First visit to NH - with parter in tow - when??

[9thmoon]

I've convinced my partner to vacation in New England with me this year (we're from Seattle) with the primary objective of assessing New Hampshire as a potential residence in the near future.

Financially speaking, we won't be prepared to vacation until late summer at the earliest.  I don't want to get snowed in.  When is the best, prettiest time to visit?

If I could only see two cities in NH, which two?

Him:  Software developer with a strong desire to telecommute from a one-acre farm where he grows his own vegetables and has lots of furry animals to pet or eat.  Social ties in Boston.

Me:  Little-l libertarian who will be looking for work in business analysis and/or fraud investigation/prevention or risk assessment, background in telecomm and banking.  No social ties but close to a strong home-schooling community would be great. 

If it helps, in the Seattle area, our income is considered at the very lowest end of middle-class.  We own our home, but home sales in our neighborhood are less than the median for the county by about $100,000.  If we were to move to NH right now, I expect we'd be looking for a mortgage in the range of $300,000, but I don't know if salaries in the NE are comparable to salaries in the NW.  Reality checks welcomed!

[Kat Kanning]

Prettiest time in my opinion is fall when the leaves are changing...mid September.  Another time you might enjoy visiting is during PorcFest where you could meet loads of freestaters.  Everything is wonderfully green at that time of year, but then, you don't lack for green where you are.

I have to plug Keene to visit   Medium sized city with lots of businesses, but not too crowded.  Strong homeschooling group made up of mostly freestaters.  Lots of farm area in the vacinity.

Nashua, Manchester, Concord and the Seacoast area all have homeschool activities going on.  The email list at www.nhhomeschooling.org can get you plugged in to homeschooling activities in the state and the site has lots of other information about homeschooling in NH.

The most jobs would be in Manchester or Nashua.  Manchester has computer type businesses.  I don't understand what you do well enough to give advice on where to find it 

[9thmoon]

Thank you, Kat!  Would October be too late to see the leaves changing?  When does snow season start?
Unfortunately we won't make it to Porcfest. 

Keene is high on my list, because of the time I've spent reading these forums.  Nashua is high on my list because I understand lots of folks commute to Boston where the techie jobs are.  (I have concerns about having to pay income taxes across state lines, though.)

What I do... I fit in best in large corporations (think phone companies, credit card companies, etc.) where they need someone in between the people who actually do the work and the Big Bosses who can explain to the Big Bosses what's going on "down there".  That's what business analysis is.  Risk analysis is more about telling the Big Bosses what the criminals are up to these days and where the company is losing money or could be losing money because of things the company is doing poorly... everything from computer network security to not doing background checks on their employees to leaving the back gate open so random people can drive away with vans full of computer hardware in the middle of the night.  Does that help? 

[Kat Kanning]

Well, the Keene Pumpkin Festival was October 21st, and the trees were still nice then.  Snow doesn't start until Thankgiving.

Seems like you'd need to work in Boston or Manchester to find jobs with phone companies or credit card companies.

[Lloyd Danforth]

Early October is good for leaf peeking.

[9thmoon]

Well, the Keene Pumpkin Festival was October 21st, and the trees were still nice then.  Snow doesn't start until Thankgiving.

Seems like you'd need to work in Boston or Manchester to find jobs with phone companies or credit card companies.

Do you happen to know if there's been any discussion on this forum about the pros and cons of working in Boston?  I thought I remembered at least one such thread, but I couldn't find it this afternoon.

[9thmoon]

Early October is good for leaf peeking.

Where is the prettiest area for leaf peeking?  Preferably one where I won't get shot at for being another gad dommed tourist?   

[JonM]

Commute time + 5.3% income tax

[9thmoon]

Commute time + 5.3% income tax

UGH. 
And I'm assuming commute time is no hop, skip, and jump from Nashua.  Is there anything like light rail or express bus-type public transit?

[Kat Kanning]

Up north is supposed to be good leaf peeping.

[cathleeninnh]

Commute really depends on where you get the job. There are lots of large corp, tech jobs in northern MA. Avoid Boston like the plague except for playtime. My husband commutes from Derry (12 miles north of border) to North Andover, MA. One way is 21 miles and generally it takes him 35 minutes to get there or home. Not bad really. The tax filing was pretty nasty, but I'm still very appreciative that he has the job. He went for over a year looking.

Good luck,
Cathleen

[Fluff and Stuff]

And I'm assuming commute time is no hop, skip, and jump from Nashua.  Is there anything like light rail or express bus-type public transit?

Lots of tech jobs in the Nashua area.  There is light rail and bus just over the border in MA.  If you really want to work in Boston, it may lengthen you travel time but will save you money taking it vs. taking a car to Boston.  The Boston area is at least as big in tech as where you live.

http://www.mbta.com/

[9thmoon]

Lots of tech jobs in the Nashua area.  There is light rail and bus just over the border in MA.  If you really want to work in Boston, it may lengthen you travel time but will save you money taking it vs. taking a car to Boston.  The Boston area is at least as big in tech as where you live.

http://www.mbta.com/

Thank you!  Tech jobs in-state would be our first choice.  Neither of us *wants* to work in Boston so much as we're worried that we might *have* to work in Boston to find work that will pay enough to let us live in NH. 

We're also mini-environmentalists so... not big fans of the single-occupancy vehicle and the long commute. 

[Dreepa]

Your husband sounds like me.

Merrimack has some large businesses that might work for you.

Keene is a great city (I don't live there).

I would pick a 'suburb'/town outside of the 93/rte 3 corridor and look there.  You would be close to Boston and/or RTE 128 tech corridor in MA. but also close to the major job centers in Southern NH.

I am a little further north then I wanted to be (outside of Concord) but I really like the town.  Outside of the 'big cities' there are lots of towns were you could get a couple of acres and still be in commuting distance. Hell even Concord still has farms.

[9thmoon]

Commute really depends on where you get the job. There are lots of large corp, tech jobs in northern MA. Avoid Boston like the plague except for playtime. My husband commutes from Derry (12 miles north of border) to North Andover, MA. One way is 21 miles and generally it takes him 35 minutes to get there or home. Not bad really. The tax filing was pretty nasty, but I'm still very appreciative that he has the job. He went for over a year looking.

Good luck,
Cathleen

This helps a lot.  Thank you, Cathleen.  Adding Derry to my list of places to check out online.
Over a year looking for a tech job?  Can I ask what kind of work he does?  Is the economy that bad or is he highly specialized, or...?