For as long as I’ve been alive, Conway has never excelled at planning anything. Now faced with perhaps its greatest challenge — the acute housing crisis — can Conway totally redeem itself? Lord, deliver us a savior who can herd cats and also part seas!
Enter Planning Board Chairman Ben “no bull” Colbath, son of Conway Selectman John “even less bull” Colbath, who said to me on the phone, “Q, I got into planning because my dad said that if you’re gonna complain about things, you better be ready to do something.”
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(2) comments
An X factor in the housing crunch is New Hampshire's tax advantages. Covid has accelerated the retirement of many Boomers. And though a high percentage of retirees from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Massachusetts (high tax states) have sidestroked to Florida, Arizona and the Carolinas, New Hampshire has become another one of God's waiting rooms.
And one day you will be there too...
Sooner than you realize. Than what?
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