Greying of LR Great For Some But Not For All

[Just Sold]

In Laconia Daily Sun:
http://www.laconiadailysun.com/index.php/newsx/local-news/62485-paradox-970

[VitaBene]

It is really being seen in the schools- both of my kids go to Moultonborough Academy and the class sizes decline each year.

[BroadHopper]

The high school enrollment and student body size is the lowest since the first addition in the '40's. Yet the school board continues to expand the campus. The city is looking for additional funds to build a 1.3 million dollar athletic field yet a few years ago the school board says it cannot afford the current structure. Go figure.

[Belmont Resident]

That is what happens when families move away due to lack of full time jobs.
My wife who in human resources saw this starting to happen over 5 years ago.
The people moving up full time tend to be the retired ones more then the ones with children in school.
NH and this area in general place way to much of their resources on tourism and very little on attracting manufacturing jobs to the state.

[Irish mist]

There is no stopping this demographic trend. Baby Boomers are retiring & this is an area that they will be looking to retire to. The Lakes Region is 100 miles from greater Boston, it's a rural area, there are never going to be large numbers of well-paying jobs here. This is rural America, not some metro job factory. Having Boomers retire here with their money is a good thing. They don't use many services & cause little to no crime.

[Belmont Resident]

There is no stopping this demographic trend. Baby Boomers are retiring & this is an area that they will be looking to retire to. The Lakes Region is 100 miles from greater Boston, it's a rural area, there are never going to be large numbers of well-paying jobs here. This is rural America, not some metro job factory. Having Boomers retire here with their money is a good thing. They don't use many services & cause little to no crime.

Not from the way it was described to me. Just the opposite.

[Lakegeezer]

The article is a good read and shows that the planners are at least thinking about demographics as they try to shape the local economy. As I've mentioned before on this board, the region would benefit from a plan to accelerate the trend of telecommuting. Knowledge workers can often work from their homes or temporary offices. It surprises me that there aren't more (if any) temp-office businesses that cater to this. When you can work a few days a week from the lakes region, the 100 miles to Boston doesn't seem as bad. Full time is even better. As a full-time home-office worker in the lakes region, I wonder how many others like me are already here. I've never seen that statistic. What could the town and county planners do to attract more people that can work anywhere they choose?

[Lakesrider]

My wife is in sales. She works from home three days a week and goes out to appointments two or three days a week. One day a months she has to travel to Andover Ma to work in the office. I wish I could do that. That said she found it very hard to find a job up here. I can't imagine what it is like north of here. I saw an article on WMUR a while back that discussed the aging of NH. Does not look good, for businesses in the future for finding young help. Maybe us old folk have a fighting chance of keeping our jobs.....

Here is a pretty good read.....

http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/publications/Report-Johnson-Demographic-Trends-NH-21st-Century.pdf

[Irish mist]

The Lakes Region was never, and is never, going to be a high-end jobs location. If somehow we could pave over the whole area and import several hundred thousand more people.....perhps good jobs would follow. But, most likely, perhaps not. And who would want such a thing ? The area is what it is.....a rural area on the edge of nothng but woods as you go north of here.

Older people retiring to the Lakes Region with their money is a boom for the local econmy. It's the only up-scale demographic that is likely to make the Lakes Region their home, and we are lucky to have them. This demographic group has done nothing but help the area....and if you have some info on how this is not so I would love to see it.

[Rusty]

Young physicians are finding it very difficult to get settled in this area because if the high proportion of older people that are on Medicaid and Medicare. That means they make less money which is needed by them when they first start out.

Any doctor who will not accept Medicare or Medicaid will find it very difficult to be in the health care field in NH.

I understand that Dr. Coppola of Wolfeboro is having a hard time with his business because he will not accept Medicare or Medicaid. I heard that changes are coming soon...even closing his business.


Demand for physicians in this area is expected to rise dramatically, in part due to the aging of the population.

In addition, the numbers of new pediatricians are declining just as the number of Americans age 65 and older will increase dramatically.

The decline in geriatric specializations may create imbalances between the population needing care and the training of the physicians giving care.

[Belmont Resident]

The Lakes Region was never, and is never, going to be a high-end jobs location. If somehow we could pave over the whole area and import several hundred thousand more people.....perhps good jobs would follow. But, most likely, perhaps not. And who would want such a thing ? The area is what it is.....a rural area on the edge of nothng but woods as you go north of here.

Older people retiring to the Lakes Region with their money is a boom for the local econmy. It's the only up-scale demographic that is likely to make the Lakes Region their home, and we are lucky to have them. This demographic group has done nothing but help the area....and if you have some info on how this is not so I would love to see it.

You really should seek out the program the WMUR ran about the downfall of the economy in NH as a whole and why.
Everything you are stating is in fact happening and is also the reason why so many places are closing down. Old people in general do not do as much as the younger generation does to promote the local economy. They are not in most cases as active and many are looking for senior discounts and frugal with their retirement money. Not a bad thing :D
As for the rich ones I believe you will see most of them either leaving when they retire because of our cold winters, or splitting their stay between here in the summer and south during the winter.

[Irish mist]

You really should seek out the program the WMUR ran about the downfall of the economy in NH as a whole and why.
Everything you are stating is in fact happening and is also the reason why so many places are closing down. Old people in general do not do as much as the younger generation does to promote the local economy. They are not in most cases as active and many are looking for senior discounts and frugal with their retirement money. Not a bad thing :D
As for the rich ones I believe you will see most of them either leaving when they retire because of our cold winters, or splitting their stay between here in the summer and south during the winter.

I'm aware of the many studies BR that point out the demographic changes that await NH as the population ages. My point is, that outside of some sort of gold-rush that brings young familes flooding into the Lakes Region, we have to deal, and adjust to the reality that we are faced with.

Demographcs are destiny,,,,,and geography is static. This is a rural area that depends on tourism & retires to juice the economy, and that's not going to change in our lifetime. We need to work with what we have. I'm all for woking with any business that wants to bring good paying jobs up here, but in reality, for the reasons I have stated above.....we are never going to be that kind of a job creating region.

I think an awful lot more well-off retired folks are going to be moving up this way in the next 20 years. In any case....that's what we have to work with plus the tourists. As for the rich retires leaving......some will. But most of them come from Boston & will want to be near family.

[BroadHopper]

Laconia area has been and is a powerhouse in the machine shop industry. Just look at the number of shops and machine manufacturing in the area today. The world will always need machinists and I believe this is where the region should concentrate on. The local community college and high schools should emphasize on the machine trade. You will be surprise how much today's machinist makes. It takes skill to run a CNC precision machine.

[HomeWood]

My wife and I plan to be a semi-retired couple up there in 16-17 years. That's after I complete 28 or so years in law enforcement. We will be in our late 40's, so we will still work doing something. Honestly, I'd be happy doing marine patrol in the summer and plowing in the winter.

[Belmont Resident]

My wife and I plan to be a semi-retired couple up there in 16-17 years. That's after I complete 28 or so years in law enforcement. We will be in our late 40's, so we will still work doing something. Honestly, I'd be happy doing marine patrol in the summer and plowing in the winter.

Oh when we have snow it's great, but last winter was a real eye opener for many. I don't think I made more then 2K maybe $2300 all last winter plowing.
But if you are only doing it for extra cash and not relying on it for income then it really doesn't matter.

[Acrossamerica]

It is really being seen in the schools- both of my kids go to Moultonborough Academy and the class sizes decline each year.

Wait until the Kona masion property sells and they come before the board for a 150 unit condo development. Plenty of land,and water to support it.