May Be Moving to NH Soon

[Swanny]

Unfortunately, we have a townhouse to put on the market as well and all indications right now say that we should not put it up until mid-January. So we're probably not going to be looking to move until early spring regardless of whether I take this position. I'm only about 15 miles south of the border now (Ayer), so the commute to Manchester will definitley be feasible for the short term. I really wish we had made the jump to NH instead of buying this place, but my wife was not my wife then and she wasn't quite ready to move that far.

[KBCraig]

I'm only about 15 miles south of the border now (Ayer)

Wow. We're looking at the possibility of finding a place in southern NH, within commuting distance of Ayer/Shirley. It would speed up our move, instead of waiting for a new facility to open in Coös County.

So, let me turn the tables: maybe you can advise if some NH towns are really "commutable" (an hour in good weather) to Ayer? First, the Rte. 119 towns of Rindge, Fitzwilliam, possibly even Richmond or Winchester. Next, the somewhat less accessible towns of New Ipswich, Greenville, Mason, and possibly even Temple, Sharon, and Jaffrey.

I already know that homes in Hollis and Brookline are probably out of our budget. But honestly at this point, we're ready to cram all four of us into a 2/1 mobile home if it means getting to NH faster.

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

Kevin

[Lloyd Danforth]

I spent months and months at Ft. Devins.  I would never be able to find my way around the base today, though,  as all of my traveling was looking out the back of a Deuse & 1/2, wearing handcuffs.

[JonM]

KB, if you are willing to travel the speed limit, 119 is a commutable road.  Those Groton cops are a bit touchy.  According to google maps, I'm 53 minutes away from Ft. Devens at 33 miles.  495 is NOT a speed limit road, people doing the speed limit on the section of 495 between Route 3 and I-90 will get themselves run over.  Route 2 a bit less so, but Devens is right off Route 2, so if an hour is your goal, add Hudson to your list, as I said, I live 18-20 minutes from the MA border.  In fact, add most any town within each reach of Route 3, I-93, or I-495.  This means you can live as far east as Newton, NH and still get to Devens in under an hour.  The highways tend to be plowed more than the secondary roads, so this might be a consideration for you. 

My Kiwanis club (the MA one) adopted a 4-H camp in Ashby, MA long ago.  We learned when driving there not to speed along 119, as the police in Groton, and a bit less so in Townsend liked to give out speeding tickets.

As for me, I drove I-495 between route 3 and 111 (an exit after you'd get off) for about 4 years.  My girlfriend drives Route 3 to I-495 to I-290, but she leaves here early in the AM, so it depends a lot on what hours you'd be working there as to what sort of commute you'd have.

[Nat F]

Actually, Nat - you look kind of familiar. Do you drive a smallish white SUV with FSP and Ron Paul bumper stickers all over it by any chance? I've seen this SUV with NH plates on my way to work in Marlborough on 495 South on more than 1 occassion. I honked at it once and gave the driver a thumbs-up. Could it be?

Sorry, not me.  I used to drive a large black SUV but gas mileage forced me into a small sedan last year.  For a 120 mile round trip 30 mpg is much better than 15 mpg.  The SUV is a lot easier for a heavy 6'5" guy like me to drive though.

And don't worry about being accepted as a "masshole", the majority of people in Southern NH are transplants.  It's only those massholes (and natives) that want to turn NH into northern MA that get ostracized.  :-)

-Nat

[Jacobus]

I would recommend looking into Mason / Greenville.  This is where my family will be targeting our move once we sell our condo here in Hudson, MA. 

Here are my selling points for Mason:

* one of the smallest towns in southern NH (pop. of 1150 in 2000)
* within commuting distance of Nashua, Manchester, and much of Massachusetts (I am planning to remain at my current position when I move).  Mason is on the MA border.
* close to Nashua (3 towns West), so you are close to all of the stores
* property taxes are not ridiculous.  Hollis and Brookline, the two towns between Nashua and Mason, have very high property taxes.  In Mason, it appears that $4000-$5000 a year on a $200-$300K house is pretty normal.
* housing prices: I think $250K will get you a decent single-family home on a few acres. 
* quaint town.  There is no "downtown" area, but there are still a few establishments:
** a gun store (I don't know the name and have not been there, but I remember driving by it)
** Pickity Place (nice restaurant and herb garden)
** Parker's Maple Barn (maple-themed dining and general store)
I love both of the restaurants.
* Nice hills and a few mountain views.  New Hampshire's geography starts getting more interesting at Mason as opposed to the east.

Commuting from Mason to Ayer, MA would be trivially easy.  A commute to somewhere like Framingham would probably take a little over an hour. Mason is close to 119, which has a grand total of 2 traffic lights until you hit 495.  So the drive is pretty easy, and the towns are all rural on that stretch.  However, I have not driven it during a weekday rush hour so I cannot say for sure how it would be.

The little village of Greenville has a downtown area with several restaurants and stores.  I've driven through but have not stopped in the stores except for an antiques mall.  Greenville has low property taxes and highly affordable housing.  You can find single-family homes (many appear to have been built around 1900) on quarter-acre lots in Greenville for less than $200K.  Greenville is small in area though and you are less likely to find a 5-acre lot there. 

[Swanny]

My wife and I used to go to Parker's Maple Barn about every other weekend. The absolute best breakfast I've ever had. And, yes, it was only about 1/2 hour from our house in Ayer.

[Dreepa]

Rumor has it a freestate family moved to Greenville. They announced their move and we never heard from them again.

Kevin... nice to hear about the plans.... Now that is gonna be a great moving party!