J.Spin":2k2jdcwd said:
On that note, I was just up in the NEK (Barton) on Saturday at my cousin's sugarbush, where I did manage to get some skiing in. While I'm not sure I'll ever find myself living there either, I'd be interested in hearing about what turned you off from the NEK (or other VT locations aside from the Burlington area for that matter). I know this is only somewhat ski-related and more lifestyle-related, and I don't want to get too personal. But, based on your last response it seems like a very intriguing skiing/lifestyle discussion point, and as a VT local I'm rather interested in what lifestyle is like around the state, especially from a skier's perspective.
J.Spin
J-
Regarding the NEK, it was a huge lifestyle issue. The NEK is an interesting place culturally and points towards a lot of the issues that are happening in less urban areas. Kids grow up, turn 18, and then they decide whether they are going to go to college and move to the city or get a local job, get married, and get knocked up (or do the knocking, whichev, same result). The result is ridiculously few people my age group in that area (29, I would consider any one +/- 5 years or so applicable) without kids. Plymouth has the same issue but not as bad and the University is bigger and really brings a youthful feeling to the area. Culturally, there really is nothing going on up there either (at least, from a young professional from an urban background perspective). Catamount Arts is about it outside of LSC. Politically and sociologically, the NEK is also pretty right leaning, which I could have probably lived with but it was just another "difference" that I noticed coming from an area metro area that leans way far the other way. Culturally, recreation for most NEK'ers means hunting on Saturday and Nascar on Sunday. Nothing against that, but another difference. Pretty much no one I knew skied living in StJ whereas half the people I work with ski down here. The drive to Burlington or Tilton/Concord to do anything "city like" or shopping was tough and of course the drive to the Boston area for visiting friends and family was tough. We found out that the Notch is a huge mental barrier going both ways, not just a physical one.
We just felt like outsiders. I got the same vibe from a lot of transplants up there. I did a lot of reading about Vermont history while I was up there. I was always amused by the whole mystique of being a "Vermonter" and how we were told (half jokingly half dead serious) that we would never be Vermonters. It really is true, though. Going over to Burlington always felt like going home. On one of my first visits, I called Burlington "a little slice of Cambridge in Vermont." I used to drive over there Sunday nights to rock out at Metronome's Sunday Night Mass which was the only electronic dance music night in Vermont that I knew of. Leaving Burlington at 2AM, getting home at 3:45AM and getting to work at 8AM was fun and all. Sure beat the night life in StJ where the local bar "The Dawg House" had been shut down a few times due to bar fights and people attacking each other with bottles. We tried one bar in StJ and gave it up pretty quick. We definitely weren't from around there.
All that said, what a place to raise a kid. The NEK is all about families and it seems many younger folks that left later returned to raise their own kids. StJ Academy of course of excellent academics and, ehm, recreational opportunities. Most of the parents seemed connected through their kids. We didn't have kids so we just didn't connect.
Whereas with NH, half the residents are originally from MA already. Or if not from MA, then most have family and friends in MA or a recent relative that moved up. NH is very much linked in with MA, especially southern NH. People are not as friendly as the NEK but damn did we ever feel welcome moving in here. It was the exact opposite feeling of moving to VT and our expectations were exactly reversed expecting no welcome here and friendly neighbors in VT. Culturally, with the University right there and a few cities within an hour, substantial improvement and we have seen more friends and family in six months than we did in over two years living in VT. Burlington area may have been different, but so much of VT is rural with aging populations and young people moving away.... As I recall, Chittiden County accounts for over 25% of the statewide vote in national elections and that trend is just going to continue as the city siphons off the younger people away from rural areas. Just my take on things....
