Location Plan
New Hampshire rates high in several areas as one of the best states to retire into. See the Appendix for a link to an article on Bankrate.com which rates New Hampshire as number 15 in the United states.
To get the negative factors out of the way, the first is affordability, as compared with Kansas and Nebraska for instance. The high salaries of the greater Boston area come with a high cost of living. We may not attract many retirees from Nebraska. On the other hand, the cost of living in New Hampshire is less than in Boston and its immediate suburbs like Newton and Cambridge.
The second factor is the weather. This is New England and we get all four seasons, including lots of snow. But our heat waves are never as hot as in the Southwest. Our rainstorms are never as extreme as in Florida. You have to go up Mount Washington in winter to get extreme winds and snow. In the summer, warm sunny beaches are not far away. Skiing is available nearby in the winter. Fall brings beautiful New England foliage. Spring, well, mud season, but also flowers and the Red Sox. There is snow to be shoveled, but the beauty of a condominium or apartment complex is having the maintenance service take care of that for you.
On all other measures, New Hampshire ranks high. The crime rate is the lowest of all the states and is especially low in places like Milford where we are considering our site. The state ranks Strong on most measures of health care, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Nashua has high-quality hospitals including Southern New Hampshire Medical Center, and the specialized hospitals of Boston, such as Massachusetts General Hospital, are not far away.
New Hampshire is also one of the very few states with no personal income tax and no sales tax. Retirees taking distributions from IRA and 401(k) plans pay 5% tax in Massachusetts, and up to 8% in other states, but not in New Hampshire. Not having to pay sales tax is like a small bonus with every purchase.
Above all, and most important to our target market, are the cultural amenities of art and music. Boston, the famous “Athens of America”, is less than a 90-minute drive from our chosen location. Music lovers agree that the best concert hall in the United States, and one of the three best in the world, is Symphony Hall. In addition to being the home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, it hosts performances by the best and most famous musicians in the world. A few blocks away is Jordan Hall at New England Conservatory of Music, a smaller venue that also attracts the top acts. There is no shortage of halls of all sizes for jazz and rock performances.
Closer to our location, we have SNHU Arena, formerly the Verizon Center, in Manchester, with a concert seating capacity of 11,000. To the west we have an active music scene in Peterborough, and the famous Marlborough Music Festival in Marlboro, Vermont. A three-hour drive on the Massachusetts Turnpike brings you to Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Many of the musicians we hope to attract to our retirement community grew up attending concerts in these locations, and quite a few have performed in them regularly. If you have had a passion for music throughout your life and want to enjoy retirement with like-minded music lovers, we have the place for you!
We found a location in Milford, NH that we decided on for several different critical reasons. Closeness to Boston is number one, of course. Secondly the price of the land is within budget, and the parcel is quite large for the price. Just a small part of the 17 acres will be sufficient for the building and parking lot, as well as future expansion if we find enough demand. The remainder will be left as woods with walking trails. Third, there is a major road servicing commercial buildings that we can cut into for heavier traffic and concert events. There is an existing residential road as well, which we can extend for the use of the residents. Thus we will have two access roads.
The property is right off the end of Route 101A in Milford, close to Market Basket, the state liquor store, and the Milford Drive-In. By car we are a few minutes from downtown Milford, 20 minutes from Nashua and 45 minutes from Manchester.