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Old 01-28-2012, 08:26 PM
 
60 posts, read 103,748 times
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What cities/towns would you guys say top the list for the Northeast given the following parameters...

1. Mountain town- and I don't mean it's a little craggy on the west side of town, full blown mountains in or near metro or the entire surrounding area is craggy.

2. Population- small to mid size city, let's say 50k-150k metro and let's include county to pick up some of the smaller towns

3. Low crime rates- particularly violent and sex crimes

4. Education- strong k-12, both public and private options, as well as options for higher education

5. Reasonable cost of living- home and land prices, healthcare, taxes, etc

6. Employment- stable, if not growing

7. Environment- clean, low pollution

8. Family oriented- places to go, things to do

9. Travel- airport within 30-45 min drive
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Old 01-28-2012, 08:54 PM
 
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Manchester, New Hampshire, or Portland Maine, or a varity of Norhtern/Western New England towns, like Torrington, Ct or North Adams, Massachusetts.
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Old 01-28-2012, 09:30 PM
 
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The small to mid-sized cities in PA are great. I'm not sure if any one would fit everything in your exact criteria but cities like Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Allentown/Easton/Bethlehem are definitely similar to what you're looking for.

They both have International Airports right there too, with Allentown's being the third busiest in PA, behind only Philadelphia International Airport and Pittsburgh's.
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Old 01-28-2012, 09:38 PM
 
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Northhampton, Mass? Not sure of the population size though.
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Old 01-28-2012, 10:09 PM
 
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
10,720 posts, read 23,625,739 times
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Burlington, VT has pretty much everything on your list though a bit pricey. Plenty of Mountains, Greens in VT and Adirondacks on the other side of the lake in NY State. Lake Champlain is pretty awesome too. It's got an airport with non stop flights that will get you as far as Chicago, Orlando, or DC to connect, or for international Montreal is only 1.5 hours from there. The city has about 40K and a little over 150K in the surrounding county but since its the only city in VT and a big college town it feels bigger and offers a lot more than a city of its size.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burlington,_Vermont
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burling...tional_Airport

Last edited by Champ le monstre du lac; 01-28-2012 at 10:32 PM..
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Old 01-28-2012, 10:37 PM
 
Location: Florida
11,669 posts, read 17,825,530 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by btownboss4 View Post
Manchester, New Hampshire, or Portland Maine, or a varity of Norhtern/Western New England towns, like Torrington, Ct or North Adams, Massachusetts.
Don't listen to this. Torrington, CT is a complete dump. It is affordable, but the schools are awful, and I wouldn't describe it as a mountain town, really. Maybe hilly. I wouldn't recommend any cities in CT, since none of them are mountain towns. They are somewhat flat, terrain wise.
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Old 01-29-2012, 01:02 AM
 
74 posts, read 273,975 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Flborn_halfback View Post
What cities/towns would you guys say top the list for the Northeast given the following parameters...

1. Mountain town- and I don't mean it's a little craggy on the west side of town, full blown mountains in or near metro or the entire surrounding area is craggy.

2. Population- small to mid size city, let's say 50k-150k metro and let's include county to pick up some of the smaller towns

3. Low crime rates- particularly violent and sex crimes

4. Education- strong k-12, both public and private options, as well as options for higher education

5. Reasonable cost of living- home and land prices, healthcare, taxes, etc

6. Employment- stable, if not growing

7. Environment- clean, low pollution

8. Family oriented- places to go, things to do

9. Travel- airport within 30-45 min drive
I'd say Nassau County, NY for just about everything on the list except for Reasonable cost of living and Mountain Towns.. and maybe not so much on Environment. But it has everything else.
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Old 01-29-2012, 04:38 AM
 
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
10,720 posts, read 23,625,739 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nep321 View Post
Don't listen to this. Torrington, CT is a complete dump. It is affordable, but the schools are awful, and I wouldn't describe it as a mountain town, really. Maybe hilly. I wouldn't recommend any cities in CT, since none of them are mountain towns. They are somewhat flat, terrain wise.
True, Manchester, NH kinda sucks too. It's just an old industrial mill city and a pretty mediocre one at that and not a desirable place for education. Perhaps a suburb on the outskirts of Manchester or somewhere like Concord would be nicer, Manchester does have a nice airport though. North Adams is also pretty isolated, it's a poor little city with dumpy housing not anywhere near an airport and quite a ways from the nearest city with 50K + population. North Adams is pretty redneck for Massachusetts.

Quote:
Originally Posted by RupertrepuR View Post
I'd say Nassau County, NY for just about everything on the list except for Reasonable cost of living and Mountain Towns.. and maybe not so much on Environment. But it has everything else.
Well Nassau County is on the edge of NYC on Long Island so I don't think its meeting the criteria of small/medium city considering it's on the edge of the largest and most crowded city in the country, it's expensive and no mountains nearby, I'd say fail on this one.

Last edited by Champ le monstre du lac; 01-29-2012 at 04:55 AM..
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Old 01-29-2012, 07:32 AM
 
26,804 posts, read 43,277,024 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Flborn_halfback View Post
What cities/towns would you guys say top the list for the Northeast given the following parameters...

1. Mountain town- and I don't mean it's a little craggy on the west side of town, full blown mountains in or near metro or the entire surrounding area is craggy.

2. Population- small to mid size city, let's say 50k-150k metro and let's include county to pick up some of the smaller towns

3. Low crime rates- particularly violent and sex crimes

4. Education- strong k-12, both public and private options, as well as options for higher education

5. Reasonable cost of living- home and land prices, healthcare, taxes, etc

6. Employment- stable, if not growing

7. Environment- clean, low pollution

8. Family oriented- places to go, things to do

9. Travel- airport within 30-45 min drive

I agree regarding Burlington, VT and would specifically recommend Stowe or Montpelier (which is the state capital). I find Montpelier especially appealing as it offers far more than one would expect for it's smaller population and is a beautiful town. Both Stowe and Montpelier are around 30 minutes east/northeast of Burlington and the airport. The schools in both areas are excellent and the area overall has an unemployment rate around 6%.

City of Montpelier About Montpelier
Town of Stowe, Vermont - Home
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Old 01-29-2012, 08:39 AM
 
570 posts, read 1,333,326 times
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Syracuse, NY fits most of the criteria.
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