Nutmegger

Perhaps South Norwalk CT might be of interest -- it offers a restaurant/music/nightlife scene and is on the Amtrak line between New Haven and New York. As you want a house, not an apt., radiate out from there to look. For instance, a friend of mine used to own a small house across the river in East Norwalk, on a promontory a block from the coast. Further out, the branch line from South Norwalk runs up to Danbury through Wilton, Ridgefield, Redding, and Bethel. The first three will mainly offer two acre zoning, but there are older homes on smaller lots in Bethel and Danbury. (Actually, the NYT featured Danbury in its "Living In" feature today: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/26/re...rder.html?_r=0

Of the other places, Ridgefield is a very pretty town with a top flight contemporary art museum, a performing arts centre that offers an eclectic selection of music, a new nonprofit cinema about to open, lots of good restaurants in a walk-able downtown, and a great independent bookstore. There are converted summer cottages on smaller lots at the water's edge in the Rainbow Lakes section of town.

Bob

Well if you're looking at Portland, it is pretty pricey compared to the rest of Maine, but it's not far from Bridgeton, York, Kennebunkport, Rockland/Camden/Belfast. They're all small city/towns but with good access and on the water, though the first one is a lakes town really. Either way, you get the posh factor but compared to what you're used to, a lot more for your money, definitely compared to Portland. You could hit all those towns in an afternoon drive if you were to check Portland out.

Hotscot

This is great info...It's going to be fun doing the 'on the ground' research.

jmood

On a different note - if you can conduct your business from either the West Coast or the East Coast, can you not conduct it from Scotland?

Hotscot

That is sort of the eventual plan but certainly in the next few years I need to make lots of site visits, and the bulk of them will be on the East part of the US. It just makes it easier being on US soil during that phase.

Plus we want to have a good explore of the East while we're here.

After that do it from Scotland, hire someone here to manage it, or sell it.

Pulaski

A former colleague spoke very highly of coastal New Hampshire. Apparently it has a pleasant microclimate and he was planting a semi-commercial orchard there.

WEBlue

New Haven, CT: We looked for a property to buy in & around New Haven, & I agree with Nutmegger. It's an overgrown, overpriced university town that's fine for students but has traffic (I-95 snarls) & crime problems and is not at all the "pleasant, coastal type of city" that I assume the OP is looking for.

Plymouth, MA: Hmmm, has its fans who say it's a "real, old-style American seaside city" with nice suburbs (Carver?) and also its detractors who say the downtown is "tired" and the expanding urban sprawl due to Boston commuters moving in is very unattractive. It also has a nuclear reactor that occasionally becomes the subject of controversy.
You may need to take a look, if you really are interested in coastal New England.

kins

If you're looking for a friendly small town then most coastal Maine towns will fit the bill. Where I am everyone knows each other and they stop their to let you cross the street. They vary politically.

Portland ME has 80,000+ people in the city and over 250,000 in the area - you might want to look at towns surrounding it like Cape Elizabeth (beaches), Falmouth and Yarmouth. They are all renowned for their school systems and have correspondingly high taxes, so maybe worth continuing north to Brunswick (home of Bowdoin college with loads of great restaurants and a nice vibe), Bath (relies on naval boatyard for jobs but beautiful peninsula and beaches nearby), Camden, Rockport, Rockland, Belfast. All lovely. You do have to be ready for 7-9 feet of snow per year.

Inland there are many more towns, often beside rivers and lakes. Bethel is near skiing and mountains for example.

Personally I love Maine but I do think the property taxes are high and the winters are hard.

kins

Oh and you'll hardly see any traffic in Maine even in the south, except for I-95 north on a Friday evening and south on a Sunday evening. I typically did my 18 mile commute in 25 minutes.

Hotscot

Update:

We have in fact narrowed our choices down to two States.

The primary criteria was States with no income tax.

Given that, we're looking at

1. Olympia. WA.
It's not California. It has water that falls from the very sky, mild winters and gentle summers. Access to good restaurants and culture, outdoor activities, mountains, gorgeous coastal area down to Portland.
Downside...traffic, however I don't commute.

2. New Hampshire.
Also not California. Closer to the UK/Europe. A lot of my business is in the East and in Chicago.
Looks like some nice coastal areas, although I personally prefer the sun setting over the sea hence the West.
Need to look into how harsh the winters are?

Further research is in order plus visits. Planning move summer 2017 latest.

Thanks for all the input.

hungryhorace

Having just gone through the winter here in MA, I can attest that they are bloody harsh. The winter in New Hampshire is even worse. What we have experienced this year is the 'norm' for parts of NH and VT (!).

Hotscot

Thanks Horace...would it be the same in the Coastal towns?
That may be the deciding factor.

Not a softy here but have no wish to deal with harsh messy winters.

Jerseygirl

I think all NE seaboard states have harsh messy winters...as far south as DC. FWIW NJ...where we used to live...had far worse winter weather this year than Toronto.

Pulaski

Bear in mind that the states get your money one way or another - except for Florida and Alaska, which each have their own peculiar economies, states all take some combination (sometimes 0%) of property, sales and income taxes from their residents (and a few other fees and charges), and unless you have a very unusual income stream and financial circumstances, focusing on one tax and ignoring the others might not make as much sense as it first seems. ..... In any case, state income tax is a relatively small proportion of federal income tax.

Then there is the general cost of living - you could save 50%-80% of your housing cost by living in a low cost state compared to a high cost state - I seem to recall hearing that, because of restrictions on land development, the cost of housing in WA is very high. (? ) And that cost saving might substantially, if not entirely, offset any income tax you would have to pay.

For example, saving $400,000 on the price of a home, and borrowing $400,000 less at 4%, saves approximately $12,000 after tax, or sufficient to pay income tax on $160,000 in a state where you pay 7% income tax on the first $60,000 and 7.75% on anything greater than that. In such a state you could also expect to save substantially on your property tax bill, compared to a higher cost state.

scrubbedexpat091

NH will have far harsher winters then the region of WA you have narrowed down to.

I suspect NH will be colder and more snow but probably see's more sun, where WA will see warmer temps, less snow, more rain, and less sun, although this winter was quite nice and mild in WA and PNW (dunno how Oregon was.)

Oregon I believe tends to be cheaper then WA, but has no sales tax, but does have income tax, but depending on circumstances, you may be better off there over WA depending on the cost of housing in the 2 places.

NE states are too cold in winter, too humid in the summer for me, and their airports are congested and delay prone.