PDA

View Full Version : 108 Reasons to Move to Keene, NH (Free State Project)




mediahasyou
10-23-2008, 02:37 PM
We believe Keene is the best destination for pro-Liberty activists. From an activist perspective, it is most challenging and full of exciting, ground floor opportunity. Whatever your brand of activism, you are welcome here. Here are some reasons why we hope you’ll choose Keene. Please feel free to link to, copy, and use this list however you like. You'll find this list as a permanent feature at FreeKeene.com here: http://move.freekeene.com/

Got any additional reasons? Did I forget to list a regional or national chain? Post a reply.


108 Reasons to Move to Keene

Area Info / Demographics

1. Keene is the economic hub of southwestern NH.
2. There are plenty of jobs here as well as entrepreneurial opportunities.
3. Big enough to have the amenities and comforts of a city,
4. Small enough to be bikeable/walkable.
5. Population as of 2007 is nearly 23,000 + an estimated 10,000 more who come in during the daytime from the Monadnock region, VT, and MA during the day to work and shop (no sales tax!)
6. Keene is young - the median age is 36.7
7. Keene is mostly female - 52.76%
8. Keene's residents are mostly single.
9. Cost-of-living in Keene is lower than the national average.
10. Broadband Internet is available via Cable or DSL.
11. Lots of free WiFi, especially in downtown Keene.
12. You can choose a more “urban” lifestyle in downtown Keene,
13. Opt for the suburbs,
14. Or go a little further and you have rural living!
15. Keene is conveniently located in a valley. Snowfall is limited compared to surrounding areas.
16. As it is located in a valley in Southern NH, Keene is not as cold as the northern portions of the state.
17. Great real estate opportunities. Use this site to find properties: http://beangroup.com , then contact Nick Michelewicz as your realtor: libertycrusader_22 (at) hotmail.com
18. Keene has over 20 churches and one synagogue.
19. Only 30% of Keene residents identify as religious.
20. 70min drive to Concord
21. 80min drive to Manchester
22. About two hours to Boston
23. About four hours to New York City
24. About 4.5 hours to Montréal
25. Cheshire Medical Center
26. Private trash pickup services!
27. The Keene area is a stunningly beautiful place to live.
28. “Folks in Keene are friendly and down-to-earth!” - Menno


Shopping / Food

29. Downtown Keene - Widest Main Street in America - easy parking!
30. Plenty of locally owned businesses of all varieties.
31. Regional retail chains like Aubuchon's Hardware, Eastern Mountain Sports, & more.
32. Lots of familiar national chains- Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Target, Circuit City, Dick's Sporting Goods, Staples, Gamespot (2x), Sears Essentials, JCPenney, Bed Bath and Beyond, Michael's Crafts, JoAnn Fabric, Blockbuster, Petco, Borders, & more.
33. Major Auto Dealers
34. Grocery stores include the awesome Price Chopper (24 hour!), Shaws, and Hannaford's.
35. Blueberry Fields, for the natural/organic enthusiasts. Plus, each grocery store has a large selection of these foods as well.
36. Plenty of pizza, Chinese food, and a variety of other locally owned restaurants!
37. Fast Food - McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Dominoes, Taco Bell, KFC, Subway & more.
38. Regional Food Chains – Friendly's (2x), The 99, Uno, & more.
39. National Food Chains - Panera Bread (free WiFi), Chili’s, Applebee's, Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse, & more.
40. Lots of places to get coffee including locally owned coffee houses, Panera Bread, Starbucks (2x), and more!
41. FedEx Staffed World Service Center
42. UPS Store & the locally owned "Shipping Shack" are available for all your private mailbox needs.
43. 24 hour CVS and other drug stores including Walgreens and Rite Aid in town.
44. Several major and regional cell phone service providers in Keene.
45. National, regional, and local banks all in Keene. You will also find credit unions.


Recreation/Leisure

46. Convenient bike/walking trails all throughout the city!
47. Mount Monadnock - the most hiked mountain in America.
48. Parks, with several sports options.
49. The region has many sports teams including the Swamp Bats and a full complement of youth, high school, college and recreational level teams.
50. Granite Gorge- skiing, snowboarding, tubing and more just 5 miles from downtown Keene!
51. The Ashuelot River
52. Whether it's fishing, boating, paddling or swimming, the region has more than 200 bodies of water of every size.
53. Workout Options: YMCA, a female-only gym, and a 24-hour men's gym.
54. Keene Dillant-Hopkins Airport
55. The Keene Cinemas http://www.keenecinemas.com/
56. The Colonial Theatre www.thecolonial.org
57. Opportunities to make music including the Apple Hill Chamber Players, Keene Pops Choir, and Monadnock Music.
58. Opportunities to listen to various types of music at local venues.
59. Plenty of bars/pubs
60. Phat Stuff Smoke Shop minutes away in Winchester. In Keene, visit the Hemporium - not exactly a smokeshop, but a really cool hemp shop.
61. “For book lovers, Toadstool Bookshop is awesome! It is very large and well-stocked. Keene also has two used book stores, Eagle Books and Hannah's Used Books.” - Menno
62. Surrounding area is full of attractions like Monadnock Speedway and Hinsdale Greyhound Park
63. Lots of historical points of interest: http://www.keenechamber.com/points_of_interest.html
64. Cheshire Fair www.cheshirefair.com
65. Pumpkin Festival www.pumpkinfestival.com
66. Keene Music Festival
67. Art Walk (week-long event that puts artists' works in storefronts)
68. Farmer's Market that is open twice a week, during three seasons.
69. There are shooting ranges in and around Keene and gun shops in the Monadnock region


Opportunities

70. Cheshire TV - http://CheshireTV.org Create your own show, or work on one of the existing liberty friendly shows.
71. There may be a CopWatch show starting in 2008.
72. The Keene Sentinel - www.keenesentinel.com - daily paper with fair reporting, could use some letters to the editor.
73. WKBK 1290 & 104.1 - http://wkbkam.com popular news/talk station with no call screening
74. Many City Council incumbents go unchallenged in elections. Filing fee is only $2.
75. Keene State College is in Keene with other colleges very close by like Antioch New England Graduate School and Franklin Pierce University
76. There are a number of private schools and other educational opportunities: http://keene.wikia.com/wiki/Area_Schools
77. Get in on the ground floor of the nonviolent revolution in Keene!


Challenges

78. Close proximity to both Massachusetts and Vermont + college town = lots of socialists
79. 2nd highest property taxes in NH
80. Existing state representatives have poor NHLA liberty ratings
81. Zoning board stifling new businesses
82. Crackdown on property freedom in downtown "Historic District"
83. Lots of voter apathy
84. More housing for incoming liberty activists needed.
85. Perhaps the most challenging activism opportunity in the state of New Hampshire.
86. Whatever your brand of activism, we need you here!


Liberty Advantages

87. Keene cops not as nasty as bigger cities like Manchester.
88. Keene bureaucrats tend to not be as unfriendly as bureaucrats in other cities.
89. Highest concentration of liberty oriented media in all of NH - radio, television, internet, and newsprint:
90. “Free Minds TV” on Cheshire TV and http://FreeMindsTV.com
91. “The Keene Weekly News” on Cheshire TV and http://FreeKeene.com
92. The Keene Free Press - http://KeeneFreePress.com - Newspaper run by Liberty activists!
93. “Free Talk Live” – on WKBK 1290 AM & 104.1 and http://freetalklive.com
94. FreeKeene.com - Keene's #1 Blog for Pro-Liberty News, Opinion, and Activism
95. Gardner Goldsmith's "Against the Grain" expected to air in Keene starting in 2008 - http://libertyconspiracy.com
96. Free Staters attend “Karaoke Fridays” at the “Ceilidh House” Irish Pub located just over the Keene border in Westmoreland.
97. Liberty activists gather weekly for “Social Sundays”. More info at http://calendar.FreeKeene.com
98. Thrice yearly “Keene Freedom Fest”
99. Establishment confused, angry, and unsure of what to do about liberty activism in Keene.
100. Establishment attempted to publish a hitpiece blog against Free Staters but only resulted in more positive publicity for us. They quietly took the blog off-line.
101. Our first candidate for city council received thousands of dollars in free press coverage.
102. That same candidate spent $70 and did very little campaigning, yet received over 22% of the vote.
103. Operation Politically Homeless outreach shows that Keene residents are overwhelmingly either libertarian or liberal.
104. For politics, the small size and relatively low population of Keene makes for easy campaigning.
105. Free Marketeers, Voluntaryists, Anarcho-capitalists will find a number of like-minded individuals in Keene.
106. The Anarchy House Project is in Keene: http://anarchyhouseproject1.org/home
107. Former Free State Project President Varrin Swearingen lives in Keene
108. Keene is endorsed by civil disobedience superactivists Russell & Kat Kanning

(Thanks to Dawn Lincoln who created the original "101 reasons to move to the Monadnock region" a few years ago. Thanks also to the Keene Chamber of Commerce, Wikipedia, and Best Places.)

New additions to the list:

109. Vendetta - Liberty friendly bar in Downtown Keene and the current location for our Social Sundays event.

powerofreason
10-23-2008, 02:43 PM
i wish there were more colleges there. I'd go to school there if there was a good school for me.

Oyate
10-23-2008, 02:59 PM
Well that is pretty convincing. There's only one reason to move to Arizona and that's you likely won't freeze.

dannno
10-23-2008, 03:31 PM
Wow.

I'd be there in a second if you had a few of these


http://www.woodburnphoto.co.za/Portals/16/images/nics_point_break.jpg

dannno
10-23-2008, 03:32 PM
i wish there were more colleges there. I'd go to school there if there was a good school for me.

My University had the same amount of students as the entire population of Keene.

Texan4Life
10-23-2008, 06:12 PM
http://freekeene.com/category/business-freedom/

"Activists Chalk Courthouse and Perform Unlicensed Haircut"

hehe... Damn the torpedoes, give that man a haircut!!!

lol nice vid.

Areté
10-27-2008, 10:15 PM
One, if not the biggest Liberty Media centers in the world. I'm so totally there! :D

BuddyRey
03-09-2010, 07:07 PM
Mmmm...tempting!!!

gls
03-09-2010, 07:24 PM
Keene is OK for the anarchist crowd but I wouldn't recommend it for political-types since it is probably the most liberal city in the state.

BuddyRey
03-09-2010, 07:29 PM
Keene is OK for the anarchist crowd but I wouldn't recommend it for political-types since it is probably the most liberal city in the state.

By liberal, do you mean that it's more socially tolerant, or that there are higher taxes and more regulations?

gls
03-09-2010, 07:44 PM
By liberal, do you mean that it's more socially tolerant, or that there are higher taxes and more regulations?

The latter. "Social" issues (for example drug decriminalization) are mostly decided at the state level. Keene's a college town 20 minutes from the Vermont border so it is to be expected.

Of course anywhere in New Hampshire is a lot better than anywhere in CT, where I am currently, simply for the lack of an income or sales tax. I plan to move to the Concord/Manchester area eventually.

Brett
03-09-2010, 08:07 PM
Can't wait until I get out of college.

gls
03-09-2010, 08:32 PM
Can't wait until I get out of college.

Have you signed the statement of intent over at freestateproject.org? Only 14 participants away from 10,000.

BuddyRey
03-09-2010, 08:34 PM
Have you signed the statement of intent over at freestateproject.org? Only 14 participants away from 10,000.

Yeah, you can be one of the few privileged signers to push the FSP over the halfway point!

I signed a few months back, so I've forgotten what number I am.

Brett
03-09-2010, 08:35 PM
Have you signed the statement of intent over at freestateproject.org? Only 14 participants away from 10,000.

I have not, I assumed it was for people who already worked out the logistics. I suppose I can be #9987.

Will I get anything in the mail? my only mailing address right now is my parents' house :P

BuddyRey
03-09-2010, 08:39 PM
I have not, I assumed it was for people who already worked out the logistics. I suppose I can be #9987.

Will I get anything in the mail? my only mailing address right now is my parents' house :P

I got a welcome letter, along with an FSP bumper sticker and an FSP bookmark.

Brett
03-09-2010, 08:40 PM
I got a welcome letter, along with an FSP bumper sticker and an FSP bookmark.

Meh, whatever. I'll deal with it. *signs up*

gls
03-09-2010, 08:48 PM
I have not, I assumed it was for people who already worked out the logistics. I suppose I can be #9987.

Will I get anything in the mail? my only mailing address right now is my parents' house :P

Yeah, the statement of intent is very broad actually. It says that you commit to move within five years after the project reaches 20,000 participants. So that gives a signer PLENTY of time (especially at this rate but hopefully it picks up) to make good on the pledge.

I didn't get anything but I signed up a long time ago. It sounds like they're sending a small welcome package now. I'm sure you can request they not send anything; there's probably a spot on the form for comments.

Brett
03-09-2010, 08:50 PM
I didn't get anything but I signed up a long time ago. It sounds like they're sending a small welcome package now. I'm sure you can request they not send anything; there's probably a spot on the form for comments.

Found the slot, but I'll just intercept the letter. Not a big deal.

BuddyRey
03-09-2010, 08:54 PM
Meh, whatever. I'll deal with it. *signs up*

Welcome aboard! :D

Brett
03-09-2010, 08:55 PM
My registration hasn't synced with the ticker yet :(

gls
03-09-2010, 08:59 PM
My registration hasn't synced with the ticker yet :(

It will be a while. Someone verifies it is a real sign up and then changes it manually.