When you’re looking for a good place to retire in the United States, there are a number of good locations you could choose from. One of the towns you might consider is Portsmouth in New Hampshire. Portsmouth is 50 miles away from Boston and has a population of less than 21,000. Average temperatures in Portsmouth vary between 78° and 25°F in summer and winter respectively.
It may help to know that more than a fifth of the population of this town is over the age of 65. So this is one place where, as a pensioner, you would not feel like a fish out of water. This is also a place you will love if you enjoy cold weather and have a passion for history. If that seems like an odd combination, here’s the story.
The development of Portsmouth can be traced back 400 years when the King of England granted land to the Governor of Newfoundland. This makes it the oldest town in New Hampshire. The same land on the banks of the Piscataqua River is now the location of the Strawberry Banke historical museum.
While we’re on the subject of history, when you think of putting down your new plants with the onset of spring, there is every possibility that your digging will turn up some of the stuff left by the people who lived in your house before you moved in!
It sure will come as a pleasant surprise that living in Portsmouth you will not need to pay either income tax or sales tax. You’ll also find that property taxes are affordable, amounting to 1.9% of the assessed value of your property – which brings us once again to the question of where you can expect to live.
And speaking of houses, if you’ve been attracted by the historical flavor of Portsmouth, you should know that you might not be able to find an older home in very good condition in the center of the city.
All the same, you do have a number of interesting and innovative options. You’ll find old farmhouses standing on half-acre plots of land in Stratham, Durham and Dover; then there are the warehouses on the waterfront that have been adapted into condo lofts. These come for an average price of $ 450,000. You also have the choice of opting for new properties. A three-bedroom house for a single family would cost you around $ 309,000.
Since Portsmouth is still an active port, it remains a meeting place for boisterous sailors. Portsmouth has also attracted about 400 software companies. You may be interested to know that hand in hand with the height of the development of the software industry, Portsmouth began to witness a vibrant nightlife. So if you are game, there’ll be plenty to keep you entertained with a number of fancy restaurants that have sprung up here, among other things.
Portsmouth will have plenty to offer you if you are fond of cultural pursuits. You won’t even have to go as far as Boston, since this town has a wonderful theatre of its own, apart from the Music Hall where concerts are regularly held. The University of New Hampshire in Durham, barely 10 minutes away offers courses in continuing education that you might like to investigate.
If you’re worried about medical facilities now that you’re older, you shouldn’t be because you can visit the Portsmouth Regional Hospital, which is highly respected. In case you are a heart patient, you can rest assured that your needs will be taken care of.
Here’s some good news for you. The hospital has recently included a cardiac section. Apart from this, don’t forget that Boston isn’t far away – and Boston is known for some of the best hospitals in the world.
If that’s not enough, perhaps you’d welcome the news that New Hampshire provides senior citizens with assistance in the shape of sponsored drug program. It is also considered the safest state in the country, so you can relax – there’s no need to worry.
And finally, remember the snow? You’ll find plenty of it in Portsmouth and can expect to find yourself shoveling it out of the way. Quite a contrast if you’ve been accustomed to living in a conventional building with a doorman on duty. But you can’t say it won’t make your life more interesting! You’ll find property taxes reasonable at 1.18% of the assessed value of your property.
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