Littleton, NH

[cinnepa]

could possibly be doing an early retirement.....looking to get out of NE Penna where i lived my whole life - wanted to get into the mountains/better outdoor experience. good choice/beta? housing seems reasonable for one thing.

[neufox47]

Id go to NVT personally. If I were going for NH I think Id be near North Conway. Littleton is fun in the summer, not that great in the winter IMO.

[Peruvian]

As an outsider it seems like a typical small town with a nice (but small) "town" and all the box stores on the edges trying to kill Main Street

[Phall]

My mom grew up in Bradford VT, just south of there. Been to Littleton a few times, and have a cousin who lives in Barnet. If you ride MTB, you'll be super close to the Kingdom trails, Burke/Jay have great skiing as I'm sure you know. I'm sure there is tons of hiking, hunting, fishing, etc around, but damned if those areas aren't pretty impoverished. I would move to that region in a heartbeat if there was work.

[cinnepa]

^^^yeah cashing a pension check is the way to go....will check out some of the other towns mentioned too...thanks so far

[iceman]

I've been there a couple times but don't really know it. Long winter up there. It's a pretty good location, not that bad to Boston down 93, Cannon's right down the road, which is a pretty serious mountain (also cold as fuck and icy as hell but hey). Are there significant tax advantages to NH over VT for retirement (I would guess yes)?

[From_the_NEK]

Littleton has a great local MTB scene based out of the Littleton Bike Shop as well. They have trails all over the area, from the edge of town (Mt Eustis) to Easton (near Franconia). Main St is actually doing pretty well there in spite of the box stores. IMHO, the outdoors scene in Littleton isn't a pretentious and overly touristy as it is in the North Conway area.

And the traffic is not nearly as bad. You can get to the western slopes of Mt Washington in almost the same amount of time it takes to get from downtown N Conway to Pickham Notch.

It is a great location with a convergence of major routes that provide pretty easy access to Vermont, Maine, and MA.

[cinnepa]

Yeah the access issue was big...interstate minutes away.

[Skidog]

looked at moving up that way before I moved to Utah.

Like Phall said...if there were jobs..doesn't sound like thats an issue here, so hell yeah...the homes there are awesome if you like old architecture. I do....beautiful area for sure. We did a bunch of house hunting.

Good luck.

[cinnepa]

the box stores I figure will come in handy for the part time job that helps pay for season passes, college, etc

[Peruvian]

My mom grew up in Bradford VT, just south of there. Been to Littleton a few times, and have a cousin who lives in Barnet. If you ride MTB, you'll be super close to the Kingdom trails, Burke/Jay have great skiing as I'm sure you know. I'm sure there is tons of hiking, hunting, fishing, etc around, but damned if those areas aren't pretty impoverished. I would move to that region in a heartbeat if there was work.

Isn't East Burke 40-45 minutes away? Okay on a weekend, but a bit much for after work.

Oh and NEK - not a single mention of dry slot?

[cinnepa]

hey sell me on some other NH location...just happen to read an article on Littleton ranking it as one of America's best small towns.

[Just a Skosh]

Lebanon is pretty cool. Plenty of stuff around there, but still a small town feel. Wife's grandmother lives near there. Sunapee is pretty close, and you're not TOO far from Washington and the big Whites.

[schuss]

Depends entirely on a few factors:
1. Budget
2. Preferred activities - both winter and summer
3. Need for amenities

Different parts of NH are better for different things - lakes vs. ocean vs. mountains vs. populous areas etc.

I live on the seacoast and it's a nice balance, but pricy. My pick would be to live N. Conway or over the border in Maine - lakes & rivers in the summer, lots of mountains in the winter, decent enough nightlife/stuff around.

[buttahflake]

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.

[Skidog]

Lebanon is pretty cool. Plenty of stuff around there, but still a small town feel. Wife's grandmother lives near there. Sunapee is pretty close, and you're not TOO far from Washington and the big Whites.

^^^^^^^ +1 lots of the surrounding areas are very nice.

[PhishingME]

Depends entirely on a few factors:
1. Budget
2. Preferred activities - both winter and summer
3. Need for amenities

Different parts of NH are better for different things - lakes vs. ocean vs. mountains vs. populous areas etc.

I live on the seacoast and it's a nice balance, but pricy. My pick would be to live N. Conway or over the border in Maine - lakes & rivers in the summer, lots of mountains in the winter, decent enough nightlife/stuff around.

Lots of good feedback in this thread. You'd be shocked at how many folks I talk to from Littleton/Bethlehem area skiing at Loon mid week. From a purely skiing perspective you can't beat N VT, but typically there's more to it.

[iceman]

Isn't East Burke 40-45 minutes away? Okay on a weekend, but a bit much for after work.

Cannon's right down the road and it's a real mountain. I probably have more days at Cannon (still) than anywhere else, and that place is drastically underrated, except when they're talking about cold and ice, because it sure has those in abundance. But it's a great mountain. Just don't take it lightly.

That area of NH is great overall, I'd much rather be there than North Conway myself because I hate crowds mainly. Conway is great for many reasons but it used to be much better (imo) before the outlet malls and all of that shit.

I asked earlier abut the tax advantages of NH v. VT because I'd rather be in the Mad River Valley (Warren/Waitsfield etc.) myself. But not by a hell of a lot. And for sure not if it made me poor.

[Sirshredalot]

Cannon's right down the road and it's a real mountain. I probably have more days at Cannon (still) than anywhere else, and that place is drastically underrated, except when they're talking about cold and ice, because it sure has those in abundance. But it's a great mountain. Just don't take it lightly.

That area of NH is great overall, I'd much rather be there than North Conway myself because I hate crowds mainly.

I asked earlier abut the tax advantages of NH v. VT because I'd rather be in the Mad River Valley (Warren/Waitsfield etc.) myself. But not by a hell of a lot. And for sure not if it made me poor.

My in-laws are in north shore MA and scattered around central NH. My wife and I got married in North Conway and drank the bar dry at Black Mountain for the reception.

We live in Park City now, and I have a job that pays well that I can do from home. My wife's job is portable, though the pay is garbage. We have young kid(s).

If we had to move back within driving distance of family, we would move to north of the notch NH off of 93. Big MTB trail networks are important to us, we like the backcountry skiing in the Whites, and we could afford to be local-employment-agnostic and bank most of my salary so I can retire before 50. But YMMV. We are mountain bikers and would take the cheaper living up there over being on Lake W. The real estate prices say most people have different preferences.

[gravitylover]

Affordability is definitely there, outdoor opps are endless, access is better than most of northern New England and there are actually places to shop. As mentioned the mt biking is top notch, in town the PRKR Mt network kicks ass and then there are a few others inside an hour with KT less than an hr too. Everybody forgot to mention Bretton Woods is also really close for great tree skiing and better weather protection than Cannon and more reliable conditions than Burke.

Ice - yeah there are definitely tax and other cost advantages over VT.

Littleton is high on my list of "landing spots."

[lerxst]

One small financial consideration is property taxes. Littleton as I recall is high. Just south of there is Monroe which is very low due to some utility company owning a dam nearby.

Almost took a job there. Wish I had.

[cinnepa]

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?.

[iceman]

Concord a bit on the urban side/expensive?.

If you're considering that far south I'd look at the whole Keene/Rindge/Jaffrey/Peterborough area, I've spent a lot of time around there and I like it. Or else just a bit north of there, the Sunapee area is pretty cool. Beautiful lake, nice rural countryside, Mt. Sunapee right there for reasonable enough skiing. My family looked at moving to Newbury years ago, I was all for it.

[From_the_NEK]

Oh and NEK - not a single mention of dry slot?

Since there isn't a lot of skiing directly in Littleton proper (other than Mt Eustis), dry slotting just means less snow to shovel before getting to the mtns!

One often overlooked feature to the Littleton area is the proximity to Moore Reservoir on the CT River. It is a pretty large body of water
featuring a lot of opportunities for kayaking, boating/waterskiing, camping, swimming, fishing, etc. If you are into rowing, the Comerford Reservoir immediately downstream is a world-class rowing location as well.

[AdironRider]

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.