Yet another Maine vs New Hampshire moving thread (Jay, Livermore: house, college)

[7th generation]

Originally Posted by Submariner

Welcome to Maine







For at least 15 years the local PD has not allowed any gravel pit parties, I think it is gradually changing the culture.

LOL...as long as teens are alive....you'll have parties in gravel pits....

[massnative71]

Teens still party?

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by 7th generation

LOL...as long as teens are alive....you'll have parties in gravel pits....

I was not thinking of any teens. When I have read these news articles, and when I have heard friends complaining about not being able to have parties it has been adults over the age to drink.

[CARas2020]

NH has neither a state tax or income tax I think that should be high in consideration, but NH also has higher property taxes. Both are good places Even Portland which is the largest city in Maine is pretty small

[brk330]

I used to live in Portsmouth and work in Kittery and had coworkers on both sides of the border.
The consensus was that it was a complete wash tax-wise.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by brk330

I used to live in Portsmouth and work in Kittery and had coworkers on both sides of the border.
The consensus was that it was a complete wash tax-wise.

It also hugely depends on which towns in either state.

[karen_in_nh_2012]

Alas, OP posted basically 5 days ago and has not been back. I really hate when new posters do that -- it seems quite disrespectful to all those who try to post helpful replies.

But if they come back ...

OP, I have lived in the Monadnock region of New Hampshire for almost 20 years now, and I love it here. I used to live in Keene, but the property taxes are pretty insane, so now I live in a neighboring town.

For WORKING people, New Hampshire is a great state in terms of taxes, because even though property taxes are often insane, you pay no income or sales tax. That has saved me many, many thousands of dollars over the past 20 years, as even my high property tax was way lower than my income AND sales AND property tax would have been had I lived in a nearby state. HOWEVER, once you retire, if you still live in a high-property-tax town in New Hampshire (like Keene and some others), then New Hampshire and Maine are probably more of a wash because the lack of an income or sales tax likely won't help you as much and the property tax may become horrendous as you age.

I just officially retired (early) from my job as a college professor, but I guess I'm really semi-retired, as I expect that I will teach a few classes over the next few years -- which means I will remain in New Hampshire. But Maine appeals to me for a lot of reasons, and I've often looked online at Maine real estate -- until it got totally insane over the past year or so due to COVID. I am hoping it gets back to "normal" (whatever that is!) in the next few years.

I do wish you luck with your decision.

[ABQConvict]

Originally Posted by karen_in_nh_2012

Alas, OP posted basically 5 days ago and has not been back. I really hate when new posters do that -- it seems quite disrespectful to all those who try to post helpful replies.

I get that complaint, but on the other hand, there are plenty of people who have the same questions and find these threads useful, so the contributions of knowledgable posters are not going to waste.

[3DogNight]

Originally Posted by ABQConvict

I get that complaint, but on the other hand, there are plenty of people who have the same questions and find these threads useful, so the contributions of knowledgable posters are not going to waste.

Absolutely!! I'm lurking and hanging on every word, folks so - thank you.

[boysen_bear]

Originally Posted by Mark S.

The only times I have ever been truly nervous about going out was during the rare ice storm (ice storms are definitely "stay home" events) or while the snow is still falling and wind blowing during a blizzard. Your average winter storm presents no real problems, and even heavy storms, if you'll give the plows time to go through, it's no problem. We have been here over ten years now and have never had to put chains on the car or even buy snow tires. But we live in town.

I was more than a little concerned about this, thanks for assuaging my fears. Also don't have rear-wheel drive so a breath of relief.

Check out Brunswick, home of Bowdoin College. We live on the edge of town with a wetland off our back yard. Dozens of squirrels, chipmunks, and songbirds daily. Foxes and the occasional skunk, woodchuck, raccoon, deer, and bat make an appearance. Moose aren't common, but every now and then a lost cow or calf will wander into town. And we are close to some gorgeous beaches and Maine coastline. A year or two ago, nearby Harpswell, sadly, had Maine's first fatal shark attack in Maine history. Likely a great white, though I don't know if this was ever confirmed.

That sounds amazing, throw in some bears and I'm good to go. We'd never seen so many chipmunks in our lives, also a muskrat?

I heard it was the anniversary of that shark attack a few days ago, I live in a very shark-infested and bite-y area right now, amongst many other cool but creepy things, so me and the water are on a strict look but don't touch basis.

Originally Posted by ben young

New Hampshire is filled up ,no more room. South East NH is Progressive Liberal . Hot in Summer Cold in Winter not much snow about 60 inches ave in the south East..Maine is your best bet.

SE doesn't sound like my cup of tea. Cheshire county and the area around Antrim seem pretty nice though, what's your opinion on that - or specifically Keene?

Originally Posted by jdhpa

Good luck in your search.

Thanks for your input, we need all the luck we can get.

Originally Posted by Submariner

Welcome to Maine

Thanks!

I think that different people look for different things to be provided by the state.

For us it's general healthcare, education, environmental health. An extremely rough evaluation - it seems like Maine is middling on those first two and used to be poor but is making huge strides now on the last, whereas NH is better at addressing all but has inherited a larger scale of issues in a smaller space with a much larger population (rampant cyanobacteria, 2X superfund sites, polluted seacoast, etc).

I have a friend who serves on the Water Board of Orono, When I have compared his mil-rate to mine [his mil-rate is roughly 4X higher than my mil-rate]. He justifies his 4X higher property taxes because all of his town has cable available to every home.

Oh boy...lol

I often see moose, deer, and turkey. Most years a bear over-winters on my land, and we have a lot of eagle. Twice I have had to stop my car because beavers were dragging trees across the road, my only option to continue driving was to assist the beaver dragging its tree off the pavement. I live within spitting distance of the UM-Orono campus, there is always an assortment of activities on campus.

It really sounds like you're living the dream!

Gravel pits are fairly quiet places around here. Maybe someone will show up for target practice once a week.

I moved here in 2005, since that time I have seen many news articles where college students had arranged to have a beer keg party in a gravel pit. But each time, the local cops have been informed ahead of time, so the cops get there before the band or the beer show up, and everyone attempting to party gets arrested.

I'm okay with the parties as long as they aren't killing each other lol, I've just heard that they kick up a cubic buttload of dust and can be loud, have tons of trucks cycling past the house at all hours, and often work hand-in-glove with asphalt production to survive. I have asthma so that would kinda be an issue.

Originally Posted by OutdoorLover

I'll have a crack at these two:
6. Both the Maine coast and the New Hampshire coast offer good inshore saltwater fishing. Stripers, bluefish and flounder are commonly targeted. Trout and landlocked salmon - you can get them "up north" in New Hampshire, but the water is generally a little warmer than ideal when you're talking about seacoast NH region, which is further south as well as near sea level. I think Maine is better for these guys and you can certainly catch them locally in the mid-coast region of Maine, although further to the west and north in Maine there are some rightly famous waters for trout and landlocked salmon fishing - check out Grand Lake Stream for example.

7. Seacoast NH has UNH right in Durham and Portsmouth nearby with a good arts scene as well - concerts, local theater and dance productions. The seacoast NH region is very dynamic. Portland, ME is certainly a culturally rich area - which you likely expect, but Brunswick, ME, which has Bowdoin College and a fine art museum itself also has a lot going on, and further up - Rockland and Camden are host to a several fine museums, and a lot of concerts, lectures, and festivals - whether it's the blues festival, lobster festival, or the documentary film festival, or the National Toboggan Championships in winter (not nearly so serious as that sounds!)...

Thank you for your input, you're definitely putting Maine in the winning camp here.

Originally Posted by dubthang

I grew up in SW NH (Keene to be exact), and I lived in SE NH (Dover, Durham, and Newmarket). I have lived in Portland for the last 20ish years.

The Keene area was a great place to grow up in. If I was to have kids, I'd definitely think about Keene and the surrounding areas. The other side of NH is also great. I spent my college years (and a bit after that) there. The mentality is similar, but the feel is slightly different since there is ocean access. The area is also the main corridor for Massachusetts folks to travel to the White Mountains or to Maine. It is a bit more touristy where as Keene is closer to Vermont which brings a different vibe.

What would you say constitutes this different vibe?

I have been looking heavily at the Keene area, there's been a glut of mind-bogglingly nice houses for our price point (300K-ish). I have to admit I was more than a little enticed by the prospect of a pumpkin festival as well & love to go all out for Halloween. The only issue is that I haven't actually been there so I don't really know what I'd be signing up for. We drive through Manchester and it seemed like a nice little city I could see myself in, the area around Meredith was sublime though - what I really want to is to live on the rural outskirts of a small city/large town and have enough quiet/space between houses/not a ton of cars to experience a lot of wildlife.

We went into a lot of small markets, shops, and cafes in Maine to try and get a hold on the local culture and I liked what I experienced - introverted but not snobby, very polite. What I don't really want to deal with are snooty, faux-cultured types. I wish we could have done this in New Hampshire but didn't have the time.

The Portland area is more diverse. Kids grow up quicker in the city. The surrounding towns are not cheap. Augusta is not that great of an area. My wife spent part of her childhood there. You'd be better off using Route 1 as your corridor since the towns tend to have more going for them, both in culture and amenities.

Does Augusta have a dark underbelly, lol? I have to admit I thought it was pretty charming...though that is the perspective of a tourist.

Originally Posted by OutdoorLover

P.S. When you look at seacoast NH on e.g. Google Maps, you can't miss the Great Bay and neighboring Little Bay, which together form a large tidal estuary that's drained only by the Piscataquah River, which reaches the ocean at Portsmouth. These inland bays are connected to 5 rivers flowing in from the surrounding region. These are all beautiful waters to explore with a kayak, canoe or small powerboat, and offer great fishing as well. You can get some inshore saltwater species closer to the ocean where there's more salinity (without being rocked by big ocean waves), and you can get freshwater fish species by going up in those 5 rivers. Of course there are plenty of birds and wildlife too. If you have a bigger boat you can head out the mouth of the Piscataquah and go along the coast nearby or go out to the Isles of Shoals a few miles offshore. Outstanding area to be on the water if you love nature...P.P.S. I know the seacoast NH coastal waters much better - used to have a boat I kept in the Great Bay, but Brunswick, ME has been mentioned several times, and in that area, at least from what I know, the waters of northern Casco Bay offer fine saltwater fishing and they're certainly beautiful, and then if you're just a bit north, the Kennebec River, which flows past Bath, is said to have saltwater fish like stripers where it has higher salinity close to the ocean, and freshwater fishing for e.g. smallmouth and largemouth bass further up, and far enough up (quite far), the Kennebec is said to offer good fishing for trout and landlocked salmon.

Thank you for the wealth of information, this will definitely come in handy. We don't have a boat and probably aren't going to get one anytime soon but probably snag some fishing kayaks.