsylvania, New Orleans, Kansas, Virginia. One of my friends is from Indiana originally; she's been living here for a good 20 years now; even her mother is living up here near her and her brother and sister too and they seem to like it here, or at least they're still living here, any way! Another friend of ours is originally from West Virginia; her husband is from here, so they'll be living here for a long long time, especially where their kids grew up here now. People are from ALL over the country and I really think the rest of the USA is like this now too, don't you? No matter where you live, there's people from every where else. People just get up and go and settle in other areas of the country, especially the young ones and retiree's I notice! I think it's JUST wonderful, where else can you do that in this world? Can you tell me? There's SO much offered right in our own country in our own back yards for us to see and do. We're all SO SO lucky and fortunate, every one of us. Not only are people from various states in THIS country? I forgot about our European cousins and friends! They're from Canada, they're from England, they're from Ireland, they're from Amsterdam, Italy, Brazil, Australia, oh, you name it kiddo people are from all over the world around here!
So hopefully you enjoy living in New England as much as we do. I seriously think you'll find a lot of positives rather than negatives about the area; once you get settled here. It'll take a good year or two to get really used to it most likely, but in the end, you'll be glad you moved here. The only only reason why people move back to where they originally came from is usually because they can't get acclimated to our 4 seasons or it's their jobs or it's their elderly family members....
Last edited by CityGirl52; 05-13-2007 at 06:11 AM..
Reason: add stuff...
I hope so. We're originally from Texas and we are contemplating a summer move to So NH.
Y'all don't have a limit or quota on the number of Texans allowed to move in yearly do ya?
Where ya'll moving to? From? We're from the Houston area - Spring -and are headed to the Portsmouth area. If we end up close by, we'll have to start a Texan support group!
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Plowing in many towns in seacoast NH is admittedly on the iffy side - one notorious problem is the plow guys keeping their plows an inch or two above the road surface so you get a packed-down, icy, slippery mess, and three of the towns I've lived in (12+ years in Dover, 3+ in Exeter, and not quite 2 in Stratham) took forever to get the side streets and back roads done.
The Seacoast of NH
I used to always call it "no where land" because it was always SO SO far away from my old neighborhood in Boston, well guess what? It's only a hop, skip and a jump away, it's 45 minutes, 50 miles from the City of Boston! 
We're moving to the Portsmouth area in July and have our fingers crossed we'll find a great community. From all the posts here, it's looking like we will. 
