I was born in Manchester and grew up in Epping. My dad was a policeman in Londonderry when there were about three officers on the force. Southern New Hampshire

I was born in Manchester and grew up in Epping. My dad was a policeman in Londonderry when there were about three officers on the force. Southern New Hampshire (I'd say Manchester and south, but especially Nashua) has grown so much in the last 30 years...we jokingly call it "Northern Mass." Most of the "small towns" from my childhood are no longer small by any means. The reason for this is the abundance of jobs in the Greater Boston Area, which attracts New Hampshirites looking for those types of opportunities (good luck finding a non-remote tech job if you live north of Concord). However, it also has a backflow effect, encouraging Massachusettsans to move to southern New Hampshire. The political culture is wildly different between Mass and New Hampshire. A common complaint from the elders here is how all the "Massholes" are moving to New Hampshire and want to tax everything. I can see how this growth has polarized New Hampshire politics, but left much of the rest of the state intact. I suspect this growth is the primary reason we moved from a conservative state to a swing state back in the 1990s [1] despite what the Union Leader suggests. I'm fortunate enough to not have to be stuck in that commute, but I know many who aren't as lucky. For them, a high-speed commuter rail into Boston is probably the best long term solution. Of course, making the commute easier would encourage more out of staters to relocate here, further changing New Hampshire's politics. To many, the Live Free or Die attitude we have is what makes New Hampshire unique and wonderful. We're proud. We get it. We don't want to be babysat by the government. I have mixed feelings about it all. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_New_Hampshire#Electoral_shift https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_New_Hampshire#Elec...