About seven-billion people live on earth, but only 1.3 million of those people get to call the “Live Free or Die” state their home.
Few people get the opportunity to live in a free-spirited place. New Hampshire is a healthy, wealthy, beautiful place to live, with outstanding natural resources and a strong economy. Connecticut also has many advantages as a convenient location between Boston and New York, beautiful beaches, remarkable education, a variety of shopping places and easy transportation.
Such characteristics might make it hard to understand why some residents dislike CT. The difference between the two states is that Connecticut is ranked 14 for the most depressed state—mental health wise—in the country, while New Hampshire is ranked 34. New Hampshire is ranked eighth for the happiest state in the United States.
That’s the word from Mental Health America, which recently released an assessment of where the 50 states stand for depression and suicide evaluations. Connecticut has also become one of America’s worst performing state economies.
When investors consider important decisions like where to establish a residence, where to operate a business and where to die, Connecticut turns out to be not so great of an option. According to Forbes Magazine, about 300 thousand Connecticut residents have moved out of the state than have moved in during the past two decades.
It’s not a surprise the majority of N.H. residents love nature and are environmentally-friendly. It’s almost impossible to look in any direction without seeing mountains, rivers or lakes.
Nothing’s better than being able to do outside activities all-year -round. There are trails to hike in the spring and fall, massive slopes to snowboard and ski in the winter and beautiful beaches along the coast to surf and relax at in the summer.
What makes N.H. even more spectacular is that residents have a selection of major cities, like Manchester, Concord, Portsmouth and Nashua, where there are shopping boutiques and great restaurants.
Of course there are going to be pros and cons of any place when it comes to living conditions. But then again, the most important factor in deciding where to live is figuring out what environment will make one’s life the most enjoyable.
Connecticut just isn’t the best fit for a lot of people. Who likes to pay sales taxes, anyway?
Jordan Crowley can be contacted at jcrowley@keene-equinox.com