New England

This isn't about Louisville but I know you guys/gals can help.
I have a dear friend that wants to retire to the New England area having never really spent much time there. He's looking for a smallish town with decent services (hospital, restaurants, arts) with residential living within walking or biking distance from town.So... Mayberry with better restaurants. Views of the ocean, lots of trees for fall colors and fairly simple commute to NYC are all important to him.
Any of you guys know of such an area? Phil, Donna, can you help with this?

I'm not really sure how to balance simple commute to NYC with a place to live in New England. How much of a commute do you think is acceptable? Connecticut and Rhode Island are definitely going to be the closest New England states to NYC. My first thought when reading your post was Western Mass - but that's about 3 hours from NYC.

I think he was thinking in terms of accessing a major interstate with reasonable ease. I assume he's planning for long weekends in NYC so 3 hours drive is reasonable.

Well I absolutely LOVE the Amherst/Northhampton area of Western Massachusetts. Definitely has that smaller town New England feel - has town center/squares - lots of colleges including UMass. Only 1 1/2 hours from Boston and about 3 from NYC.

Based on the criteria you've listed, sounds like he needs to be somewhere along the Connectcut coast (Groton, Mystic, New London -- lots of smaller towns around there), or Rhode Island (Newport, Woods Hole, etc.)....

Rhode Island is great- close to NYC and Boston and always close to the water, and very flat- easy biking. 5 or 6 years ago I thought about moving there and was surprised how affordable it was.

Thanks for all the suggestions gentlemen. He's looking into the RI area and real estate.

It's probably a little far, but I highly recommend the Rockland/Camden, Maine area. Both are on the coast (about 30 minutes apart), with amazing dining and good shopping. Rockland/Owl's Head is a bit more of a blue collar town, while Camden is a bit more upscale and larger, but both are wonderful places.

A good friend's family has a vacation home there, so I've been up there 4 or 5 different times.

It's only about a 3 hour drive from Boston, but probably around 6 from NYC.

I personally lived in the Mt. Washington Valley of New Hampshire for about six years. Including the town of N. Conway and postcard perfect Jackson and I loved it there...Beautiful mountain views, lots of dining options, an outdoor lovers dream and well, very "touristy" but a nice place to live year round if you like snow in the winter. About 45 minutes to Portland and the Maine coast but 3 hours to Boston or Montreal.

We've been googling all the suggestions made and he is thrilled with his options. Thanks again for all the helpful input.

I am from Maine originally and miss it dearly. The Camden/Rockport area is beautiful, however it is quite a bit off the beaten path. I grew up in Portland and found it to be everything you would want with great restaurants, arts district, ocean views and easy access to I-95 just 2 hours from Boston.

I never intended to leave, just to work a season in Palm Beach and never made it back. Its been 14 years since I left and although I go home to visit on occation, I still miss it very much.

Thank you David. We will add Portland to his list to check out. I appreciate your input.