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My boyfriend and I have been doing a ton of research-debating on a move out of CA. We're ready to settle down and raise a family but we're having a bit of a hard time making that big decision on where to plant ourselves. We're really interested in the New England area particularly S NH and furthermore the Nashua area. We're still learning about all the areas but our biggest concern is being able to find work. I work as an Account Manager (managing customer accounts) for a fleet transportation company which is a terrible industry to be in right now but I can do basically any office clerical type position. I make about 50k- I doubt I'll be able to make that up there but with the cost of living being so much lower hopefully it'll all even itself out. My honey works in Mortgage - manages a team and also happens to be the IT man of the office. He's great with computers - has been doing that for 7 years now. He makes about 57K. Do you think this would be a decent area for us to find work?
Our next concern is weather. Now we enjoy Summer but we don't enjoy Summer year round which is just one of many reasons why we'd like to move out of state. I personally prefer colder weather and have dreamed of living somewhere with real seasons since I was a little girl. The thought of Fall Foilage, Skiing, Sledding, white Xmas ...is all very exciting to me. However, everyone we've come across that has either lived or visited the NE never fails to "warn" us about these brutal winters. Can you do me a favor and paint me a picture of what a typical winter morning consists of in NH? Snowblowing, shoveling, defrosting, etc. Is it all blown out of proportion by native Californians who have been spoiled by sunny weather their whole life and can't fathom the thought of living outside of 70 degree weather? LOL!
Last edited by rocknrollgirl; 11-17-2009 at 12:50 AM..
First I would do an intensive job search and arrange new employment before moving. You might consider only moving one of you at a time. Second I would figure a couple of visits during the winter to get some idea of the cold. Late January would be a good time because that is when it is really cold and stormy. Pick up a copy of the "Old Farmer's Almanac" for decent information on our climate.
Considering you are a young couple expecting children in a couple of years I suggest looking at the Boston, Worcester, Lawrence; Lowell areas as well as the small towns in that area. As you are already making modest wages by California standards you can expect to make 10 to 15% less around here. The Massachusetts Income tax is more than covered by lower property taxes and decent school systems. The lack of a wage based income tax in New Hampshire mostly benefits the very high rollers but penalizes the lower wage income people with high property taxes and various state and town fees.
Both areas are quite pretty and the outer suburbs quiet. This is a decent place to live. Good luck in your search.
Yes, Californians definitely exaggerate the brutality of the winters here. They're absolutely right that winters here are cold and snowy, but whether that's brutal or not depends on your personal perspective. I love snow and hate hot weather and living in CA for 8 years made me miserable, but I was in the minority! I remember Californians telling me that we had the perfect climate (while I was pining for falling leaves, etc) and asking with genuine curiosity what people on the East Coast did inside all winter. It's easier to bundle up and go out in the cold than it is to slather on enough sunscreen to endure the baking heat of inland CA in the summer!
The amount of snow and how it falls (one huge blizzard vs an inch here and there) is highly variable, so it's hard to say how often you'd be outside shoveling your walk. Definitely, definitely, definitely get an attached garage if at all possible, then the only thing you HAVE to do is either pay to have your driveway plowed or snowblow it yourself. I shovel our walk by hand, no big deal, but there were definitely days I let it slide.
I can't speak regarding your career situation, but I would advise anyone planning a move in this economy to investigate that thoroughly and to visit before you make a permanent move.
NH is in much better shape economically than CA. Our gov't is, frankly, more responsible and we haven't had the out of control taxing and spending that has driven CA to the brink. Nor has our real estate market bubbled as high or crashed as hard. Your money will go much further here, as I am always trying to convince my dear friend who lives in San Diego! In general, schools here are better overall - you certainly don't have to pay Carmel Valley prices to get a good school district, and people are a lot less competitive/aggressive in their parenting style. I think it is a much more family-friendly area in general.
Can you do me a favor and paint me a picture of what a typical winter morning consists of in NH? Snowblowing, shoveling, defrosting, etc. Is it all blown out of proportion by native Californians who have been spoiled by sunny weather their whole life and can't fathom the thought of living outside of 70 degree weather? LOL!
Run snowblower once before breakfast, scrape windshield on car, shovel path to house. Eat breakfast. Snowplow comes by, run snowblower again.
Go to work. If still snowing during the day, park on street, run snowblower again so you can get into driveway.
On the clear days in between storms its worth it 'specially if you get out and go skiing.
You might consider only moving one of you at a time.
We have about 30k saved so I think it'll be ok for us to move together and get by until we've found jobs/gotten on our feet. I am concerned about work though. We have yet to get out there and face the job market in these hard times. Looking online it seems there's a lot of medical jobs but not much else. Maybe I'm not looking on the right sites? Also I really don't want to commute far. Far to me is more than 30 mins so I'd like to live closer to where the work is.
NH is in much better shape economically than CA. Our gov't is, frankly, more responsible and we haven't had the out of control taxing and spending that has driven CA to the brink. Nor has our real estate market bubbled as high or crashed as hard. Your money will go much further here, as I am always trying to convince my dear friend who lives in San Diego! .
That's huge. San Diego is SO expensive. Beautiful coast but pricey! I see some people talking on this site about how expensive NH is - they obviously are not from SD.
"Can you do me a favor and paint me a picture of what a typical winter morning consists of in NH?"
As San Diego consistently ranks as having the best weather in the US, you may be eating your words after you move to NH
A typical NH winter morning consists of waking up - it's dark - going outside to shovel or not - either way, it's cold - getting in your cold car, turning the seat warmer to 11 - using up your windshield fluid trying to defrost your window so you don't have to go outside and scrape - get to work, it's light - unless it's one of the 85% of the days that's cloudy - 5 pm go out to your car - it's cold and dark - car maybe covered in snow (hopefully, you raised your wipers) - get on the road, reaching home before your heat kicks in - get inside and load up the woodstove
No, really NH is great and I love it. You just have to be prepared that it's the exact opposite of southern california - (we have a southern california day about 3 times a year - usually in june or september)
RRG,
I am also from SoCal and planning to move my family to NH when I retire. (8 years and counting) Frankly we cant wait.
We travel to NH every winter and spend at least 2 to 3 weeks basking in Winter just for the experience. Now I know living in it for months and vacationing in it for weeks are two different items all together; however we found the winter experience to be just what we expected and loved it.
Here is what we as S. Californians have learned about winter so far and yes when it comes to winter we are really fish out of water.
Ice is HARD! Feels like concrete when I you fall on it but the wife likes to laugh at me anyway.
DO Not leave anything in the car overnight if you dont want it to be frozen in the morning. No cameras, no cell phones and DO NOT leave an unopened can of soda in the car. What a mess!
Keep a broom handy to wipe off the car roof and hood before driving
Ice scraping was easy for us...no problem
Waking up to snowplows driving up and down the street was a nice change
When it began to snow really hard...we went for a drive. Beautiful to us.
Get good gloves and good boots.
There is really no difference between 10 and minus 10 degrees. Kind of like 95 and 105 its all the same (hot as hell)
Loved building fires, sitting on the porch with hot beverages to watch the snow fall and watching the kids play in the snow.
Dont look up at an Icicle unless you want to lose an eye.
People are different in a great ways. Considerate, polite, helpful etc. The exact opposite of Californians!
Dont bring California to NH, just become New Nampshire.
During our two-week trip in January last year we recieved 19 inches in total snowfall. We stayed in the White Mountain area. My wife felt this was "not enough" she wants WINTER!
Love NH and cant wait to return this year. December 27th, here we come.
Find a way to get outside and enjoy the snow. Yes, those first few snow falls are great and charming and everything you think they will be (and what Captjob described). It's a different story after 4 straight months of it with spring still no where in sight. Winter itself is not really brutal, it's the length of winter up here.
People here embrace it in many ways.....skiing, hiking, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, pond hockey, ice fishing etc. etc. etc. Personally I love it for the activities that come with the snow and cry when spring finally comes.
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