West Upstate NY, Western Mass, Brattleboro, Keene, Providence (live, best, crime)
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I'm very interested to keep learning about and comparing these cities within a 3.5 hour drive from Brooklyn, NY:
In Western upstate NY:
Saratoga Springs, NY
Albany, NY
Rhinebeck, NY
Woodstock, NY
New Paltz, NY
Others
In Western Massachusetts:
Northampton, VT
Hadley, VT
Greenfield, VT
Leverett, VT
Sunderland, VT
Others
Brattleboro, VT
Maybe others in Southern Vermont
Providence, RI
(Not Connecticut.)
These too even though they're 4ish hours from Brooklyn:
Ithaca, NY
Keene, NH
Which one(s) fit the most of this criteria?
* Rural yet within 30-min. drive of a liberal city with reasonable number of culture, activities, healthy food, and jobs (say Northampton size or bigger)
* Strong local/farm/organic/health food culture (farmers markets, food coops, farmstands, CSAs, pick-your-own, farm-to-table restauraunts, etc.)
* 20% or higher are racial/ethnic minorities
* Beautiful mountain/hill views and hikes
* Great swimming (rivers, lakes, creeks, or warm ocean)
* A lot of mid-20s to mid-40s people around
* Good schools preschool to high school
* Low to medium crime, not super high
* Significant feel of and openness to hippie/bohemian/nature-lover/health-conscious/homesteady/crunchy/healer/"alternative" folks
* Strong social services options for struggling folks
* Artistic, creative, expressive, values artists/musicians/poets/dancers/etc.
I can give you the lowdown on Keene and Brattleboro, as I grew up right around there.
Rural- Both are decent size towns (15-20k), and you are within easy driving distance to Springfield and Northampton. Northampton is basically like a small town version of pre-gentrified San Francisco. I love that place. Nashua is also an hour away.
Organic culture- There's plenty of local, fresh produce. Growing up in summers, my mom only bought fruits/veggies from the farm stand in our neighborhood. There's also coops in both towns.
Diversity- This is where these places fall flat. Both are overwhelmingly (95%+) white. That is pretty standard for small town New England though.
Outdoors- Keene is nestled in a beautiful valley close to Mt. Monadnock and plenty of hiking areas. Ditto for Brattleboro.
Youth- Both NH and VT are aging states that don't get a ton of influx from outside the area. While it certainly isn't a DINK paradise, there's enough young people around.
Schools- Both areas have good schools. I went through the public system almost my entire career and got a pretty good education.
Crime- Very little in both areas.
Openness- Brattleboro definitely wins in it's hippie/weirdo/alternative culture. It is very liberal and open to alternative things. Keene to an extent also, but definitely not as much.
Social Services- Honestly don't know about this one.
Arts culture- Both areas have pretty strong arts scenes for being small towns.
I've also spent a lot of time in Providence (College Hill neighborhood) and love that city. It's dominated by Brown, so it has all the restaurants, shops, events that support the population there, and is very walkable. The neighborhood is lively but not crazy, and the housing is beautiful. It's one of those places I would absolutely short-list on moving to if I ever wanted a calmer urban experience than here in New York. It is expensive by local standards though.
"In Western upstate NY:
Saratoga Springs, NY
Albany, NY
Rhinebeck, NY
Woodstock, NY
New Paltz, NY
Others"
These cities are all in Eastern upstate NY!
This...
In terms of the criteria, Ithaca may(key word) be the best overall choice out of the places listed. I say that, because it literally can offer all of those things in its immediate/metro area. Even some of the suburbs/communities outside of Ithaca would fit like Northeast Ithaca and the village of Lansing.
New Paltz may be a sleeper and fits the majority of the list as well(only question mark may be the jobs aspect, but Kingston and Poughkeepsie aren't too far away).
Both have colleges in their communities and in turn, will skew younger.
I thought about a place like Delhi, which also has a SUNY campus and fits some of the criteria. Oneonta, which has 2 colleges as well, is about 30 minutes away, but only has about 13,000 people.
Cobleskill also came to mind for similar reasons.
Hudson would have been nice, due to its train access into NYC, but schools are so-so. Nearby Chatham would fit, minus the demographics in terms of a high enough percentage.
Catskill is similar to Hudson minus the train access.
Saugerties would also fit, but its demographics would miss the mark.
Its 20%+ LGBT and the neighboring Amherst, MA has three major colleges in it, which give it a young, liberal and diverse population to pour in. Its also very mountainy and unlike Upstate NY and PA, not much in the way of drug use
Also very hipstery and artsy. You should check it out, it fits your criteria to a T.
"In Western upstate NY:
Saratoga Springs, NY
Albany, NY
Rhinebeck, NY
Woodstock, NY
New Paltz, NY
Others"
These cities are all in Eastern upstate NY!
Whoops! Yes "Western" was totally a typo! Meant Eastern.
(My reasons for preferring Eastern upstate NY to Western upstate NY by the way are is Eastern is closer car or train/bus ride to NYC and to Massachusetts/Vermont/NH/RI, plus heard winter is at least somewhat warmer, shorter, less snow, or sunnier in Eastern than Western. Though Ithaca is in Western but sounds great so I'd maybe make an exception for Ithaca.)
Thank you, all! Been enjoying visiting some of the cities I listed lately for the first time. And I like that all those cities are pretty much within a 1-3ish hour drive of eachother for trips and expanded social/dating network.
Its 20%+ LGBT and the neighboring Amherst, MA has three major colleges in it, which give it a young, liberal and diverse population to pour in. Its also very mountainy and unlike Upstate NY and PA, not much in the way of drug use
Also very hipstery and artsy. You should check it out, it fits your criteria to a T.
Also great hiking in and nearby!
Northampton doesn’t fit the demographic criteria mentioned, but Amherst does.
I don’t know about the drug use comment either, given that drug use can vary in terms of where and the type of use.
Pioneer Valley in Western Mass is great, including Northampton, Easthampton, Deerfield, Greenfield, Amherst and others. It has a good regional identity. Also the Berkshires-- Pittsfield, North Adams... None of these places have the racial diversity you seek but do have class diversity and lots of other good things. Places like Rhinebeck are for rich New York City people. New Paltz, Rosendale, Woodstock are nice-- more West Side than East Side in terms of the NYC influence. Cooperstown, Cazenovia, Oneonta and so many other nice towns in east-central NY seem great. If you want racial diversity in small towns/rural areas you may have to leave New York and New England.
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