Penacook New Hampshire Does Not Exist- It’s Concord
When I tell people from Concord NH that Penacook does not exist, I get blank stares. They think that it must exist since it is marketed all over the place. Some people get passionately angry with me over this statement. They fight with me. They yell. However, after presented with the facts, they agree. The truth is there is no such place as Penacook. Penacook doesn’t exist.
School District For Penacook
The first response I get is that Penacook exists because they go to Merrimack Valley School District. Well, I hate to break it to you but nope. Not all the people who live in what most would consider Penacook go to Merrimack Valley. The Vineyards condo development is a perfect example. They are most certainly in Penacook(right?). They are in Ward two with ‘Penacook’, 03303 zip code, and are way out there on Fishersville road. Well guess what, they are in the Concord School District. WHAT?????? Well, certainly everyone on Abbott Road is in Merrimack Valley since it is located NORTH of Woodbine Ave, Dogwood and Adonis that are all in Merrimack Valley. Nope. But wait? I thought Penacook was North of Concord? So shouldn’t they be in that silly Penacook school district? Well, no. Why? Because Penacook doesn’t exist.
Voting Wards
What voting ward is Penacook? Often people will say ward 1. Well, some of ward two is in Merrimack Valley school district. Also, some of ward one is in the Concord School District. So wait, are you telling me that the city councilor that represents Penacook also represents non Merrimack Valley Residents. Yes. That is correct. Ward one is not Penacook or Merrimack Valley. How can that be you might ask? Simple. Penacook doesn’t exist.
Zip code
How about the zip code 03303. That belongs to Penacook doesn’t it? Well, lets just take a peak at the Federal website for 03303 and see what it says… wow.. it says it belongs to Concord. How strange. Why doesn’t the federal government list Penacook? Oh.. that is right. All together now… “Penacook Doesn’t exist”
Maps
The boundary markers say “entering Concord.” There are no maps with boundary lines of Penacook. No maps anywhere show boundaries of Penacook. Go to City Hall and ask for a map of Penacook boundaries. Tell them I sent you. They don’t have one. Why is that? Penacook Doesn’t Exist.
So what is Penacook?
Penacook is just like the Heights, East Concord, The West end or Snob Hill. They are nebulous regions that have no defined boundaries and only exist in the minds of their creators. A marketing tool. A way to segment populations. Let’s stop calling Penacook anything more important than the classification of the Heights. It doesn’t matter. You live in Concord. Maybe if we could all start to agree that we all live in Concord, we can start balancing out the services.
Let’s stop having some residents pay more for school that other. Combine it. One tax rate for Concord. Stop punishing the residents of Penacook to a bum deal. But that is a story for another day. For now… we can all agree that Penacook doesn’t exist.