whitestavern Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 (edited) Dh and I are considering a move to New Hampshire. I grew up in Walpole and still have a few friends in the area. I really love Walpole, but there aren't a lot of houses available at any one time, and it tends to be pricey. It's definitely in the running of where we'd like to move, but I'm looking for other ideas as well. Here's kind of what we're looking for: --reminds you of the quintessential New England town --small, like less than 7,500 people --close to a small or large city, like within 15 minutes --safe --good school system, or access to private or parochial schools (high school level) --somewhat inexpensive real estate (we're looking for a mid sized home on at least 5+ acres--antique if that plays into the value at all--for less than 400K and w/taxes less than 10K) --bonus if near a college/university and plenty of outdoor recreation and cultural opportunities --doesn't matter where in the state it is So what do you have for me? :D Edited November 7, 2012 by whitestavern Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestavern Posted November 8, 2012 Author Share Posted November 8, 2012 Bump...this board moves soooooo fast.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalmia Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 I lived in Keene for grad school and really loved it. It is a college town, has numerous town festivals and events, great shops, good restaurants, is close to hiking. If you want a rural feel there are very small towns within a few minutes commute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chava_Raizel Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 I second Keene - it would seem to fit your requirements. Litchfield is nice - it's a small farming town. It's smack in the middle of Nashua and Manchester and housing is probably in your price range. The schools aren't that great, but there are parochial schools nearby that cover both K-8 and high school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jujsky Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 I don't know if you're going to find what you're looking for without paying a fair amount of money for it. Any NH town with a good school district costs $$$$ in taxes (trust me -- I've looked!). As others have said, Keene might be a contender. I'm not sure how taxes and such compare there or how good the school is now (it was decent when I was a student teacher there in '98). Amherst has a nice, small-town feel to it, it's close to both Manchester and Nashua, and close to several good, private schools, and colleges nearby. The houses and property taxes are expensive though. Stay away from the Raymond area. Teaching there for a year is why I quit teaching. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 I just had to chime in and say I love Walpole Creamery! :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datgh Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Bow is just outside of Concord and has an excellent high school. Hopkinton is really pretty and about 20 minutes from Concord. Concord has an excellent parochial high school, Bishop Brady. Gilford is on Lake Winnipesaukee with a lot of small town charm and access to the lake plus close to the mountains for hiking and skiing. High school is pretty good. It is about 10-20 minutes from Laconia and probably has cheap taxes because of all the summer homes on the lake. Hanover is a college town with one of the best high schools in the state probably because Dartmouth college is there. There are pretty towns around it where real estate is cheaper but your kids get to go to school in Hanover with all the professors and doctors kids. I am partial to the middle part of the state because you are an hour from Boston, an hour from the mountains, an hour from the ocean and a half hour to the lake plus is is not as built up and congested as Manchester on south. As one poster said, the better the school system the more expensive the houses are going to be in that town. NH funds their schools mostly on local property taxes so towns with a lot of apartments and low income housing are not going to have great schools. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murmer Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Grantham or Sunapee getting you close to Dartmouth but not to close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Just bumping this thread for you! :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdj2027 Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Friends of ours moved to Keene and love it. We are from Somersworth (which I do not recommend) but the Dover/Portsmouth/Durham area is nice too. In general, I would stick to the southern part of the state (part of our family lives farther north, near Conway, not a place I would move to with young children). Diane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestavern Posted November 8, 2012 Author Share Posted November 8, 2012 Thank you so much for all the replies so far. There are lots of towns for me to check out! Also thank you for sending along those towns that you would NOT recommend :) Regarding Keene...I do like it, but it seems more like a small city to me. I'm not sure I would want something that big. I remember taxes being very high years ago...will have to research where they're at these days. Please keep the suggestions coming! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestavern Posted November 8, 2012 Author Share Posted November 8, 2012 Bow is just outside of Concord and has an excellent high school. Hopkinton is really pretty and about 20 minutes from Concord. Concord has an excellent parochial high school, Bishop Brady. Gilford is on Lake Winnipesaukee with a lot of small town charm and access to the lake plus close to the mountains for hiking and skiing. High school is pretty good. It is about 10-20 minutes from Laconia and probably has cheap taxes because of all the summer homes on the lake. Hanover is a college town with one of the best high schools in the state probably because Dartmouth college is there. There are pretty towns around it where real estate is cheaper but your kids get to go to school in Hanover with all the professors and doctors kids. I am partial to the middle part of the state because you are an hour from Boston, an hour from the mountains, an hour from the ocean and a half hour to the lake plus is is not as built up and congested as Manchester on south. As one poster said, the better the school system the more expensive the houses are going to be in that town. NH funds their schools mostly on local property taxes so towns with a lot of apartments and low income housing are not going to have great schools. Hope this helps. Can you clarify this? Is it a regional school system? Trying to figure out why other towns can go to school in Hanover. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butterflymommy Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 If it hasn't been mentioned-- maybe Plainfield? Kimball Union Academy is a nice prep school and I think they might have a discount for town residents. W Lebanon is 20-30 minutes away. Pretty antique houses in the area too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Some of the towns close to Plymouth would meet your requirements except I'm not sure about the schools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murmer Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Can you clarify this? Is it a regional school system? Trying to figure out why other towns can go to school in Hanover. Thanks! Hanover's school district covers the towns of Norwich, VT, Hanover, and Etna...possibly even Lyme...it has to do with towns not having enough students to fund their own high schools so they tuition them to Hanover High....which is one of the best districts in the state. Hanover and Norwich are very expensive. I don't know about Etna. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsbeth Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 We used to live in Fitzwilliam, a tiny town about 20 minutes south of Keene. The elem. school is great, the jr/sr high not so much. We had 5 acres there and the taxes were reasonable (reasonable for NH that is :P). If we ever moved back I'd look more towards the Peterborough area. Rindge/Jaffrey/New Ipswich, etc. The schools there are great! Peterborough isn't as big as Keene, but is still a decent sized town with some shopping and restaurants. You can be down into Mass. from any of these areas as well. I miss looking at Mount Monadnock from my living room for sure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCMom Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Dh and I are considering a move to New Hampshire. I grew up in Walpole and still have a few friends in the area. I really love Walpole, but there aren't a lot of houses available at any one time, and it tends to be pricey. It's definitely in the running of where we'd like to move, but I'm looking for other ideas as well. Here's kind of what we're looking for: --reminds you of the quintessential New England town --small, like less than 7,500 people --close to a small or large city, like within 15 minutes --safe --good school system, or access to private or parochial schools (high school level) --somewhat inexpensive real estate (we're looking for a mid sized home on at least 5+ acres--antique if that plays into the value at all--for less than 400K and w/taxes less than 10K) --bonus if near a college/university and plenty of outdoor recreation and cultural opportunities --doesn't matter where in the state it is So what do you have for me? :D We lived in southern NH for many years. My sisters are still there in Peterborough and Brookline respectively. We lived in Lyndeborough, which I consider the quintessential small New England village. They still have town meeting! It was my most favorite place to live, ever... :001_smile: We also lived in New Boston (LOVE) and New Ipswich (not so much) briefly. I also always wanted to live in Dublin. Truly I love ALL of the towns around there except Greenville and Jaffrey. But even those, I would consider "safe". The schools are average to above average in most of the area , which is about 10 times better than the best schools here, lol. I do not recommend Conval High School; we know lots of people who pull their kids from that high school to homeschool and my sister has had lots of issues with them throughout the years. The truly wealthy send their kids to private schools in Mass, though. ;) There is a well known Waldorf school in Wilton with kids from all over the world attending. Milford is a fairly good sized town, Keene is a good town with the college as a bonus. Nashua/Manchester both 45 minutes or so from most villages. Not a lot of colleges in southern NH but there are a few LACs and they are good ones. Plenty of outdoorsy stuff and cultural stuff in southern NH - you won't have to drive too far to find something every week of the year. Gee, I wanna go back there. hth, Georgia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestavern Posted November 8, 2012 Author Share Posted November 8, 2012 If it hasn't been mentioned-- maybe Plainfield? Kimball Union Academy is a nice prep school and I think they might have a discount for town residents. W Lebanon is 20-30 minutes away. Pretty antique houses in the area too. My brother went to KUA! I thought it was Meriden though? Will check out Plainfield too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unity Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 I was kind of agreeing with jujsky that your requirements sound pretty difficult to meet to me. I am most familiar with the Nashua/Manchester/Concord corridor and none of the places within 15 minutes of the city have what you're looking for when you factor in price. I'm actually within the town limit of Concord, and it still takes me 13 min to get downtown. I used to live in Hollis, a town bordering Nashua (it's next to Amherst, mentioned by a pp), and it had everything you want except low prices. I was a good 15 min from downtown there, too. Bow is a lovely town, but pricey. We found the better prices to be north of Concord as opposed to between Manchester and Concord. If you're willing to be a little farther away (like 20+ min), Canterbury has pretty much all your requirements. A lovely town with an artsy feel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 We used to live in Fitzwilliam, a tiny town about 20 minutes south of Keene. The elem. school is great, the jr/sr high not so much. We had 5 acres there and the taxes were reasonable (reasonable for NH that is :p). If we ever moved back I'd look more towards the Peterborough area. Rindge/Jaffrey/New Ipswich, etc. The schools there are great! Peterborough isn't as big as Keene, but is still a decent sized town with some shopping and restaurants. You can be down into Mass. from any of these areas as well. I miss looking at Mount Monadnock from my living room for sure! I second the Rindge & New Ipswich recommendation. We lived in New Ipswich for years and loved it there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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