What’s the best place to live in New Hampshire?

Well, with that in mind, kibosh Burlington :-) 

B Porter wrote: It sounds like you would enjoy living in Portland or Burlington much more than anywhere in NH. 

Not even Portsmouth? The non-climbers love Portsmouth. If the non-climbers absolutely love Portsmouth for reasons like they say it’s a beautiful, charming, small town with a big city feel, which offers a ton of things to do, and it also has good economy and education, so chances are I will love it just as much. I’m totally fine Portsmouth is not that close to climbing. Like I said, I’m fine driving a few hours to climb.

JCM, thanks for your input. Bellingham is only 90 minutes away from me. 

Portsmouth, Portland, Burlington, Bellingham, it seems all my options are great.New England is high on my preference because it’s cheaper to fly to Europe and South America from Boston, its proximity to NYC, and because it’s a region I have never lived before. 

I’m saying this all here because when you are a new user the site only allows you a post a day. 

I’ve got a great perspective from the climbers about the region. Thanks everyone.

Ice Crow wrote:

. Plus, I feel like I’m done living in big, liberal expensive cities. In a way, I can relate a little with the guy from CA who told the NH hater his reasons to have moved to NH. He said, “I am an extreme conservative who grew up in the most liberal states of America. I change my ways when they no longer work, not just to try something new.”

I relate to him in the sense that I have lived in big, liberal cities my whole life and somehow I managed to become conservative. I was never liberal, but I’m a cool conservative. Unfortunately, all big cities are full of liberals. Moderate liberal views are ok, but I hate the views of extreme liberals.

Based on this, perhaps ignore what I said earlier about Burlington and Bellingham. Those places may not be to your liking politically.  New Hampshire is likely more your speed there. 

Couple of things not yet mentioned about NH

1) No sales tax and No income tax on earned income (there's a small income tax on unearned income like interest and dividends, but not pensions or IRA distributions, even if not Roth)  You've made no mention of "job", so maybe your retired????? or going to be ??

2) It's cloudy & rainy about the same as coastal Pacific Northwest...in winter that can mean snow. (but also winter rain)  But that makes the "9 and 10 days" that more enjoyable.

3) Resort-type towns like North Conway, Lincoln - North Woodstock, and I think Franconia, get pretty crowded on big ski weeks and during the summer.  "Air B & B type" operations have driven the cost of year-round-rentals and price of low-middle-cost homes near out-of-sight for the local population in many small towns.

4) Between the traffic (esp. summer and ski weeks) and the curves in NH's secondary roads (curves = no passing zones) travel outside of the divided highways can be slower than you'd think.  If thinking about Portsmith and wanting to climb, take the time to drive to North Conway (about 2 hrs) or to Rumney ( 2  2 1/2 hrs) or Cannon (2  2 1/2 hrs), or Pinkham Notch ( about 1/2 hr to 40 min. beyond No. Conway).  Also, when it snows, it seems all the people who learned to drive in Florida get on the roads in front of you.

5) NEVER underestimate how nice it is to simply "walk out your door"  and be "in the woods / on the rock / on the river"   By "walk out the door" I mean from literally  to a 20 min. drive, vs. "driving 2 hours".  When you drive 2 -3 hrs you go for the day (and sometimes get "skunked" by the mountain weather) when you drive 15 minutes you can do multiple things in the same day.

 6) Much of southern NH is "bedroom community" to Boston. (rough translation, don't THINK about driving southbound in the morning, like getting to Boston or it's airport (Logan).  Speaking of Logan it's a bit of a bitch to get to anytime. Also, it doesn't have as many non-stop flights to places as you would think ( Maybe?? due to its proximity to NY's Kennedy ???)  and for a city of it's size this was one of the surprising things for us when we moved from western CT (where Kennedy was about 1 1/2 - 2hrs drive) to North Conway.  We use Portland ME, about 1  1/2 hrs drive.  Manchester is 2 1/2 hrs away.

Robert Hall wrote: Couple of things not yet mentioned about NH

1) No sales tax and No income tax on earned income (there's a small income tax on unearned income like interest and dividends, but not pensions or IRA distributions, even if not Roth)  You've made no mention of "job", so maybe your retired????? or going to be ??

2) It's cloudy & rainy about the same as coastal Pacific Northwest...in winter that can mean snow. (but also winter rain)  But that makes the "9 and 10 days" that more enjoyable.

3) Resort-type towns like North Conway, Lincoln - North Woodstock, and I think Franconia, get pretty crowded on big ski weeks and during the summer.  "Air B & B type" operations have driven the cost of year-round-rentals and price of low-middle-cost homes near out-of-sight for the local population in many small towns.

4) Between the traffic (esp. summer and ski weeks) and the curves in NH's secondary roads (curves = no passing zones) travel outside of the divided highways can be slower than you'd think.  If thinking about Portsmith and wanting to climb, take the time to drive to North Conway (about 2 hrs) or to Rumney ( 2  2 1/2 hrs) or Cannon (2  2 1/2 hrs), or Pinkham Notch ( about 1/2 hr to 40 min. beyond No. Conway).  Also, when it snows, it seems all the people who learned to drive in Florida get on the roads in front of you.

5) NEVER underestimate how nice it is to simply "walk out your door"  and be "in the woods / on the rock / on the river"   By "walk out the door" I mean from literally  to a 20 min. drive, vs. "driving 2 hours".  When you drive 2 -3 hrs you go for the day (and sometimes get "skunked" by the mountain weather) when you drive 15 minutes you can do multiple things in the same day.

 6) Much of southern NH is "bedroom community" to Boston. (rough translation, don't THINK about driving southbound in the morning, like getting to Boston or it's airport (Logan).  Speaking of Logan it's a bit of a bitch to get to anytime. Also, it doesn't have as many non-stop flights to places as you would think ( Maybe?? due to its proximity to NY's Kennedy ???)  and for a city of it's size this was one of the surprising things for us when we moved from western CT (where Kennedy was about 1 1/2 - 2hrs drive) to North Conway.  We use Portland ME, about 1  1/2 hrs drive.  Manchester is 2 1/2 hrs away.

Thanks for your not so positive input, Robert. But if I were to make my decision solely based on climbing, then all those other cities have already lost. Can you imagine living 90 minutes from the North Cascades? The North Cascades is magnificent. What else can beat that? My decision will be based on the things I want to experience. Climbing is not the only thing I want to experience. My favorite kind of climbing is mountaineering, so if I make that a priority then nothing can beat the North Cascades.

Just wanted to point out some things, both + and - , about NH.

Portsmith is a lovely, vibrant small city.  About equidistant from Portland, ME and Boston MA (each roughly an hour's drive, +/- depending on traffic and where you're going in the city).  Each of those cities have plenty to do and see...Boston, of course, a bit more. If you have an interest in early "American" history, you could probably spend two months just visiting the historical sites that are within 2 hours drive of Portsmith.  (Don't get Concord, MA mixed up with Concord.NH as one Presidential hopeful did a couple of presidential-election-cycles ago when she addressed a Concord, NH audience with "I'm so glad to be here at the birthplace of the American Revolution." !!   Ha! )   Oh yes, that too.  When you live in NH and you travel to another state and a friend asks "who are you voting for in the primary?" you can answer, "Well, I'm not too sure yet because I haven't had a chance to shake hands and ask a question of all the candidates". (!)

 Portland, ME  has really "turned around" the last 10-15 years, so any "old info". you get on it may be out-of-date.

Hampton Beach,NH is about 1/2 hr south, Salisbury Beach, MA a bit more.  Surfing and just laying on the beach.

Acadia Nat. Park is up the coast, maybe 3-4 hrs drive.  Much to to there besides the climbing.  Katahdin is a couple of hrs further. In between is the whole coastline of Maine. (It used to have the longest coastline in the USA, but I learned that "fact" before Alaska became a state so I'm not sure it still holds; maybe 2nd now. )

A good climber-friend of mine enjoys fishing for striped bass in the Saco River estuary.  There's lots of fine fishing, both ocean, estuary, and stream fishing throughout NH and ME.  

JCM wrote:

Based on this, perhaps ignore what I said earlier about Burlington and Bellingham. Those places may not be to your liking politically.  New Hampshire is likely more your speed there. 

You got me VERY interested in wanting to visit Burlington. I’ve been reading about it. It does seem cooler than Portsmouth.
You seem to know all those places very well.  It’s interesting how well you know the places I’m considering to live while you also live in the same place I do.

 When I say no more expensive liberal big cities for me, I’m not necessarily meaning politically liberal.  I mean morally liberal. While all extreme liberals with their insanity are also politically liberal, but not all politically liberal people are extreme liberals morally.  Extreme liberals morally should be called something else. They are like a cult or something. I know someone who is very liberal politically and morally, but he doesn’t agree with the insanity of the extreme liberals morally.

Anyway, don’t really want get into this topic. But thought I’d explain a little better what I meant.

Robert Hall, you too seem to know the region very well. You guys have opened my eyes to other places. I’m going to cancel North Conway this time and visit Portland, Portsmouth, Burlington, NYC and Boston - in that order.

When I was first there, the Northeast felt like a magical place.

You guys have been very helpful. Thanks again.

To the guys on the other topic talking about vegetables - thanks for the laugh.
Hit me once... hit me twice... Dang! 
You guys are good.

Ice Crow wrote:

Hit me once... hit me twice... Dang! 

Now I've got Lita Ford in my head.   Dang!

Franconia/Littleton area. 

Ice Crow wrote:

At the current moment, the thing they have been doing that I hate the most is to push transgenderism to children and their relentless fight to make abortion legal up to birth. NY has approved that already. That’s evil in my eyes.

Maybe you should familiarize yourself with the law before you spout off nonsense about how evil it is. The general period of abortion isn't changed unless the pregnancy is not viable OR there is danger to the mothers life.

Good luck finding a rock to live under where you can still get injected with a constant stream of Mark Levin, OANN, and Fox News.

I'll chime in here seconding the "the best place to live in NH is Maine" motion.
I'm from Maine, and probably biased, but did live in North Conway for a year.

The proximity to excellent rock/ice climbing, skiing (BC and lift served), whitewater, flyfishing, hiking, or anything outdoors is hard to beat in New England (or anywhere).
However, it was such a tourist trap at the expense of local culture it really got us down. Crazy busy in the summer, not as bad in the winter.
There also didn't seem to be much in the way of work unless you're in the tourism business. I worked in a ski shop, and everyone else I knew was either a guide, worked retail, or worked at Attitash.

If I were you, I'd try to be closer to Portland. All the culture you could ever want (music, food, etc.) and you're not far from Conway/the whites. There is also endless cool stuff to do in Maine.

Anthony Codega wrote: I'll chime in here seconding the "the best place to live in NH is Maine" motion.
I'm from Maine, and probably biased, but did live in North Conway for a year.

The proximity to excellent rock/ice climbing, skiing (BC and lift served), whitewater, flyfishing, hiking, or anything outdoors is hard to beat in New England (or anywhere).
However, it was such a tourist trap at the expense of local culture it really got us down. Crazy busy in the summer, not as bad in the winter.
There also didn't seem to be much in the way of work unless you're in the tourism business. I worked in a ski shop, and everyone else I knew was either a guide, worked retail, or worked at Attitash.

If I were you, I'd try to be closer to Portland. All the culture you could ever want (music, food, etc.) and you're not far from Conway/the whites. There is also endless cool stuff to do in Maine.

Depends on what you do for work. There are trade jobs, short drive you can work as a engineer (mechanical, aerospace), there’s some nursing positions at the hospital and other places nearby.  

You can climb by yourself on any day somewhere in the whites. And the traffic isn’t that bad if you compare living in a area like Portland or Portsmouth. The crowds come from those areas and Mass anyway.
That being said Portland/Portsmouth fit the bill better for the OP. plus MWV is played out, Rumney is the only place with good climbing in NH.

Anthony Codega wrote: I'll chime in here seconding the "the best place to live in NH is Maine" motion.
I'm from Maine, and probably biased, but did live in North Conway for a year.

The proximity to excellent rock/ice climbing, skiing (BC and lift served), whitewater, flyfishing, hiking, or anything outdoors is hard to beat in New England (or anywhere).
However, it was such a tourist trap at the expense of local culture it really got us down. Crazy busy in the summer, not as bad in the winter.
There also didn't seem to be much in the way of work unless you're in the tourism business. I worked in a ski shop, and everyone else I knew was either a guide, worked retail, or worked at Attitash.

If I were you, I'd try to be closer to Portland. All the culture you could ever want (music, food, etc.) and you're not far from Conway/the whites. There is also endless cool stuff to do in Maine.

Hey Anthony, thanks for your comment. Since you are from Maine, would it be ok to share my day itinerary with you? Maybe there’s something you could tell me to make my one day stay in Portland better.  If yes, I will pm you my itinerary. If not, no worries.  

Jamie Cunningham wrote: Franconia/Littleton area. 

Hey Jamie, I read a little about those towns and while they seem nice, they are not quite my cup of tea. Anyway, thanks for the suggestion!

Ice Crow wrote:

Hey Anthony, thanks for your comment. Since you are from Maine, would it be ok to share my day itinerary with you? Maybe there’s something you could tell me to make my one day stay in Portland better.  If yes, I will pm you my itinerary. If not, no worries.  

Sure thing, shoot me a PM. I guess I should note that I live in the boonies about 2 hours north east of Portland and don't know the city as well as someone who loves there, but I'm happy to give any suggestions I can!

I would rather be able to climb every day, and drive an hour for culture, than vice-versa. 

Anthony Codega wrote:

Sure thing, shoot me a PM. I guess I should note that I live in the boonies about 2 hours north east of Portland and don't know the city as well as someone who loves there, but I'm happy to give any suggestions I can!

Oh I see... so I guess you wouldn’t be able to help with my day itinerary unless you would know Portland really well, but it’s ok.Thanks anyway!

Insert Name, thanks for your pm!

Tom, I’m sure everyone here feels like you do. You are in the right place.

Look at towns West of Portland - Cornish, Baldwin, Hiram, Steep Falls. All are within an hour of Portland. All are less than that from North Conway, and reasonably close to Rumney. I'm sure you can find an enclave of cavemen and rednecks that will appreciate your hot social takes.

Portland - get a lunchtime bento from Miyake. Check out Salt Pump in Scarborough. Look at any culinary publication for any number of fantastic food recommendations.

Insert name wrote:

Depends on what you do for work. There are trade jobs, short drive you can work as a engineer (mechanical, aerospace), there’s some nursing positions at the hospital and other places nearby.  

You can climb by yourself on any day somewhere in the whites. And the traffic isn’t that bad if you compare living in a area like Portland or Portsmouth. The crowds come from those areas and Mass anyway.
That being said Portland/Portsmouth fit the bill better for the OP. plus MWV is played out, Rumney is the only place with good climbing in NH.

I respectfully disagree that MWV is played out. Been playing here for almost 40 years. Tick list is still miles long. It's awesome here.

Peter Lewis wrote:

I respectfully disagree that MWV is played out. Been playing here for almost 40 years. Tick list is still miles long. It's awesome here.

It was sarcasm. 

the people who hate in MWV normally aren’t the locals, it’s the tourists who come on holiday weekends and expect the North end of cathedral or Pinkham to not be busy. But like Insaid there’s tons of spots to enjoy the place to yourself