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I am looking to move to one of the following cities/towns and I'd like to hear from people who have either visited or lived in one them how they compare. COVID-19 has made it difficult to visit these places in person and I could use some help in narrowing down which one fits my criteria the most.
1) Northampton & Amherst, Massachusetts(Smith College, Amherst, Mt. Holyoke, etc)
2) New Paltz, Woodstock, & Hudson, New York(Byrdcliffe Colony, Bard College, Fisher Center, etc)
3) Ithaca, New York(Cornell University, Johnson Museum of Art, Ithaca College, etc)
4) Burlington, Vermont
5) Portsmouth, New Hampshire
6) Peterborough & Hancock, New Hampshire(Macdowell Colony and several nationally recognized artists live in the surrounding area)
What I am looking for is:
» An intellectual area that has a high percentage of college graduates typically from a top tier university.
» There is a local art scene, art facilities, art galleries, and you can find one of the following: symphonies, opera, theater, museums, ballet, blues/jazz/cabaret venues, etc
» The art community consists of authentic artists.
» The city or town is racially tolerant. It doesn't have a long history of modern racial discrimination or state-wide racial inequality (such as many cities in mid-western states). And racial tolerance doesn't equal racial diversity, certain states below the Dixie line are good examples of this.
» Outdoor activities such as skiing or hiking can be found in under an hour
» Progressive with a good sense of local community.
» Has a decent amount of people between the age of 25 - 40
They all have their pros and cons so it is difficult to pick, even more so without visiting. Which of these cities/towns do you think have what I am looking for most? Which of these has the highest concentration of culture (especially high culture)?
EDIT: Removed Brattleboro, VT and Lebanon, NH.
Last edited by A_City_Fellow; 08-28-2020 at 06:45 PM..
1) Northampton & Amherst, Massachusetts- I'm very familiar with this area. I think it should be your top choice. It fits all your criteria. Springfield and Hartford are both under an hour away and offer more of the high culture you're looking for, like the symphony and opera. Boston isn't too far either.
2) New Paltz, Woodstock, & Hudson, New York- I'm not familiar with this area.
3) Ithaca, New York- It's a nice little city but very isolated. Larger cities are much further away.
4) Brattleboro, Vermont- I've been here many times. It's a nice little city but is not what you're looking for. Take it off your list. You'd probably go down to Northampton all the time anyway.
5) Burlington, Vermont- I lived here for a brief time. It's similar to Ithaca but not as isolated. Montreal, a world class city is just 1.5 hours away (depending on the border). It's light on the high culture you're looking for. It's very racially tolerant but not very racially diverse.
6) Lebanon & Hanover, New Hampshire- This area is ok, but I find it more "stuffy." I think it would be a better place to retire to. I'd take this off your list too.
7) Portsmouth, New Hampshire- It's a nice city but not quite what you're looking for. It's biggest plus is proximity to Boston.
8) Peterborough & Hancock, New Hampshire- I'm not familiar with this area
Thank you for your response, The_Quiet_One. I went ahead and removed Brattleboro from the list. As for the Hanover area, would you mind explaining what you mean by "stuffy"? Is it either snooty or stale (similar to Fairfield County, CT)?
I find Hanover on the snooty side. Lebanon is a nice, little cool town. But overall I find that whole area stale (as in less than invigorating). I think you'd be traveling often to see the events and places you want to see (probably to Burlington and Northampton, actually). And once you get out of Lebanon, you'll end up in the "live free or die" portions of NH real quick. Not that they're bad people, but I certainly wouldn't consider them progressive like what you're looking for.
I see now. I was concerned about both places in NH (Lebanon and Portsmouth) for the same reason. I do not have an issue with the tea party/libertarian crowd, but I agree, I wouldn't consider them progressive. I went ahead and removed it from the list, too.
1) Northampton & Amherst, Massachusetts- I'm very familiar with this area. I think it should be your top choice. It fits all your criteria. Springfield and Hartford are both under an hour away and offer more of the high culture you're looking for, like the symphony and opera. Boston isn't too far either.
2) New Paltz, Woodstock, & Hudson, New York- I'm not familiar with this area.
3) Ithaca, New York- It's a nice little city but very isolated. Larger cities are much further away.
4) Brattleboro, Vermont- I've been here many times. It's a nice little city but is not what you're looking for. Take it off your list. You'd probably go down to Northampton all the time anyway.
5) Burlington, Vermont- I lived here for a brief time. It's similar to Ithaca but not as isolated. Montreal, a world class city is just 1.5 hours away (depending on the border). It's light on the high culture you're looking for. It's very racially tolerant but not very racially diverse.
6) Lebanon & Hanover, New Hampshire- This area is ok, but I find it more "stuffy." I think it would be a better place to retire to. I'd take this off your list too.
7) Portsmouth, New Hampshire- It's a nice city but not quite what you're looking for. It's biggest plus is proximity to Boston.
8) Peterborough & Hancock, New Hampshire- I'm not familiar with this area
Not true about Ithaca. Syracuse is an hour away, if that and Rochester an hour and 40 minutes away. Let alone some other areas that are similar or a little bigger only minutes away(Binghamton and Elmira/Corning)
Also, Ithaca has a black mayor, a black school superintendent, about half of the school board is black, the city is about 17% Asian. It has also had black and Asian police chiefs and the previous mayor was a woman. So, it has had diversity in terms of leadership positions in the area.
It is also top 3 out of all metro areas in educational attainment in the country.
It has plenty of arts based events, with more in nearby areas(Syracuse, Cortland/Homer, Binghamton, Elmira/Corning, Auburn, Rochester, etc.).
There is a big Underground Railroad history in the area/region as well.
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 08-28-2020 at 09:30 PM..
Not true about Ithaca. Syracuse is an hour away, if that and Rochester an hour and 40 minutes away. Let alone some other areas that are similar or a little bigger only minutes away(Binghamton and Elmira/Corning)
Also, Ithaca has a black mayor, a black school superintendent, about half of the school board is black, the city is about 17% Asian. It has also had black and Asian police chiefs and the previous mayor was a woman. So, it has had diversity in terms of leadership positions in the area.
It is also top 3 out of all metro areas in educational attainment in the country.
It has plenty of arts based events, with more in nearby areas(Syracuse, Cortland/Homer, Binghamton, Elmira/Corning, Auburn, Rochester, etc.).
There is a big Underground Railroad history in the area/region as well.
Thank you, masssachoicetts, your post is very helpful. Based on your feedback and The_Quiet_One, I'm going to remove Portsmouth, NH from my list. I'm curious, why are you not a fan of Ithaca?
That is good to know, ckhthankgod. Ithaca's location does seem isolated to me, too. I'm not really interested in any of the surrounding cities, including Syracuse and Rochester. Ithaca does have a lot to offer on it's own so its location might still make it worth it.
Thank you, masssachoicetts, your post is very helpful. Based on your feedback and The_Quiet_One, I'm going to remove Portsmouth, NH from my list. I'm curious, why are you not a fan of Ithaca?
That is good to know, ckhthankgod. Ithaca's location does seem isolated to me, too. I'm not really interested in any of the surrounding cities, including Syracuse and Rochester. Ithaca does have a lot to offer on it's own so its location might still make it worth it.
Yes, Ithaca does have quite a bit on its own and the isolation statements could be due to its distance away from an interstate highway more so than being so far from other places. The information above illustrates this.
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