Littleton, NH

[cinnepa]

want a town vibe for sure, big or small....another big thing we need is a good school district with our 9 year old....so that may eliminate some of the more remote locations.

[Grape_Ape]

Littleton is "north of the notch", life is different, in a good way up there.
For real, it's a good mix of redneck-hippie outdoor culture. One hunts, fish's and snow machines, the other rides MTB, rock climbs and skis. Some do all. NH is a good place to live.

Plus, no black people, right? We know how that bothers you.

[buttahflake]

Huh? You are a strange fat weirdo

[twodogs]

Errol, NH. Remember the show Northern Exposure? You can live it for real!

For real though, also give Plymouth and Woodstock/Lincoln a look.

[lerxst]

want a town vibe for sure, big or small....another big thing we need is a good school district with our 9 year old....so that may eliminate some of the more remote locations.

Look long and hard at St. Johnsbury Academy for the future. Again, some of those NH border towns have a reciprocity agreement for kids to go there.

[Vt-Freeheel]

I've stayed overnight in Littleton a half dozen times when skiing the whites and bought a couple of cars at Crosstown Motors. I have always enjoyed my time there. Friendly restaurants including a nice diner downtown. Seems to have a downtown and the box stores, likely the box stores do a good business with Vermonters looking to buy tax free.
Speaking of taxes, Vermont will suck at your pension like Beyonce on stage. Avoid paying too much view tax and you'll be ahead.

[cinnepa]

^^^yup on the taxes for sure...buddy lives in shorham, vt and overall it ain't cheap living anywhere in VT - no tax on income in NH is pretty huge.

[twodogs]

They make it up. $5400 property tax on a $130,000 home in my town. (Rough math)

$41.33/$1,000 (I looked it up)

[gravitylover]

Whoa...thanks everyone..tons of great info here. Looking how the taxes work for cashing in my monthly pension check. Im a state employee here in penna.....strong language in the new budget to let people retire early....with full retirement..no penalty.


Concord a bit on the urban side/expensive?.

Concord = Blah. I don't think I could do it. If you're hoping for an outdoorsy lifestyle that's not the place at all.

Check out Bath, Sugar Hill or my personal favorite Landaff. There are few places in the world that combine access, laid back life, beauty and affordability like those places.

Wifey and I are planning to cash out of the JHole brodown in a couple years and homestead up there.

A couple of solid recco's there if you don't need easy access or solid school for the kid. They are really small towns without deep pockets.

I spend a few days in Littleton during the year and really like the mix of neat downtown with good restaurants and a great brewery, year round mt bike trails right at the edge of downtown, shopping a minute away and good bc skiing super close with great lift served skiing in a more than reasonable distance. Some careful home purchase planning and I bet you can make the tax thing work in your favor.

[cinnepa]

They make it up. $5400 property tax on a $130,000 home in my town. (Rough math)

$41.33/$1,000 (I looked it up)

yeah...they have to get you somewhere

[buttahflake]

Who ever said North Conway needs to take a lap. That place sucks. You need to be close to an interstate in VT/NH. The ability to access Boston/Burlington/NYC and the airports and whatnot, is huge. Who ever said Plymouth/Lincoln/North Woodstock is spot on. Plymouth is where I went to college, love that town. I love where I live, Walpole. But I could be very happy in Franconia/Easton/Littleton. I have strong connections to that area. And Icemang is correct, Cannon rules, hard.

[schuss]

School district throws things a bit into disarray, as NH is...inconsistent at best around that. The best districts are either in the south east (read boston suburb area into seacoast) or Dartmouth. Peterborough area used to be good (I went there), but now sucks due to years of bad administration/district fuckery. Looks like Littleton is at least decent.
Tax-wise - everything is related to your property cost. If you're ok with a small/cheap place, you pay less. If you need a nice pad, you pay more.
Concord is a city still somewhat going nowhere, as it's insulated from the Boston echo layer and there's no real major industry there. Most growth/interesting stuff is on the seacoast or Nashua-ish or up north in areas with good recreation.
I'd highly recommend checking parts out, as different parts of NH have different takes on life, but most smaller areas lean towards community and NH "leave me alone" tradition. I love it here.
Others are also spot on with Cannon being a great mountain - when it's on, it's almost west-coast in the wide open and steep. Climbing is world-class (bouldering - pawtuckaway, Sport - Rumney, Trad - N. Conway and F. Notch). Good MTB is accessible from most areas in the state. Lakes are awesome for summer fun as well.

[cinnepa]

school district in Littleton ranks 10th in state out of 70 ....and 69th/70 for size of district, could mean small class sizes which is cool.

[iceman]

You should totally check out Lebanon.

[iceman]

NH property tax rates by town: http://www.joeshimkus.com/NH-Tax-Rates.aspx

[cinnepa]

You should totally check out Lebanon.

Gotcha thanks

[Bumpchump]

Minor thread hijack - Burke/Lyndon/St. john area....taking family up next week for skiing at Burke. Thoughts on food drink options? Activities? Staying at the mountain but I get stir crazy and will need to get out and explore. Breweries worth checking out?
thanks

[gravitylover]

Minor thread hijack - Burke/Lyndon/St. john area....taking family up next week for skiing at Burke. Thoughts on food drink options? Activities? Staying at the mountain but I get stir crazy and will need to get out and explore. Breweries worth checking out?
thanks

The Miss Lyndonvile Diner in town has a great breakfast. Don't go to the Publick House in E Burke.

[cinnepa]

drove through Keene, NH.....seemed nice and close enough to great skiing in both NH & VT.

[Peruvian]

drove through Keene, NH.....seemed nice and close enough to great skiing in both NH & VT.

If you liked Keene, check out Dublin, NH just down the road.

[smartyiak]

I have a friend who lives off Forest Lake. He LOVES it there. As noted, it's close to Cannon for winter.

In the summer, there lots of gravel type roads for biking pretty much right outside his door. He's also been known to pack a pack and "disappear" for a week or so...he'll just walk out the front door, hike to the A/T and bum around for a week or so, and then walk home. The lake is nice and clean...but it's COLD as heck once it gets deep!

[cinnepa]

yeah as i originally thought Littleton - a little more south might not be as remote - yet still within reach of short ski trips.

[schuss]

If you liked Keene, check out Dublin, NH just down the road.

Pffft, all they have is old money and a lake.
Keene area is beautiful (Dublin/Hancock/Temple/Nelson most beautiful) but basically impossible to get to. This can be a good or bad thing.
Seacoast or middle of the state has much better access to things and similar travel times due to 93/89.

[ICantLogIn]

Concord a bit on the urban side/expensive?.

Concord south is really just Northern Mass. If you become a resident of NH at 65 you can ski Cannon mon-fri for free.

Check out
Moultonborough
Sandwich
Center Harbor
Ashland
New Hampton

The seacoast is nice but you pay for it.

[DaveTV]

Mount Washington Valley area or just south of there, skiing, lakes, seacoast of Maine/NH very close, easy ride to Boston