ADVICE: West Coast city like BURLINGTON, VERMONT? (job market, university)
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Location: Philadelphia, PA (Wanting to move) --Burlington, VT, Asheville, NC, Boulder, CO?
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I am wondering which cities between 40K and 100K on the WEST COAST (CA, OR, and WA) are almost identical to Burlington, Vermont?
ie, progressive, liberal, green, beauty, educated, smart, active, health conscious, organic, political, trees/water, college town, and once again, progressive!
I will be looking for somewhere that has ample opportunities for kayaking, poetry slams, art/music, and nonprofit human services programs.
NOTE: The city must have low humidity and heat (Comparable to Burlington) and not super SUNNY for more than 65% of the time, ie: CA.
Location: Philadelphia, PA (Wanting to move) --Burlington, VT, Asheville, NC, Boulder, CO?
129 posts, read 402,506 times
Reputation: 35
I miss Burlington! Again! The only thing that bothers me about Burlington - well, one thing, is the lack of diversity! It's all white I also miss having nearby major museums and music arenas!
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by StealthRabbit
Olympia, Bellingham, WA
Eugene, Ashland, OR
Eureka, Santa Cruz, CA
this is spot on. Portland, OR is Burlington on steroids. Also Boulder, Colorado reminds me of Burlington quite a bit. One thing though is ONLY Burlington has the setting Lake Champlain, or anything like it. Out there these towns either have rivers or very cold salt water.
I miss Burlington! Again! The only thing that bothers me about Burlington - well, one thing, is the lack of diversity! It's all white I also miss having nearby major museums and music arenas!
Any ideas?!
If being around a lot of White people is a bother for you, you probably wouldn't like the Pacific NW either (except Seattle which is fairly diverse).
It would be hard to find a city with Burlington's vibe that isn't mostly White. Not for any specific racial reason, it seems the cards fell that way.
The cities posted above are similar but Boulder, Colorado or Olympia or Bellingham, Washington are probably the closest in size and feel. Downtown Bellingham kind of reminds me of Burlington in some ways. Ashland is close also, but it's very small.
Santa Cruz has some similarities, but it feels like a different animal as it has way more attitude(mainly from the locals and surfers but also from the Bay Area tourist crowds) and sketchiness than the relatively laidback feel of Vermont. But it does have the same sort of comfortably liberal culture. Eugene feels more like an average college town that happens to be in the Northwest--the area around the college is fairly hip, but once you get outside of the central core and near the University, it's a pretty average, middle class Oregon town.
I haven't lived in Burlington, VT since the 1980s, but having spent the 60s and 70s, there, I can give some insight into the community, since I do visit every year.
Burlington has changed tremendously in the past 25-30 years. Whereas in years past, Burlington was Vermont's urban spot, a place where rural Vermonters congregated after they left the farms or the Northeast Kingdom. It always did have the University of Vermont, and St. Michael's College, and the large medical center and General Electric ( now gone) and, since the late '50s, IBM ( in nearby Essex Junction). Now, though, it has become a safety valve for UVM/St. Mike's grads originally from MA, NY, NJ, CT, RI, etc, who want to stay in town and aren't eager to go back to the more urban Northeast cities from which they came. THis has had the effect of raising the cost of living to a rather high level, to the point where Burlington is more expensive than many Midwestern/Southern cities many times its size. The job market is ultracompetitive, to say the least, and there are only so many plum opportunities out there in Burlington.
So if you have any plans about relocating to the Queen City, please plan carefully, and get the job first. Once that's done, try to find appropriate housing, and then you daydream about hiking Mt. Mansfield, swimming in Lake Champlain, skiing in Stowe, and visiting Montreal ( about 1.5 hrs away) on weekends. Just remember to bring a fully-loaded wallet, or purse.
I haven't lived in Burlington, VT since the 1980s, but having spent the 60s and 70s, there, I can give some insight into the community, since I do visit every year.
Burlington has changed tremendously in the past 25-30 years. Whereas in years past, Burlington was Vermont's urban spot, a place where rural Vermonters congregated after they left the farms or the Northeast Kingdom. It always did have the University of Vermont, and St. Michael's College, and the large medical center and General Electric ( now gone) and, since the late '50s, IBM ( in nearby Essex Junction). Now, though, it has become a safety valve for UVM/St. Mike's grads originally from MA, NY, NJ, CT, RI, etc, who want to stay in town and aren't eager to go back to the more urban Northeast cities from which they came. THis has had the effect of raising the cost of living to a rather high level, to the point where Burlington is more expensive than many Midwestern/Southern cities many times its size. The job market is ultracompetitive, to say the least, and there are only so many plum opportunities out there in Burlington.
So if you have any plans about relocating to the Queen City, please plan carefully, and get the job first. Once that's done, try to find appropriate housing, and then you daydream about hiking Mt. Mansfield, swimming in Lake Champlain, skiing in Stowe, and visiting Montreal ( about 1.5 hrs away) on weekends. Just remember to bring a fully-loaded wallet, or purse.
This is true in just about every Northeastern city whose economy hasn't collapsed. Even areas that were considered slums in NYC in the 80s are now gentrified upper middle class yuppie enclaves.
I haven't lived in Burlington, VT since the 1980s, but having spent the 60s and 70s, there, I can give some insight into the community, since I do visit every year.
Burlington has changed tremendously in the past 25-30 years. Whereas in years past, Burlington was Vermont's urban spot, a place where rural Vermonters congregated after they left the farms or the Northeast Kingdom. It always did have the University of Vermont, and St. Michael's College, and the large medical center and General Electric ( now gone) and, since the late '50s, IBM ( in nearby Essex Junction). Now, though, it has become a safety valve for UVM/St. Mike's grads originally from MA, NY, NJ, CT, RI, etc, who want to stay in town and aren't eager to go back to the more urban Northeast cities from which they came. THis has had the effect of raising the cost of living to a rather high level, to the point where Burlington is more expensive than many Midwestern/Southern cities many times its size. The job market is ultracompetitive, to say the least, and there are only so many plum opportunities out there in Burlington.
So if you have any plans about relocating to the Queen City, please plan carefully, and get the job first. Once that's done, try to find appropriate housing, and then you daydream about hiking Mt. Mansfield, swimming in Lake Champlain, skiing in Stowe, and visiting Montreal ( about 1.5 hrs away) on weekends. Just remember to bring a fully-loaded
wallet, or purse.
Or consider Plattsburgh, NY.......
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