Family life in Upper Valley

Submitted by Oliveness-5319 t3_xwnkdh in newhampshire

My husband keeps seeing jobs of interest in Hanover, NH. I’m a little concerned it may be too isolating in the Upper Valley. We are both from the North East(burbs) and now live in the Southern city but want out! We miss hiking and are done with hurricanes. We currently live in a very walkable community where our daughters school(elementary), activities (ballet/soccer league) and grocery store are all within 2 miles. We see plenty of folks out and about- walking their dogs, running errands, etc. Is there a town like that outside of Hanover? Also, we are a multi ethnic family (Latin/White) so some level of diversity is a must. Any insights appreciated!

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Peeeculiar t1_ir7jk3o wrote

It's very nice, very boring and very white. If you love the outdoors it's a great neck of the woods.

Portsmouth is walkable. I can't think of many other spots in the state where you could get by only walking (unless you're Laconia Steve who lost is license years ago.)

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woolsocksandsandals t1_ir88386 wrote

If you can find a house right in town Lebanon is fairly walkable but it’s not a place you’d want to be totally without a car. And your husband would need a car to get to Hanover most of the year unless he’s a really passionate cyclist.

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ccoyote1 t1_ir9umg3 wrote

Advanced Transit runs M-F on a 15 minute schedule between Hanover and Lebanon. You still need a car because downtown Lebanon somehow doesn't have even a small market type place so you're effectively in a food dessert when on foot, but if you work a typical schedule it can often be easier to bus than worry about parking in Hanover.

I would say though that the housing issues facing NH are even more dire in Lebanon so be ready for a long search or an expensive rent. Beyond that... there's not that much offered in Manchester that can' be found amongst the many communities of the Upper Valley. Just be sure to familiarize yourself with all of them. Not just Lebanon and Hanover.

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woolsocksandsandals t1_ira0ayh wrote

Oh shit that’s right I forgot they closed the little grocery store but price chopper is not a super long distance from the green. Not a super easy walk though. Probably very unpleasant in winter time.

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Burger-King-Covid t1_ir8tic1 wrote

Downtown Claremont is all walkable and was just fully redone for the first time in 100 years. It’s very beautiful now. Claremont has a bus that runs up to Lebanon daily. You can walk to a elementary school middle school high school community center over 50 stores a giant opera house public library and much more while living in downtown Claremont. Depending on what you enjoy Claremont does have a dance studio a classic arcade many thrift stores great restaurants comic book shop board game shop a locally owned video game and collectible store and much much more. I highly recommend Claremont. It is still located in the upper valley is a city and best of all is much cheaper then Hanover or Lebanon.

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YharnamHag t1_irbe3w9 wrote

I lived in West Leb for 6 months in 2021 and worked at Dartmouth College on a construction project (my current permanent address is 20 minutes south of Boston and I grew up in southern Maine).

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  1. I couldn't imagine living without personal transport in that area
  2. If outdoors is your thing, the area is awesome. I was always finding new places to MTB every single weekend I was there. I also have zero desire for night life so that never skewed my perception of the area. Rush hour traffic on RT12A was also a joke compared to 93S Boston and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
  3. Lebanon center is walk-able (and there's a really long walking path that goes through both Leb and West Leb) but there isn't a lot there and it's small (Lalo's Taqueria and Smith Brothers Deli are bomb though).
  4. There really isn't a town outside of Hanover that I'd deem walk-able. Claremont maybe fits that... but I've driven through Claremont enough times to know I wouldn't want to live there. Newport would really be the only other place nearby in NH that isn't rural and it definitely seems like a step up from Claremont.
  5. I'm a white guy with long hair and a beard and I work construction so I can't really speak toward the multi-cultural aspect. I may as well have been a pine tree and I would have elicited the same response from every stranger I ran into. Hanover certainly has a lot of people from all different backgrounds but majority of them being 18-20 something year old students. I'd wager that for every mile you drive away from the center of Hanover, it gets 25% more white.

Someone else mentioned Portsmouth. Portsmouth is really nice and almost everything you need is within a walking distance if you're near the center of town but good luck finding a house there right now. It's also one hell of a commute to Hanover, NH so unless he has opportunities further south (or his job is remote) Portsmouth would be kind of crazy. That being said, a lot of the rural towns I drove through in the UV were really nice. There's nice rural and then there's western Maine-but-east-of-Rangeley rural...

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Side note: I dunno what your husband does for work but I'm assuming something to do with colleges. Burlington, VT obviously has UVM and a few other colleges and it's my second favorite city outside of Portland in all of New England. Might be worth checking it out. It's also not a far drive from Montreal.

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Electronic_Barber665 t1_ira1l47 wrote

Peterborough has the downtown, walkability, culture, schools, outdoor beauty and is 60 mi. from Boston. Good luck finding a house.

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