Potential job offer around Sunapee. Any decent towns you would recommend around the area?

Submitted by papa_waltz t3_10wdibg in newhampshire

Hey everyone. I have a potential promotion in the works that would be relocating from PA up to NH. The office would be around the southern side of Lake Sunapee. I live in a very small town right now, and my wife and I are looking for a little more diversity. Nothing crazy, but maybe a few nice local coffee shops, restaurants, and nice places to walk. We are big night life people, but are looking for a little more than a small farm town. Any ideas or suggestions where to look would be greatly appreciated because I don't know anything about your state. Thank you!

Edit:... I fucked up, I meant to say "We aren't big night life people" my bad.. was wondering why so many people were mentioning it

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Historical-Fennel860 t1_j7ml8vp wrote

Your best bet with still a short-ish commute is probably white river junction / Lebanon area. New London is really cute but there is zero night life!

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Icy-Neck-2422 t1_j7mklmg wrote

New London is a cute (very) little (tiny) college town. There's not a lot to it though.

Overall that's a pretty part of a generally quiet state.

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papa_waltz OP t1_j7pqrwn wrote

I see that a bunch of people are recommending New London area, from what I've seen it looks beautiful! I'm getting more and more excited the more I look into it

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Dveau3 t1_j7n18j6 wrote

I live not far from Sunapee. If nightlife is important to you, you're going to have to go to Concord, which is about 35-40 minutes away.. All the surrounding towns near Sunapee are lovely and small and have zero nightlife. The Town of Newport is next door to Sunapee, and has a few restaurants, but not many. New London is a small college town, and also has a little bit, but housing inventory is next to nothing, and what is there is very expensive, even by New Hampshire standards. The Town of Sunapee becomes more active in the summer, though.

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SuzyTheNeedle t1_j7n0vof wrote

Bradford/Warner and you can hit Concord. Or Grantham and you can hit Lebanon. Gotta tell you this side of NH doesn't have the nightlife that perhaps Manchester or Nashua would have, or have access to (Boston).

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blzac33 t1_j7mso41 wrote

Henniker is a lovely small town. I loved my time there.

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IHaventGotOneYet t1_j7ni8z5 wrote

I'm not sure anywhere in NH will qualify as "big night life". I live in Sunapee, moved here in 2020 from Worcester, MA. Previously lived in Portland, OR, OKC and NYC. Wouldn't choose anywhere else.

I wouldn't characterize Sunapee as a "farm town". It's a lake town in the summer, a mountain town in the winter. Night life is a couple pubs, some community events in the summer. The larger area, The Upper Valley is pretty quiet as well by city standards. Lots to do if you like being outdoors. Some great breweries, some good (not great) coffee spots and restaurants.

I will say there is a bus to Boston from here that runs about 10x daily. I use it to get to Bruins games, but you could certainly utilize it for nights out.

All that said, the lifestyle here is not city life. You go to the transfer station instead of having trash pickup. You drive 20 minutes to the grocery store and if you're lucky there is maybe one restaurant that delivers food to your house. It's slower here, so bear that in mind if you're considering the move.

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papa_waltz OP t1_j7nz843 wrote

Thank you for that, that's some good information honestly. Not sure if many people will see my edit, but I meant to say that we aren't big night life people so that's not a big factor for us. If anything, just some places to walk around and enjoy the outdoors and fresh air.

I'm from a very small town that has practically nothing to do, and my wife is from Hamburg Germany with endless opportunities. We're just looking for some quaint, yet have a couple options. If anything we will drive to Pittsburgh to catch a concert or something.

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IHaventGotOneYet t1_j7p5kd9 wrote

Ah, very different case then! You'll love the Sunapee area. Really outdoors focused with some nice small 'downtowns'. New London is great as others have mentioned. Nice little college town.

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papa_waltz OP t1_j7pbx0r wrote

Seeing a lot of recommendations for New London, I'm definitely going to check it out, Lebanon also seems like it might be okay too. The more I'm hearing and the more I look into it, NH doesn't seem too bad at all

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FTheOldWest t1_j7mmnt8 wrote

There are alot of factors this depends upon, where exactly you need to go, how far you're willing to travel, budget, etc. I sent you a dm!

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Azr431 t1_j7nir04 wrote

New London. No other town in the Sunapee area has its charm, quaintness and amenities.

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Fuzzy-Scar3055 t1_j7nlmgg wrote

If you’re going to live in that area, you’re going to live in a small town. Lebanon is the biggest town in that part of the state but it’s 20-30 min at least away from Sunapee.

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Neat-Ad11 t1_j7n1ydm wrote

Most towns on 89 will be right for you. My biased recommendation is that I can’t say enough good things about Hopkinton. It’s still a reasonable, and beautiful, drive to Sunapee but also close to Concord, Henniker, and Warner. I tend to go north on 89 when I go places and don’t really spend much time in Concord and still have more than enough to do. It’s a little hard to sense how great the people are around here until you are actually living here so it takes a leap of faith, but well worth it. I think pretty much any of the towns people mentioned here will be great and you’ll meet people fast enough.

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kberson t1_j7n3xjt wrote

Concord is not that far down 89

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tylermorris2000 t1_j7nnu1a wrote

There's zero New Hampshire that has any type of night life except maybe Portsmouth or Dover and that's barely anything.

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totalimmortal_ t1_j7plwg9 wrote

Taking your edit into account, you’ll love basically any town in the Sunapee/Upper Valley or Kearsarge area. As others have said, housing is limited and expensive (personally had to wait 7 months to get lucky).

You’ll have close access to Rt. 89 which can put you 30-40 min to Lebanon or Concord for all your main conveniences.

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JFB11037 t1_j7n63l2 wrote

I'm curious which part of PA? My wife and I both are from there and now live in Bradford. We like it here. But really any of the surrounding towns are nice. Lower ranked would be Newport and Claremont. Highest ranked Sunapee, New London, Newbury. Middle ranked Bradford, Sutton, Warner.

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papa_waltz OP t1_j7nzxj0 wrote

Were about an hour or so east of Pittsburgh currently, I never even thought of New Hampshire as an option until this job opportunity came up. The price of living is pretty steep compared to where I'm from (paying $615 mortgage with taxes and insurance included) but the quality of life here is pretty bad. We just want to be able to walk around a nice town that isn't just 1 way streets and ugly buildings with no destination. This is all still super new and the information I've got has been super useful. Just time to really way the pros and cons / Finances and see if it's viable. The state really does look beautiful.

Oh and we're both big skiers so being by Sunapee and a short drive to Vermont would be huge.

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JFB11037 t1_j7ospre wrote

We left Pennsylvania for quite similar reasons. Last living at Blue Knob ski area but I'm from outside Altoona. I hear you so loud on the poor quality of life. There isn't much night life in towns around sunapee. Another great town close by that has a wonderful ski area is Henniker. But if you're coming from the Johnstown are, fucking run up here. You will not regret it. Especially if you like skiing. PM me if you want suggestions on realtors. Houses can be tough to find but I'd say the market is slowing. I'm excited for you.

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New_Project1793 t1_j7nybbk wrote

New London is adorable ~ wrong state for nightlife though - here’s a list of things to do in the Lake Sunapee region

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sassooal t1_j7o8e41 wrote

If you are looking for a cute town to walk around, New London is the spot.

There is a large condo community on the north end of town that might be a good spot to look.

Feel free to message me with any specific questions. I live about 15 minutes from Sunapee and have spent time in all the surrounding towns.

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YouAreHardtoImagine t1_j7ppxd5 wrote

You didn’t mention kids. Not sure if there are any or in future but that (school districts) would be a factor and rule out some for me. I’ve also not been keen to living in towns heavy with summer visitors but ymmv. You can dig a little on that info…good luck!

Edit: words

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Patient_Total7675 t1_j7n4lx8 wrote

Closest night life would be one of the pubs in Newport, or perhaps Clairmont. Kind of a rundown area to be honest. We just ask you don't bring any left wing politics to the state if you move here. We are the Live free or die state,and aim to keep it that way. Thank you .

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