Slightly misleading.

Young people leave for the city or whatever, then get married and have kids, and then realize they want to raise their kids here, so they move back. So they are granite staters, they just have their kids elsewhere.

“In that same time, Rhode Island and Massachusetts saw their populations decrease last year, driven in part by residents moving away.“

They vote for stupid politicians and stupid policies, then come here to escape the mess they made. “Oh, the tax is too high, let’s go somewhere more affordable.” Then when they’re here, they continue to do the same. “Oh, I wish we had high speed rails like we did at home...”

Stupid is as stupid does.

I'm all for more people and I'd personally enjoy the state go blue instead of purple (at least until the republicans figure out that being assholes isn't a valid policy), but I do hope NH and Maine keep what makes our states beautiful in mind.

No, it's not NIMBYism. It's regional identity. Keep apartments and density in city limits. Keep single family homes with land outside of cities.

That's what makes our areas so nice. Don't ruin it so we can pack more people onto the planet.

Have you paid attention to the way this country votes? Except for the extreme left or right cities most places are almost an even split for either side. That means the people leaving might be the people who also hate the policies that were put into place by their neighbors not themselves.

Preach tree.0

> They vote for stupid politicians and stupid policies, then come here to escape the mess they made

I feel like I'm always seeing this here and it really bears no resemblance to reality. Most people who move to New Hampshire from Southern New England are conservatives who see New Hampshire as a safe haven for their political ideals.

The Free State Project is an obvious example of this but you have other data points. NH's most influential conservative governors in modern history (John Sununu and Meldrim Thomson) were conservatives who moved to NH from elsewhere. I've analyzed enough NH elections to tell you that newcomers are not disproportionately more liberal than the native born New Hampshire population. This is a myth that New Hampshire Republicans spread, it is simply not true.

HSR would be amazing and I’ve been her for decades. You’ve gotta be a moron to not want those 😂

You may be wrong here.. Democrats have been moving to Southern NH and the NH seacoast area in droves. I personally know many transplants that want similar social systems in NH that they had in MA. I constantly have conversations reminding them that those systems would make NH more expensive and negate the reasons they moved here.

How can you keep the state beautiful and also push for larger populations? We are a very small state. The two just don't go together.

Source that's not "trust me bro"

Let’s see if that holds up if we keep making less housing than we need

It’s NIMBYism. We can make dense housing so that it doesn’t intrude on our beautiful land like single family homes.

I somewhat agree. I remember hearing for example the average Californian moving to Texas was actually more conservative than the average Texan.

I will say though that it is different when the barriers to entry are smaller. There are millions of jobs in MA within commuting distance of NH. Stealing the structure of an old joke: "take a conservative from MA and move them to NH and you'll make both states more liberal."

I have met quite a few MA transplants in the liberty community but that is only relevant if there aren't a ton of people on the more authoritarian also moving. Election success is not always a good gauge for movers average political stances as the parties have shifted (I'd be voting Democrat if the Democratic candidates held the same views they did 10-15 years ago (except the against gay marriage part)).

Idk, the story op made makes sense doesn't it? Sire I'd want more evidence though.

You can’t be a NIMBY and at the same time complain that stores aren’t fully staffed or that it takes a longer time to schedule a plumber or electrician to fix an issue in your home.

We need more rental housing; lots more and we need it wherever there are single family homes on city lots where you could easily build a three family home.

Burlington, VT and Portland, ME are the Ghosts of Manchester Future.

It's been that way for literal decades. ***NEWS FLASH!***

Born and raised in NH, recently moved to NC about 4 months ago. I do regret it, but there’s no money to be made in NH unfortunately.

Much to the chagrin of r/newhampshire commenters.

You underestimate the uniquely human ability to fight and complain about one thing and in the same breath complain about the consequences of said position

Hello I just moved here :-)

Fun facts:

• Since 1952, NHs population has grown every year except one (1991)
• The population has more than doubled in the last 60 years: 1962: 632,000; 2021: 1,388,992

Now the question becomes, keeping the historical growth data in mind, why do you see this trend posing a threat to the state’s beauty? Perhaps a follow up might be, why do you think the state has remained beautiful despite the steady growth over the past 60+ years?

Edit: Adding my source

We haven't reached the limit/capacity for the people:land area ratio.

You’re right. Self awareness is rare.

I once lived in a 3 family in Boston. They called them 3 deckers since 3 apartments were stacked atop each other. Many were built between 1890 and 1930. Great concept: 3 dwelling units on one small lot. Suddenly they stop building them. Can’t understand why.

Also, apartments can look nice- they can be designed to fit into the small town feel without looking like soviet era bloc housing or a modern monstrosity.

I lived near those growing up. My guess is updated building codes and safer materials. Those were almost always the first to go up in flames, wiping out some entire families and catching the buildings next to them on fire.

Edit: Downvoted for adding experience of living around them. Okey dokey, Reddit.

If I could afford it, I would gladly take a cabin on 80 acres.

Those who want to live in densely populated areas can, but I would rather live as rural as possible. Small community and town is where my heart is happiest.

Upvote for reality...

Begs that same question: why an improved version couldn't be built now

As many as you could possibly want in Manchester...

Welcome. Bring friends and family.

> Edit: Downvoted for adding experience of living around them. Okey dokey, Reddit.

Forget it Jake, it's Reddit.

You can post a fact with citations and still get downvoted.

Need more jobs in NH.

I also like small town living. But If you want housing density of 1 unit on every 50-100 acres, good luck having that housing be remotely affordable

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If theres no available or affordable housing, they probably aren't going to be moving back

People who move to NH do so because they like the ruralness of the state. I purposely moved to an area that was rural because you cannot find that in most areas east of Worcester in MA. My North Shore home town of 50+years got so bad with over building that I had to leave. It became a nightmare.

I enjoy the trees and sparse areas. I enjoy the wildlife being able to live here and have areas where homes, and cars, are not overbearing. I also enjoy the fact that my neighbors are not on top of me and I can just live my life. Why should NH have to destroy all this to just turn into MA. I still work in MA and the traffic as soon as I get over the border is insane. What should take me 20 min max always takes me 40 mins with stopped traffic on 93 a given. Once I get past all that and into NH there is NEVER stopped traffic, I can do a good speed, and get where I want to go. Why do we need to change that.

NH is fine the way it is, and people don't want to live like they do in MA. What I find rather annoying is all the people who want to live in MA, want to turn NH into the same shit show.

That might be a chapter from “The American Dream of Yesteryear” however times have moved on, my friend… and not in a kinder direction.

Born and raised in NC. Moved to VT in 2013, and bought in NH about 3 years ago.

Funny you say that about there not being money to be made here. I frequently say that about where I grew up. I would have never had the lifestyle I do now if I would have stayed in the south.

And many three families have been converted.

They were initially built for lower income people close to public transportation or even walking distance to work. None ever had enough yard space to build a barn for horses and wagons.

Having lived in one, I can say that the biggest drawback was that you could hear the person above you walking around, and if you lived on the third floor, carrying a couple of grocery bags up 3 flights of stairs got old quickly. The next biggest drawback is there's typically no space for expansion as your family grows. Some people combine two apartments into one, but that's awkward.

Bottom line is, there's a crisis in NH of not enough housing and three deckers seem like an ideal solution.

It's also good for a first house with tenants paying your mortgage for you and tenants having quick access to the landlord.

Something else that no one mentions; having 3 apartments is great for inlaws so that you don't have them sharing your kitchen or bath, but they're still close to babysit for you.

> stores aren’t fully staffed or that it takes a longer time to schedule a plumber or electrician to fix an issue in your home.

That's a compromise I am fine with to live in less populated areas. I don't want more housing, I don't want more people. I'm used to having to do a lot by myself or search long and far for a pro.

We need less rental housing, and that which does exist should be constrained to already urbanized town centers, not spread out on rural land.

Its harder for younger people to find a reason to live in NH in general, esp northern NH