tell me all about New Hampshire please:)

[Jaime4004]

Dear, you're FROM NH. You don't understand what kind of shock it is for a mostly tropical girl to move from the land of sunshine and heat to the land of snow and ice. It's a huge, horrible shock to the system if you've never seen or felt real winter.

Yes, I get that. The amusing part to me is everyone else, who are also from the northeast, describing how horrible winter is.

 

[luvflorida]

Dear, you're FROM NH. You don't understand what kind of shock it is for a mostly tropical girl to move from the land of sunshine and heat to the land of snow and ice. It's a huge, horrible shock to the system if you've never seen or felt real winter.

Yes, I get that. The amusing part to me is everyone else, who are also from the northeast, describing how horrible winter is.

I've been reading this thread and I have to agree with both of these posts. I lived in Maine for over 35 years and yes, it is cold in the winter, there is a lot of snow and the winters seem to last forever. However, I think some of the posts here are a bit dramatic. Most people that are from New England and have lived there for a number of years, will tell you that it isn't really that bad. Not as bad as some of these posts make it out to be, anyway. And, I'm sure it's because they are used to the weather and used to living where it's cold more often than not.

And, I can honestly say that I now understand how weather that you're not used to can be a shock to the system. We are now living in Arizona, and we are having the opposite problem. We are used to freezing cold temps, but we are NOT used to the extremely hot temperatures out here.

Tucsonans are like, "Nah, it's not hot yet. It's only 100 degrees today." The heat is nothing to them, they take it all in stride. To us, it's hot!

 

[monarchsfan16]

All the horrible winter talk is really amusing! I agree, I hate winter, hate snow. And no, I don't ski, even though i'm from NH. But I don't find it difficult to live in it. We have a few large storms, that last a few hours, but after that, the roads are cleared up fairly quickly. It definitely can be freezing out, but I avoid going outside in it! I go from my house to my garage and go where i'm going. Quick walk into a store or wherever.. You're not going to be taking long, scenic walks in the winter. I do not enjoy that it's dark when you wake up and dark by 5pm, that gets depressing...

I've lived in NH always. I used to think like this. But I'm in year 6 of the 6 year plan at UNH (undergrad AND grad school). Because of UNH's design, I now spend a fair amount of time walking around outside. It's really changed my way of thinking. It IS wicked cold. And while it's absolutely true that most people don't spend much time outside, that part sort of stinks too. Let's face it, we all spend months cooped up inside.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

For those who don't think snow is a big deal - just wondering, who removes yours? Your Dad? Husband? Landlord? Someone you hire? Or yourself? Because "it's no big deal" is definitely a relative term.

I also noticed "I just stay in". Yeah, I heard the same from someone else yesterday IRL who's not worried about the hurricane we're getting this weekend because "I'll just stay in".

Well guess what. I don't get to stay home in storms. I HAVE to go to work - an hour+ away in clear weather. Often at night, when roads haven't been plowed. And yes, I'll don't have the luxury of staying home this weekend because it's my holiday weekend to work, whatever kind of weather the hurricane blows in (and yes, I'm on the coast, so hopefully we won't have flooding).

Having never missed work because of snow in over two decades (closer to three now, actually), I can tell you I've driven in some BAD conditions. I mean Hair Raising, White Knuckling, Breath Holding, Hold Onto Your Seat BAD conditions, including complete white outs where you couldn't see a foot in front of the car, not even knowing if you're going to hit a bridge abutment or something.

So yes, it is a big deal when you HAVE to go out in it, especially at night when most folk are hunkering down and it's just you and the (many and often massive) plows on the road. (BTW, my SIL's car was HIT by a snow plow last winter when she was driving home from work in a sudden but fierce storm. Fortunately, she survived, despite the car being totaled, but she required surgery, a long hospitalization and rehab, and is still not fully back to work yet.)

And as I mentioned in my earlier post - the most difficult part of snow is REMOVAL. Dealing with three or more feet of snow is not fun. You cannot even open your front door when it's like that in order to get out to shovel or plow. You have to shovel out an entire pathway for yourself and your vehicles. (And yes, you need to make it safe for people who have a right to be on your property or if they hurt themselves, they can sue you.) Over the years, even though I've had to drive in it, it wasn't a really "big deal" to me because my DH shoveled us out. He made it look easy, to be quite honest. Then last year he hurt his back. Let me tell you - this past winter was TOUGH for him trying to deal with the huge amounts of snow we got. There were times he (sorry for the "drama", but it's true) was limping for days afterward. For the first time, I truly understood why older folks move south so as not to have to deal with these winters anymore.

From last winter:

This sure was pretty when I first woke up... even grabbed my camera for this shot...

However, this didn't look too good... (My friend from Louisiana saw these pics last year and asked "how'd that snow get on the doors and windows?" Uh, that would be from freezing, bitingly cold, blowing WIND! )

Hmm, how to get out??

Snow: gotta love it!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Oh, and Pudge, in fairness, snow is not really bad all the time. Just sometimes. But snarlingcoyote really hit the nail on the head with her post, IMO. You can probably safely figure that life in winter NH will be somewhere between horrific and no big deal.

 

[PatsMom]

A few winters ago, we had snow that just about buried our shed. We shoveled a path down into it. That was also the only time I can remember paying someone to shovel our roof. And I've lived in NH all my life except for 8 years in the Air Force and a year and a half in Georgia. It just never stopped snowing. Somewhere I have picture of my husband standing in the walkway he'd just shoveled. He shoveled the old fashioned way because our snow blower couldn't throw the snow high enough. It was over his head! We gave up on the upper walkway and used only the basement door for the last two months of winter. Fortunately a neighbor of ours has a backhoe and he came and removed some snow so we could clear out a large enough area to park the cars.

Winters in New Hampshire can be a challenge. You don't need a honking big SUV but all wheel drive will make things a bit easier in the winter. I do go outside in the winter. I own a scarf but have very rarely used it. It generally isn't needed. But when it goes below zero and the wind is blowing, or I'll be walking for a few miles, I dig it out of the drawer!

I've always thought Nashua was over priced. Nashua and Derry were always places that I thought of as commuter towns. People live there and commute to Mass because they think it is cheaper than living in Mass. So I think those towns are really not part of what you usually think of when you think of small town NH.

You could also look in the seacoast area - Rochester, Dover - if you don't mind a bit of a commute. I commute from Rochester to Bedford several days a week and did it full time for two years.

 

[mickey&minniealways]

Okay. I hate the cold. I also live in southern NH. We are below the national average for gas. There is no sales or income tax. But don't let that fool you. The property taxes are outrageous. Grocery stores. No stop and shop in Londonderry or Derry. We have a market basket. I don't like it. It tends to be dirty IMHO. Shaws is more expensive but if you watch the sales and you use your card it is not so bad. Hanaford is the most expensive but the have good meat and produce. The schools system in Derry is big. There are close to 3,000 students at Pinkerton, their high school, last time I checked. Londonderry High has about 1,800. Derry has 2 middle schools and 4 or five elementary. Londonderry has 1 middle school, 3 elementary and the largest free standing kindergarten in NE. Pinkerton probably has the better sports teams but there are more kids to choose from. Londonderry has an exemplary music program. Windham schools are good. There is not alot of shopping there but they do have a shaws. They also have a brand new High School. If you like Manchester go for it. The property values are lower. It is still a city though. The largest one in NH. Nashua is a city also but it is much easier to navigate. I don't like to drive into Manchester unless I am going to the Mall of NH, but that is right off 93. Derry, Londonderry and Windham are all centrally located between Manchester, Salem and Nashua so they are easily accesible from most major roads. Bedford is nice but very expensive. Litchfield is also but I little rural for my tastes. If I scream for help, not that I'll ever need it, I want my neighbors to be able to hear me. Hope this helps and its not to wordy.

 

[Jaime4004]

Okay. I hate the cold. I also live in southern NH. We are below the national average for gas. There is no sales or income tax. But don't let that fool you. The property taxes are outrageous. Grocery stores. No stop and shop in Londonderry or Derry. We have a market basket. I don't like it. It tends to be dirty IMHO. Shaws is more expensive but if you watch the sales and you use your card it is not so bad. Hanaford is the most expensive but the have good meat and produce. The schools system in Derry is big. There are close to 3,000 students at Pinkerton, their high school, last time I checked. Londonderry High has about 1,800. Derry has 2 middle schools and 4 or five elementary. Londonderry has 1 middle school, 3 elementary and the largest free standing kindergarten in NE. Pinkerton probably has the better sports teams but there are more kids to choose from. Londonderry has an exemplary music program. Windham schools are good. There is not alot of shopping there but they do have a shaws. They also have a brand new High School. If you like Manchester go for it. The property values are lower. It is still a city though. The largest one in NH. Nashua is a city also but it is much easier to navigate. I don't like to drive into Manchester unless I am going to the Mall of NH, but that is right off 93. Derry, Londonderry and Windham are all centrally located between Manchester, Salem and Nashua so they are easily accesible from most major roads. Bedford is nice but very expensive. Litchfield is also but I little rural for my tastes. If I scream for help, not that I'll ever need it, I want my neighbors to be able to hear me. Hope this helps and its not to wordy.

Hey, lay off Litchfield! Only kidding... I live there and it is a bit rural. Luckily, a 10 min drive to Manchester or I might go crazy. There are no grocery stores, etc, here, you have to drive to get anywhere... There's certainly nothing within walking distance! I do miss that about living in Boston for a while...

As for the snow, yep, still thinking it's "no big deal." Yes, I have shoveled myself out many times, i'm sure anyone who lives here has. I was pregnant one winter and shoveling the car out was a little more challenging, as I didn't have the best balance. Luckily my husband now does the brunt of it. And I also work in it. Not only driving to my office, but i'm a visiting nurse and have to see patients in snow. They, unfortunately, don't magically start feeling better because I don't want to drive in snow... I'd prefer to have no snow but it's not an option and still definitely livable.

I'm sorry to see the summer go, but nothing beats leaf-peeping season here!

 

[PenguinWaiters]

What happened to the Jodi Picoult books in Keene? I work in that town and live in an even much smaller town if you can believe that, and I haven't heard about any book issues. Do tell!

I live in Keene and I don't know what this is referring to either. Geez I hate to think I missed a good book burning or something Our biggest "scandal" right now is the idiotic (and unconnected to the main project) branch of the Free Staters in Keene but I swear that is like 12 guys with the mentality of Junior High students and basically they don't really have an effect on....well anything.

As for your original question - I moved here from Texas and I expected Little House on the Prairie-type blizzards where people freeze, get lost, etc.. and boy was I disappointed! It is not like that at all so don't be scared of the snow.

In some ways, it is not all that different than living somewhere really warm. You eventually get to a temp (either hot OR cold) where you just don't go outside without really preparing yourself and instead you spend your time in more comfortable environs (heated or air conditioned as the case may be). For us, that time is Jan-Feb, for my brother and his family in SC that is July-August. I really don't see a big difference except that you can always put on more clothes to warm up!

I would recommend looking for a rental place where snow removal is included and where you have a covered area to park. Snow removal and cleaning off your car are probably the biggest PITA as far as snow is concerned in my opinion.

If you need to be close to Manchester and you have the $$ for it, I would recommend Bedford. Nice town, good schools, good location. But really in comparison to cities in other states, Manchester is not all that bad and I would live there if I worked there.

Good luck!

 

[PenguinWaiters]

Wow - killed that thread

 

[goofyernmost]

To my knowledge New Hampshire has two things going for it.

The first is that they have no State Income Tax and

the second is that it is right next to Vermont. Other than that...not so much!

Just kidding neighbors!!