looking for the Seattle of New England (Burlington, Brattleboro: home, job market)

[cam15]

Might Burlington, VT be similar to Seattle in culture? My family just moved from Seattle to the Boston area last April and to make a long story short, we hate it here. As much as I'd love to move back to the Northwest, we're trying to stay near extended family in Western MA and NY. We're looking for a place with access to nature, friendly people, progressive ideas, polite drivers, and a more relaxed, laid-back culture. We like Vermont's laws on naturopaths and immunizations. Yes, the weather is quite different than Seattle, but at least it's a bit cooler than Boston. We are a young family looking for a good place to raise our kids.

[vter]

The Burlington area has the qualities you mention...BUT....what about work? Not only is the housing market very tight, the job market is too.
EDIT: Also...I'd consider checking out Portland, Maine.

[BickleTravis]

Originally Posted by cam15

Might Burlington, VT be similar to Seattle in culture? My family just moved from Seattle to the Boston area last April and to make a long story short, we hate it here. As much as I'd love to move back to the Northwest, we're trying to stay near extended family in Western MA and NY. We're looking for a place with access to nature, friendly people, progressive ideas, polite drivers, and a more relaxed, laid-back culture. We like Vermont's laws on naturopaths and immunizations. Yes, the weather is quite different than Seattle, but at least it's a bit cooler than Boston. We are a young family looking for a good place to raise our kids.

It depends.
Are you independently wealthy? If so, Burlington might be for you.
If you're intending to support yourself and your family on earned income, stay away from Burlington and Vermont in general.

[western mass and love it]

You say you have extended family in Western Mass,have you not heard of Northampton. Though nowhere near the size of Seattle it has that type of feel. It is also a 1.5 hour drive to Boston,2.5 to NYC and about 3.5 to Burlington.

[rosie74]

Can I trade places with you? I moved to Seattle from the northeast in June and am ready to go home already.

All kidding aside, lower New England is definitely more hustle and bustle (especially with the drivers, who are downright aggressive) than the Pacific Northwest. Upper New England will be calmer and more rural, but with nastier winters. Are you working in the Boston area? I've known people who live in northern Connecticut and parts of New Hampshire who commute to Boston. I don't know if that would be practical for you or not. Portland is suppposed to be really nice, but also gets very harsh winter weather. I only mention that because I've seen how people in Seattle react to snow (it isn't pretty).

As far as friendliness goes...it depends on what you consider friendly. New England gets stereotyped a lot for being an aloof culture, but then again so does the Pacific Northwest. People in Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire won't be as in your face as Bostonians or transplanted New Yorkers, but you may have a tough time breaking in with people.

[Ellwood]

You might check into Saratoga NY and the outlying areas in the Adirondacks.

[Dakota1776]

I would also suggest checking out Portland, ME. It's close enough to Boston you guys could take a quick weekend trip to take a look around.

Burlington is a great place but it's more of a town than a city. Portland is still much smaller than Seattle but I think is more in line with what you're looking for.

[wmass]

I vote for Northampton, MA

[RunawayJim]

Portland, ME, Portsmouth, NH, Burlington, and maybe even Brattleboro, VT are probably the closest you'll get to the feel of Seattle. Northampton is nice, but it lacks the polite drivers that you'll find up north. Someone mentioned that people commute from parts of NH. Those parts of NH might as well be Boston suburbs (in fact, they really are). I'd throw in Concord, NH as well.

I'd normally throw in Providence, but while within the city, you have a lot of the qualities you're looking for, the people outside the city who come in for work lack them. What it has over all those other cities is that it's bigger, more jobs, more going on, etc. But you're not going to find a ton of polite drivers here. You're also not as close to nature as some of those other ones, but most of RI is very rural and within 20 min, you're outside of the city and into a beautiful rural area. It's pretty flat though, but we're 2-3 hours from the mountains of VT and NH and half an hour from some of the best beaches in the northeast.

[quickdraw]

Portland hands down