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Of all 50 states, I moved to NH for well over a dozen reasons, but the top three are 1.) low taxes with good wages, 2.) easy access to nature (I.E. lakes, rivers, ponds, forests, mountains, ocean) and 3.) more freedom.
I have lived in five states and been all over this country numerous times, and NH is by far the freest. Call me anytime if you want a rundown on things NH in that, or any other regard! MY IG and YT has photos and video of outdoors adventures and natural beauty.
As far as winters go, NH was first on my radar in 2008, but I put off even considering moving here until 2012 because everyone said the winters were so bad. What a mistake! Even with longer winters, NH is so worth it and winters are not as bad as the fear-mongers said. And this is coming from somebody who is from Southern California! To be honest, since I decided to make winter fun, I now look forward to them because I know they are filled with snowshoeing, snowboarding, winter hiking and hot tubs.
I agree with renting for a year if you can. However, it's very difficult to find homes to rent with a dog. Most of my clients from out of state do NOT rent first, even though I advise them to. I also agree with the comments about jobs. In my opinion, find a job, or a section of NH with job opportunities, and then find a place to live within driving distance of there. Almost all of NH is awesome, and it's such a small state that no matter where you live, you have easy access to nature and fun. The biggest challenge is jobs/work, and then finding a home you want within the budget you want and property taxes you want and commute time you want.
When you see towns and cities on the map here, you should note that many are very very small. And you don't have to live 20 miles outside of a "city" to get a house in the woods. Rural is very close in. Your first bit of research will be to find a job that pays a living wage. Then check out the schools in the area. Then ask about the surrounding towns.
If you browse through this forum, you will find many posts about specific towns or areas. Use Google Maps to "walk" around some of the towns that interest you. Some towns have a post office, gas station and general store. That's it. Pay attention to how far you will have to drive for the nearest grocery store, hardware store, pharmacy, etc.
Also, go to the main City-Data site for population and other statistical information about any areas that interest you.
Your first bit of research will be to find a job that pays a living wage. Then check out the schools in the area. Then ask about the surrounding towns.
When you see towns and cities on the map here, you should note that many are very very small. And you don't have to live 20 miles outside of a "city" to get a house in the woods. Rural is very close in.
I would echo this. I have attached a satellite image of Concord, NH and vicinity. Concord is the state capital, and that measuring line I added goes just 4 miles east from the downtown. You can see that most of those towns adjacent to it, like Dunbarton, Bow and Hopkinton, are mostly green - woods and fields. So you could live in a small town near lots of work possibilities, but not be in a city or dense suburbs.
I'm a transplant from Long Island, New York but have been living in Northern Mass near the border of Southern coastal NH for 20 years.
I spend a lot of time exploring the many mountain & lake regions of NH in my spare time and love that I can be in Boston in 40 minutes or in the White Mountains in 2/2.5 hours but my job offers me a lot of flexibility
My initial concern for your housing choice would be proximity to your job industry, are you actively applying to pharmaceutical companies currently? After 5 homes in Mass., and several job changes (for husband) I can assure you that you don't want to spend a large portion of your work week commuting.
Feel free to reach out if I can answer questions about specific communities.
been here with my wife for 4 years. beautiful scenery, HORRIBLE healthcare. Been a healthy "patient" for 50+ years in 3 states, CT, FL and now in NH. HORRIBLE would be a move up for medical practice in this state. I suggest you research any medical needs you anticipate and do a little investigation (try some fake calls......) You may learn something
I wouldn't recommend trying to commute to Lebanon from Littleton, it is about an hour and 20 minutes away. I can't speak to Lebanon, we lived about 40 minutes south of there for three years, but it is not my favorite area so we didn't go there very often. I'm sure someone else who lives around there could help you though (there's nothing wrong with the area, I just didn't care for it). With the Dartmouth Medical Center there I can imagine there would be a lot of opportunities for pharmaceutical work.
I actually spent a lot more time in Claremont than Lebanon over the past few years, but that is not an area I would recommend. It is a very burned out, rust belt type of town and their crazy high property tax rates have really kept out any positive developments and new businesses or homes.
New England Classical School in Claremont is a Catholic school, other Catholic schools that follow the classical tradition are Mount Royal Academy (in Sunapee) and Mount Royal Academy North (in Lancaster near Littleton, this is their first school year). I have heard amazing things about the classical program at Mount Royal and Sunapee would definitely be a preferred area over Claremont. A lot of people in the Sunapee area do commute up to Lebanon. We lived in Sutton in that area and Lebanon was a straight shot for 40 minutes up 89. Pretty much everyone there commuted 40 minutes to Lebanon or Concord. There is also a classical charter school in Tilton that looks pretty good.
Most people who live in the Littleton area work in Littleton. For pharmaceutical jobs here I would recommend checking out Littleton Regional Healthcare, Weeks Medical Center, and Eastern States Compounding Pharmacy. Some of the companies in town like Tender Corporation manufacture after bite, first aid kits, insect repellent - a pharmaceutical background would probably be helpful for some of their jobs, though a little different than traditional pharmaceutical work I would imagine.
There is also Trividia in Lancaster which is some kind of pharmaceutical company, they seem to always be looking for help.
I've lived in the Midwest all my life (early 40's), and am exploring moving to another state not in the midwest. I am married with 3 children and a dog and we are active and love to hike and be outdoors.
I've been to the northeast and liked visiting Maine, but could not live in most states in the northeast for similar reasons that I could not live in California, for example. I don't want to get into too much politics, but I need to live in a free state where personal liberty still matters.
Another post by someone who is convinced that living in NH is the key to "personal liberty" & "freedom". You mention Maine--another beautiful state-- I'm pretty sure they have "liberty" & "freedom" there too, don't they? Also VT. And they are all "free states"--whatever that means???
But whatever, much of NH is beautiful. BTW, I lived in Bloomington IN for a couple of years in the early 80's, getting a Master's degree. It is a pretty part of the state--by Indiana standards. I remember going to Brown Co. State Park in the Fall--& I always thought--this is not nearly as pretty as Autumn in New England. (I had gone to college in Boston).
So NH might "do it for you". Personally, I can't tell that I have any more "personal liberty" here than any other state I've lived in; but people seem to flock here for that.....
PS--getting out of Indiana is almost always a good idea, IMO, unless you have a great job or something there. That whole "Hoosier" thing gets old, really fast.....
The "Free state project" chose NH for a reason, Vermont and Maine would be a tough sell to Libertarians
Quote:
Originally Posted by WoodyWW
Another post by someone who is convinced that living in NH is the key to "personal liberty" & "freedom". You mention Maine--another beautiful state-- I'm pretty sure they have "liberty" & "freedom" there too, don't they? Also VT. And they are all "free states"--whatever that means???
Free of income tax? sales tax?
Free of eminent domain takings for private development (Forbidden by NH state constitution under the 2006 amendment)?
I've lived in New Hampshire and presently live in Indiana. Indiana doesn't have the quality of life at all compared to New Hampshire, even though it certainly is cheaper to live in Indiana in terms of overall cost of living. I could write an entire book about the severe dysfunction regarding how most things function in this state- or the lack thereof. States that are low tax, low service, low educational attainment, lower median household incomes have different sets of problems to contend with than NH does overall by comparison.
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The "Free state project" chose NH for a reason, Vermont and Maine would be a tough sell to Libertarians
