Portsmouth NH - Great Place To Live and Visit

Recently I have been spending a fair amount of time showing off my beautiful city of Portsmouth, NH to family and clients. Today I am putting a not-so-quick summary of my tour/description/lecture to blog form. This way I can point future friends/clients/family to it for reference, and others interested in the area can learn what so many of us locals already know. This will be a resource I update over time, and I look forward to your feedback.

Portsmouth is a small town of approximately 22,000 people. And in my opinion is one of the best places to live in the United States. It has been in multiple magazines as a top place to live, bike, walk, eat, etc. Periodically we hear people say something along the lines of "This town is the next Boulder." or some other similar city. We are on the border of NH. Right across the river from Kittery, Maine. We are also on the coast. Well, technically on the mouth of the river named Piscataqua just a few minutes from the actual ocean. The coastline of NH is under 20 miles, with a few nice public beaches and some great views. We are at the very northern point of it.

While Portsmouth itself is a very small town, we serve as the downtown and cultural center for a much larger community of towns and cities, so the population base is probably closer to 100,000+. Within 20 minutes of Portsmouth are other very lovely small towns such as Kittery, Dover, and Exeter, and are also very close to The University of New Hampshire.

Portsmouth is about an hour away from Boston, skiing, mountain hiking, etc, just and minutes from the beach. It serves as a popular home base for people looking to take advantage of it all.

Food

We have one of the highest per-capita restaurant ratio's in the state, let alone country. Of the restaurants in Portsmouth they range in style, price and spice. I can't possibly list them all, or even list all of my favorites, so instead I am just going to point out a few that suggest the range of offerings available.

Fine Food
Brazo
Black Trumpet
Cafe Mirabelle
The Wellington Room

Pubs (also good food)
The Press Room
Coat of Arms

We also have two breweries in town.
Portsmouth Brewery
Redhook Ale Brewery

Lodging

One of the best parts of Portsmouth is its downtown. It truly is a park once walk everywhere sort of place. Because of this I recommend staying downtown. The prices will be higher, but I think the experience of being downtown more then justifies the price. There are less expensive options though from the typical hotel chains, many of which are right near the highway. Either way, here is a great local site that lists most of them.

What To Do

Events
I suspect that there is some sort of festival or significant event at least once a week in our town. Last week, for example, was the Portsmouth Criterium. This week is Fish Festival and Telluride By the Sea. Next week is a Brewfest. The Halloween Parade is coming right up (which is my favorite event ever). It goes on and on.

Every Day
Portsmouth is home to a number of cultural gems. Performance spaces such as The Music Hall, Seacoast Rep and Players Ring. Parks and Museums such as Strawberry Banke Museum, Seacoast Science Center (right nearby), and Prescott Park. The music scene is strong and multiple bars in town provide live music.

This summer, just a few blocks from my home, I went to readings from Chuck Palahniuk ( author of Fight Club), Stephen King, Justin Cronin and others. I watched more then a few amazing bands on tour such as Ozomatli, and Afro-Cuban Allstars. Went to Telluride By The Sea film festival. Applefest. Hiked 9 4000 foot peaks in the White Mountains. A few cruises down the river and out to the Isle of Shoals, free outdoor performances at Prescott Park, and so much more.

Retail

A lot of people come to town for shopping. For the most part our downtown is home to only local businesses. Very few retail chains. This is pretty important to both locals, and the tourists who come here. Sure, we have malls for when that is needed. But there is a rather strong local business movement here as well, and the local businesses give Portsmouth a great unique flavor.

Just a few places to be sure to check out:
Riverrun Bookstore
G Wilikers Toyshop
Macro Polo
Nahcotta Gallery

Outlet Malls
A very popular place to shop is a long strip of outlet malls just over the bridge in Kittery, Maine.

When

I live here year around, but my favorite two seasons are Summer and Fall. Summer is outstanding time to be on the riverfront restaurants, walking through the gardens and museums and catching shows at Presscot Park. Fall typically offers fantastic weather, wonderful events and plenty of life in downtown. Winter tends to calm things down in town, with the exception of the holidays, in which the town springs back to life rather impressively. Spring just seems to last forever, and while downtown is always nice, wouldn't we just rather Summer happen already?

Business

There are a few areas for businesses in Portsmouth.

Downtown is great for retail, restaurants and smaller businesses. Think 1000 to 3000 square feet. There are not as many office spaces available for larger companies, unless you talk to a developer while they are putting up a new building (which is constantly going on).

For larger businesses, or companies that want to be in a more traditional business park environment there is Pease. Pease is an old Air Force base that was converted a number of years ago. It is booming, offers a lot of employment opportunities and is the Head Quarters to more then a couple businesses now. I suspect space will be limited at Pease in another few years, as growth continues and new buildings are popping up frequently.

Finally, there are office buildings peppered throughout the town. Offering the quaintness of residential mixes, with nice office building amenities. Even some industrial buildings and lots.

Getting Here

We do not currently have a commercial airline serving Portsmouth. We have in the past, and probably will some years in the future. Instead there are two primary airports. Boston, MA and Manchester, NH. Both are between 45 minutes and an hours drive. You can rent a car and drive hear easily enough. Either 95 North, or 101 east. Or take a bus. There is hourly bus service to Portsmouth from Boston area. Though you should note that the bus station in Portsmouth that serves Boson is on the outside of Portsmouth so you will need a shuttle or taxi to get into town.

Housing

If you are looking to move to the area be prepared to pay. Portsmouth is expensive for NH. Both in home prices and in rental prices. What can you expect when everyone wants to live here, have a second home here, etc and we only have space for 22 thousand of you? That said there are many other nice towns very close by. Some of which are even more expensive (ocean views and such) and others much less expensive, with land being more plentiful. Search our regional MLS system. Don't forget you can look into Maine too. Kittery is just over the bridge and walking distance.

Other Resources

Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce
City of Portsmouth