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My family will be relocating from Missouri to New Hampshire in 2018. My husband will be working in Concord. We are wanting to buy land to build on. We're doing what we can to research surrounding cities, but you only get so much from Google. My husband feels that Warner may be the winner. It appears there is affordable property within a good school district (Kearsarge).
Is anyone from there? What are the people like? Laid back, snobby, neither? What can you tell me about it?
A couple of my concerns aside from the typical crime rates, schools, etc...:
How "rural" is it? We are from farm country and it doesn't really suit us. Like, I was late because I was stuck behind a tractor that was stuck behind goats chilling in the road, and my sister was attacked by a chicken.
Proximity to shopping. Right now we live just outside of town. Five minutes from Walmart, drive thrus, restaurants, gas stations, movie theater. It is quite convenient. What does Warner have to offer, and what does it have to offer within driving distance?
There's nothing in Warner. It's far more rural than where you are coming from. About 30 minutes to the nearest Walmart. You would be close to a great breakfast spot, the Intervale Farm Pancake House in Henniker, however!
I live in a small town 15 minutes away from Warner. Warner is the closest town to us with any businesses or real community events, so we are there often. I love Warner and think it is a great small town, it is definitely a small town still though.
Warner definitely has a focus on building community, and a focus on kids and families. In my experience, the people there are laid back and friendly. My town is between New London and Warner, and we always prefer to go to Warner over New London because we find the town friendlier and more laid back (New London has a bit more of a snob appeal and is also noticeably more expensive than Warner).
My experience with the school district has been excellent so far (I have a second grader on the autism spectrum). Everything I have seen and heard about in the higher grades has been positive too. One thing that I really like is that the school district places an emphasis on small class sizes in all of the schools. I could go on plenty about the schools, but I don't know what your needs are there. I would be happy to answer any questions though.
Warner has a cute little Main Street area, and there has been a real focus on building it up more in recent years. If you are familiar with the show Gilmore Girls, the town very much has a Stars Hollow vibe.
Proximity to shopping might be difficult for you.
Off the top of my head, the town has all of the following:
Market Basket (grocery store)
Aubuchon Hardware
State Liquor Store (currently being built)
Gas stations with convenience stores (2)
Dunkin Donuts
McDonalds
Subway
Pizza Restaurants (2)
Local coffee/tea place
Ice cream shop
Local bar/burger joint
Bookstore/Toy store/Art Gallery
Breakfast/Lunch restaurant (2)
A few local shops selling odds and ends
Local pharmacy
Bed and Breakfast
A couple hairdressers and a barber shop
Parks (one with playground and fields, one with fields and ice rink, one with amphitheater for free community concerts and shows)
Telephone Museum
Firefighter Museum
Kearsarge Indian Museum
State Park
For anything else (Walmart, movie theater, chain stores, etc) you would need to go to Concord, which is about 30 minutes away.
I hope this helps! I would be happy to answer any more questions you might have, I know how hard it can be to find information on these small towns.
Last I knew warner had a demoulas and aubuchon. Certainly no major shopping mecca but everyday items are available in town. You will he driving to concord for anything that you cannot get at a grocery or hardware store. Good thing about 89 is that you can set the cruise at 75 when you get on and not touch it until you are ready to exit.
I suggest renting for a year before purchasing anything. A lot of people think they will like a town or particular area, but when they get to NH they fall in love with another town or another part of the state. You really have to be here to see how different the towns of NH are from each other.
I've lived in Warner the last 20 years. It is a small town but has groceries, gas and restaurants. It's a great small town. Not snobby. Very good community.
It's a nice town but if convenience is your main concern I would advise looking elsewhere. Maybe Concord? It's not far from warner and has all the conveniences you could want. There are more rural properties (larger yards, etc) the further you go outside the core of the city.
Kearsarge doesnt have the best rating for schools in NH from the site greatschools.com.
Warner is a very rural town. You will be able to find a home with land for sure, but it is probably similar to where you are now.
If you move closer toward Concord you will find higher ranking schools and a more active community.
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