[pauldorell]

I'm retired and waiting for my girlfriend to retire. We live in Evanston, IL, and I'm investigating various retirement locations. It's way too crowded and expensive around Chicago, and I've had it with the entire Midwest anyway. I grew up in England and New York, and my girlfriend is also an English transplant. At the moment I'm looking at the Burlington, VT area and the Northampton, MA area. We would like a house in a region that's sparsely populated and scenic, with a relatively well-educated population that isn't religious, and some culture. I’m not a great fan of cold weather, but think it serves as a filter to keep the population down. Actually, a weak local economy helps for that too, so I don’t mind the fact that Vermont is unindustrialized. Most of my life I've been politically neutral, and have found it difficult to care about politics at all. But with the financial crisis and dysfunction in Washington, it's hard not to take a position. Basically, I don't think the American capitalist system works, and it's going to have to be modified despite lots of squealing from the rich. I think most Republicans, who aren’t rich and never will be, have been voting against their best interests since Reagan. I find the American public shockingly uninformed, which is not to say that the Howard Deans of the country have everything figured out or are even articulate enough to be effective. The Democrats are a far cry from saviors.

Anyway, I thought this thread was informative: Vermont vs. New Hampshire. What do you think about people like us moving to Vermont? We would be bringing new money to the state that wouldn’t have been there otherwise. I would also be interested to hear what people think about the pros and cons of various parts of the state, and in comparison to other parts of New England. I’ve moved around all my life, so local acceptance is not a high priority, but we don’t want to move into a swarm of angry natives.

[arctichomesteader]

Burlington is far from sparsely populated, and in the rest of the state with few exceptions, those political beliefs may not be so popular (thinking "highly educated and non-religious", as you'll find many highly educated and also religious people in rural Vermont, but it may take a while to figure out who's religious and who isn't, and being anti-capitalist is growing old with many rural VT'ers who simply want some jobs and less taxes). What are your attitudes towards guns, hunting, etc.? Someone who's against both of those will find themselves uncomfortable in much of the state.

As for areas that are sparsely populated, you'd need to go to a town like Glastenbury, Ferdinand, or for something very close to wilderness, Lewis (population 0 since 1910). There's many small towns in between those extremes not far from the few cities we have.

I'd suggest the Northeast Kingdom as the most sparsely populated and scenic part of the state but you'd probably find yourself surrounded by angry natives with your views...

[pauldorell]

Compared to where I live now, the entire state of Vermont is sparsely populated. The population of Vermont is only about 622,000, whereas Cook County alone has about 5,295,000 people. The really sparse areas that you mention are probably too sparse for us.

As far as religion is concerned, we don't mind religious people, but some of them might mind us. The town where we live in now is liberal and well-educated, but more religious than we would like. Ordinarily the religion part isn't relevant, but I think it can create an obstacle to befriending some people.

I am a gun owner, though it was illegal here until the 2008 Supreme Court ruling. I have it primarily for protection. I'm not interested in hunting but don't oppose hunting.

Thanks for your comments.

[harry chickpea]

I see you looking in Portland and Bangor as well. What you are seeking doesn't exist.

The closest you are going to get is a fairly small university town. There are individuals around that have risen beyond the crazy party politics and are not activists, but they are just that - individuals. If you feel the need, you can PM me, otherwise, maybe Ashland OR, maybe parts of Simi Valley, maybe outside of the research triangle, and maybe parts outside of Cambridge MA..

[MarCii]

No, do NOT consider Simi Valley. It has none of the things you are looking for, and too much of the things you want to get away from.

I don't know how you're going to determine the religion (or lack of) of your potential neighbors, but you will find that in most of Vermont your religion is irrelevant. There aren't too many evangelical, knock-on-your-door-every-Sunday types, and the Calvinists are pretty much gone There is an ingrained 'mind your own business' streak in Vermonters and that extends to your religious practices too.

[pauldorell]

Originally Posted by harry chickpea

I see you looking in Portland and Bangor as well. What you are seeking doesn't exist.

The closest you are going to get is a fairly small university town. There are individuals around that have risen beyond the crazy party politics and are not activists, but they are just that - individuals. If you feel the need, you can PM me, otherwise, maybe Ashland OR, maybe parts of Simi Valley, maybe outside of the research triangle, and maybe parts outside of Cambridge MA..

I was looking at Portland because my daughter was living there, but she no longer does. For a major city, I think it's not bad. Generally, I'm not interested in the West Coast. I lived in Eugene in 1975, have been to Berkeley a couple of times, and have a sister who lives in El Granada, near Half Moon Bay. Bangor looks too rural for me. I agree, though, that a small university town would be good.

[pauldorell]

Originally Posted by MarCii

No, do NOT consider Simi Valley. It has none of the things you are looking for, and too much of the things you want to get away from.

I don't know how you're going to determine the religion (or lack of) of your potential neighbors, but you will find that in most of Vermont your religion is irrelevant. There aren't too many evangelical, knock-on-your-door-every-Sunday types, and the Calvinists are pretty much gone There is an ingrained 'mind your own business' streak in Vermonters and that extends to your religious practices too.

As I said above, the West Coast is currently low on our list. I'm not that concerned about religion as long as people mind their own business.

[joe moving]

some sites suggest both burlington and northampton, ma to be 80+% democrat voting.

religion:
burlington says 35% religious
northampton says 31%

the "norm" is something like 50%.

we looked at northampton area... i think you might find what you are looking for there, and it might be a little more mild weather wise vs burlington. northampton is a bit smaller but lots of sizable towns around it and the whole 5 college community (amherst, mt holyoke, smith, hampshire and umass amherst).

There are no real mountains around that area of MA that I could find and found it to be also very densely populated. overall I think it was not a big enough change from where we were to what we wanted. i think the walmart in the same parking lot of the whole foods was sort of funny.

[pauldorell]

Originally Posted by joe moving

some sites suggest both burlington and northampton, ma to be 80+% democrat voting.

Yes, I did the same research. The demographics of both places look good to me. But, as you say, the Northampton region is less scenic. I became interested in Northampton because one of my old college professors retired there and likes it. I also heard good things about it from someone I knew in Boston. I would like to get more personal feedback from people who are highly familiar with Burlington.

[joe moving]

since you are retired do you have the option to just go spend some time in burlington?

i hear that ithaca is similar to burlington. i have been to ithaca and northampton but not burlington- ironically never had the desire to go there having been to ithaca and northampton.

do you have more specific desires about the place where you will live. good luck and since you are retired, you can always easily move!!! congratulations.