favorite/most convenient town in the Whites ?

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Favorite town/towns

  • Waterville Valley

    Votes: 1 1.1%
  • Campton/Thornton

    Votes: 5 5.4%
  • Woodstock/Lincoln

    Votes: 34 37.0%
  • Franconia

    Votes: 1 1.1%
  • Bethlehem

    Votes: 6 6.5%
  • Carroll/Twin Mountain

    Votes: 8 8.7%
  • Jefferson/Randolph

    Votes: 5 5.4%
  • Gorham

    Votes: 9 9.8%
  • other

    Votes: 23 25.0%

  • Total voters
    92
What a great idea for a thread!

I agree with Tom! Jackson is my absolute favorite town in the world (yes, the world, not just New Hampshire). It has a great small town atmosphere in every season...they way life should be. It is also just a hop, skip and jump to pretty much, most of the Whites. Conway is nearby which has just about everything you need for convenience. My plan is to retire up there in a small house or possibly try to run an inn at some point...we'll see. I have a long way to go before that happens:rolleyes:

Again, great idea for a thread!

Karl
 
For living, however, I choose the Campton/Thornton area. It's rural living, which I love, and it's also only two hours from Boston if you need a city fix. Plymouth (cute college town) is close if you need a hospital/grocery store/etc.. Many 4Ks are nearby. The people are nice, honest, hard-working, and easy to talk with.

Agree with all the reasons you stated. Mad River Tavern is great for dinner and we have a new pub in town, Woodpecker's! I can easily hop on the highway north to go hiking or south for some city action.
 
I like Bethlehem for the history, the old theater, the location (between Twin Mountain, Franconia and Littleton).
Its a quiet town and you don't have to worry about traffic!

I spend a fair amount of time at the Woodstock Inn, so a close second is Lin/Wood.
 
I like Bethlehem for the history, the old theater, the location (between Twin Mountain, Franconia and Littleton).

If I could figure out something cool to do with that old stone church that's for sale there, I'd consider it. Can you say climbing studio and gear shop ?

Puck said:
in Plymouth one can get some great sweets and free flossing.

:eek: That never dawned on me. That's a bit of a revolving door they've got happening there !
 
I always have and always will love North Conway. When I win the world series of poker, I will retire there. I know its busy, but I like the crowds, the saco and its central enough to everything I like.
 
I had to pick "other". I like Glen the best. I have a condo there. Its not far from North Conway and near a lot of my favorite places to hike and camp.

Keith
 
Just curious, I've been to Gorham a few times, what do you consider good places to eat there? I'm really sick of Mr. Pizza.

Food is good too, but the Mai Tai's at Yokohama rock. Nice family too, used to do some work for them. Charley was a funny guy to talk to.

Anyway, with family now in Gorham and Berlin, being originally from Jefferson, and schoolmates scattered through both Lancaster, Whitefield, and other parts of the Whites, we like Lincoln (Common Man and Mountain Wanderer), but would live in Jefferson.
 
I already have my little piece of heaven one block up from Rt 16 in town North Conway. I can walk/stumble home from town.
I plan to retire there.
 
I always have and always will love North Conway. When I win the world series of poker, I will retire there. I know its busy, but I like the crowds, the saco and its central enough to everything I like.

With the exception of its traffic, I also really like North Conway, Intervale, and Jackson. I was sorry to see them noticeably "absent" from the list except to be grouped under "other." But my favorite town in the Whites is still Bethlehem. I love having so much within walking distance: a great Italian restaurant, the village store, post office, bank, coffee shop/bakery, a movie theatre, an ice cream shop, antique stores, and a hair dresser, not to mention two golf courses - one at each end of town. The town is friendly as well as beautiful. I love the view of Mt. Jefferson as I drive east on Rt. 302. Anything that I need and can't find in Bethlehem is just a short distance away in Littleton, but the fact that MANY trails and a few ski areas are within a 10-20 minute drive from Bethlehem make the location perfect. Having 1HappyHiker share his beautiful photos and TRs reminds me weekly how glad I am that I chose to live there for a few years. The only thing I'd want to change is to shorten winter. 6 months is a long time. I look forward to summer!
 
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With the exception of its traffic, I also really like North Conway, Intervale, and Jackson. I was sorry to see them noticeably "absent" from the list except to be grouped under "other." But my favorite town in the Whites is still Bethlehem.

Nice post, thanks. The reason I grouped those towns as "other" is that, well, I posted the poll and basically the commute for us to that side is at least 1 hour longer (on a good day), which (I thought) would nix it for us. But, like I said, I may need to suck up the drive and spend some time on that side.
 
Something to take into consideration is how much house you get for your money and the tax rate which can vary greatly from town to town - even neighboring towns. Twin Mountain has a very low tax rate compared to Bethlehem. Also look at how water and trash is billed. When it comes time for us to buy a house up there and retire, it will be in Twin Mountain. Most people never drive off the main streets, so they never see the wonderful houses that are there.
 
One town not mentioned is Shelburne NH. It is "bedroom town" east of Gorham/ Most of the land is in the WMNF or otherwise protected from development. RT 2 bypasses most of the town so its pretty quiet. The locals are pretty active in the town. Its also about 85 miles to the Portland Maine airport which is handy for air travel. The property taxes are about half of Gorham although the houses are typically more expensive. The area is getting a slow influx of early retirees and there is an active local trail group restablishing an extensive trail network. The down side like Randolph to the west of Gorham is that everything is in Gorham, there isnt even a variety store/gas station in Shelburne. There are also minimal services, if you need fire or ambulance, they mostly come from Gorham. Its worth adding to your lists for a stop.

Randolph is a summer colony, most of the population is seasonal. The town is roughly split in thirds, Randolph Hill Road, Durand Road and the west end of town. The views from Randolph Hill Road are great but in the winter, its one of the snowiest spots in NH. Taxes are 1/3 of Gorham but house prices are high. Many houses sell privately an quickly.

The berlin gorham area is at a low point these days, but the expected influx of 400 jobs in the next 18 months and the restart of the papermill will help things along. Gorham has been a middle class vacation town, more affluent folks stay south of whites. One major plus that many hikers miss out is that north of Berlin are several major almost undeveloped lakes plus the Androscoggin River watershed which is pristene north of Berlin. The closest major airport is Portland Maine.

The Berlin/Gorham Shelburne Randolph area has the majority of the economic activity in the North Country and most of the professionals so there is going to be an economic base. Lancaster is the county seat, but its been hit hard by the loss of the manufacturing base north on RT 3.

I have lived in Gorham for over 20 years its a nuce small town, although a lot of the character of the town was lost over the years due to strip development along Rt 16 and RT 2. A big plus to some is that it has police, a viable volunteer fire dept and a partly professional ambulance service plus trash pickup. The taxes are becoming high to pay for those services so its a trade off.

I can comment much on Jefferson, not a lot of services, but good views. Plan on driving to either Lancaster or Gorham for most anything expect for gas and a couple of variety stores.

Do be aware that when looking at houses, that the regional real estate brokers tend to list houses that are desirable to out of staters at very high prices, except when the market is hot, there is considerable margin built into the prices of many homes. The brokers are quite adept at manipulating potential buyers,so dont let them convince you about making a low offer.

Feel free to PM if you want more info.
 
I selected Lincoln/Woodstock. I've occasionally pondered where I would buy and why. I've never considered a relocation so it would mean a getaway and that means the more accessible it is from home the more use I'd have for it. L/W seems to offer that compromise for me between access from home and access to the rest of the Whites.

I also agree with those who like Jackson but the extra hour or so would mean I'd not use it as much on impulse and and would schedule longer stays. What I'd really like is Jackson, WY but I digress.

For those on a limited budget who don't mind using it only a few times a year, consider Millinocket, ME ... you can buy nice little houses there for under $50K!
 
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