<p>Consolation–thank you for taking the time to write your post about Portland. It does sound amazing. I hadn’t even mentioned the arts in my wish list, but I would certainly love to have access to theatre and museums. And I am definitely a foodie!</p>
<p>Ack, I’m torn between being near my friend and my folks. I need to remind myself that I’m going to live closer to both than I have in many years.</p>
<p>ETA: Agree we need to go visit. Also taking note of winter commuting concerns. One idea is for me to stay with H in D.C. for a couple of months during the winter.</p>
<p>If you will still have kids in high school–or younger–you might also want to consider the school district. I live south of Portland, ME and can attest to the reality that there is some variation between school districts, or even between high schools in the same city.
Truly, it is a wonderful area to live in.</p>
<p>If relocation is your H’s idea, why are you spending more time in his choice of relocation than he is? Rent a place, and just go whenever he goes and see how you like it first before a big move.</p>
<p>We have a vacation home on the Maine coast, inherited from my now deceased in-laws and most retirees I know only spend 6 months there and need to get away from Nov-April.</p>
<p>My parents and my brother live in Peterborough NH. It’s an hour from the airport. It has a nice downtown with a great art center. [url=<a href=“http://www.macdowellcolony.org/]The”>http://www.macdowellcolony.org/]The</a> MacDowell Colony<a href=“the%20oldest%20art%20colony%20in%20the%20United%20States”>/url</a> provides some culture. There are lots of nice small lakes in the area if you want to be on the water.</p>
<p>It’s about 2 1/2 - 3 hrs from the Portland area to Hanover if you go by the major highways. Much of it is quite a scenic trip. You can also go a bit cross-country through Bridgeton and Fryeburg, then take the Kankamagus Highway through the White Mountains national Park. Gorgeous route, takes about 4 hours if you stop and look at the view a few times. :)</p>
<p>I drive both regularly, since S is at Dartmouth.</p>
<p>Oh, and the Portland area has numerous yoga schools and instructors of all kinds, as well as acupuncturists, T’ai chi, reiki (sp?) and all sorts of other alternative practitioners.</p>
<p>I would have moved there 12 years ago when I left my full-time job. The new development is his willingness to commute until retirement rather than waiting until retirement to relocate.</p>
<p>Well, I think this is misleading. Government services aren’t free in New Hampshire; somebody’s got to pay for them. In fact, New Hampshire’s total state & local tax burden is pretty similar to Maine’s: in 2008, $3,642 per capita in NH (rank 29th), v. $3,835 per capita in Maine (rank 21st), putting both states close to the median in state and local tax burden (all figures from The Tax Foundation). The difference is that the tax burden in Maine is more transparent: it’s things you see, like personal income taxes and general sales taxes. In New Hampshire more of the revenue comes from things you don’t see, like one of the highest corporate tax rates in the nation—a business cost that presumably gets passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices for goods and services—and “selective” sales taxes on things like utility and phone bills. Property taxes are also definitely higher in New Hampshire, again among the highest in the nation at 1.70% of the state’s median home value (rank 5th), v. 1.05% of median home value in Maine (rank 18th). Also, according to my sources New Hampshire DOES have a personal income tax (5%), but it applies only to interest and dividend income, not to wages and salaries.</p>
<p>Not knocking New Hampshire here, but I wouldn’t let tax considerations drive the decision. At the end of the day either of these states will get its share and that share will be pretty similar, though New Hampshire will probably be sneakier, less direct, and less transparent about it, so you may not notice as much.</p>
<p>Median household income in Maine is $10K lower than it is in New Hampshire. I believe that Maine depends more heavily on tourism than does New Hampshire. New Hampshire has high-tech, military, manufacturing, retail and services that provide a lot of good wage jobs.</p>
<p>If you have a high income and don’t need a lot of space to live in, then you can have a pretty good situation. If you make a million a year, you pay the same income tax as the person making $100K/year outside of the interest and dividends tax which does provide a rather generous exemption of $4,800.</p>
<p>I do live in New Hampshire and if you make certain choices, you can pay very, very little in state taxes.</p>
<p>While Keene and Peterborough are not easy drives to Manchester…they ARE easy drives to Bradley in CT…it’s about 2 hours but it’s a straight shot down 91.</p>