affordable md town for potter, gardener?

[goldenage1]

Originally Posted by izzydoeski

so wouldn't MD be further "advanced " compared to WI ? ( not politically, as that is a different animal, but in other things; water pollution laws, consumer protection laws, greenspaces, recycling)?

Maryland is very much the nanny state, in terms of laws protecting the environment and protecting consumers from themselves.

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by izzydoeski

Thanks for the comments!

I live at the bottom of WI, SW corner, about 30 min. east of the Mississippi River. We are right there next to Illinois.

Maybe "culture" is a book reading instead of the pool league, which in itself is a step up from just drinking at the local bar?
yes, its very republican here, and 2 families run the town and are related to practically everyone in the county ( big families).
I even had some neighbors call the police on me for putting an anti- Scott Walker sign on my truck! ( he is our bought and paid for governor ( Koch bros. $$) who thinks he's running for president) Later, they apologized- they couldn't get themselves to vote other than republican, so they just didn't vote. We had a good turn out at the recall election ( even though we lost). I put up a lot of signs, as I just wanted people to think instead of knee-jerk voting.

When I lived in MN, it was "behind " compared to MI, so wouldn't MD be further "advanced " compared to WI ? ( not politically, as that is a different animal, but in other things; water pollution laws $$$$$$$$$$$$, consumer protection laws $$, greenspaces $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$, recycling $$$$$$$$)?


.

If you're looking for somewhere where there's not knee jerk voting then MD isn't the place, the recent Gubernatorial results notwithstanding.


My response to a couple other things in bold above.

Yes MD is "advanced", the problem is the cost of that advancement.

If my Town's bond counsel is correct sewer bills are going to double in the next two years and double again within five years after that. In the 30 years of my paying attention the bond counsel has never been wrong.

The localities are going to get hit with a huge bill over the next 10 to 20 years for storm water management and watershed improvement. My County, the smallest in area in the State and one of the smallest in population is looking at $2 BILLION for that.

Consumer protection laws aren't as intrusive statewide as other areas but some localities are.

Greenspace is a joke. Yes, technically there is a set aside fund for that which has 10s of millions of dollars in it. Technically. The reality is it's a piggybank to be raided by the Legislature for anything but greenspace. The new Governor is trying to fix that but is running into heavy opposition from........the Legislature.

The State Retirement System is on life support and the bill is going to come due within 10 years. Again, it became a piggybank.

Recycling is generally "encouraged" not required. One of the issues now being run into is that the exclusions of what can't be recycled (common stuff like plastic bottle caps) is almost as long as what can be recycled. Some recyclers refuse to take newspapers so that ends up in the landfill.

[westsideboy]

Originally Posted by izzydoeski

Thanks for the comments!

I live at the bottom of WI, SW corner, about 30 min. east of the Mississippi River. We are right there next to Illinois.

Maybe "culture" is a book reading instead of the pool league, which in itself is a step up from just drinking at the local bar?
yes, its very republican here, and 2 families run the town and are related to practically everyone in the county ( big families).
I even had some neighbors call the police on me for putting an anti- Scott Walker sign on my truck! ( he is our bought and paid for governor ( Koch bros. $$) who thinks he's running for president) Later, they apologized- they couldn't get themselves to vote other than republican, so they just didn't vote. We had a good turn out at the recall election ( even though we lost). I put up a lot of signs, as I just wanted people to think instead of knee-jerk voting.

When I lived in MN, it was "behind " compared to MI, so wouldn't MD be further "advanced " compared to WI ? ( not politically, as that is a different animal, but in other things; water pollution laws, consumer protection laws, greenspaces, recycling)?


.

Thanks for the reply. I guess the next question would be what your budget for housing is, and how much space you need for your gardening/ceramics work.

[thunderkat59]

I just spent time in a magnificent little town called Chestertown. After living most of my life in PA, VT etc, I said I would never go back north, but I was simply blown away by this town. We walked the main streets and visited a weekly farmers market. Everyone was very friendly and seemed to know each other, just like the "Willoughby" episode of Twilight Zone, lol. Really though, I would suggest looking at Chestertown if you are serious about MD

And, so close to a lot of major cities and airports.