<p>^^^ All that is very true. While I live in a very very small town, it is not a typical Vermont community. Because it is a resort area, we have an eclectic mix of folks here. Some are natives. Some are blue collar workers. Some work in the tourist service industry. Some have not been to college. But we also have many, many who elected to live here but who grew up in other parts of the country and were educated (often well) outside the area. We have many professionals who live here. There is a mix of socio-economical levels. Actually the mix of people is one thing that makes it interesting instead of all people of the same class. While this area is not for all people, some have chosen this for the lifestyle and love it. Our small town, however, is worlds apart in a cultural sense than some small towns just 15 miles away (as well as many others in the state), where I would not wish to live. Sly_vt lives in a bigger “town” (small city) that has the elements she described (and we have access to it frequently) and bethieVT lives outside another VT city (small by other states’ standards) which is also not a typical small VT town. My town is more rural and smaller than their towns but all are not typical of many VT small towns at all, in terms of who lives here and what cultural things are available and so on. </p>
<p>In some earlier post, someone said something about living in a small town and being close to all the kids’ activities in terms of convenience. But where I live, that is not necessarily the case. While some of my kids’ activities were through school or in the local community nearby (still requiring a car!..no walking, no public transportation), many of their activities involved LONG car drives on a very regular basis all over the region. I would say that both my husband and I put 100 miles per day on each of our cars easily when our children lived at home. So, in a small town, you may have to drive further for all the enriching activities, plus you can’t walk and there is no public transportation. Where sly_vt lives, you can walk to some things. My kids did one activity her D did and we went to that (not the only activity they did!) five days per week and it was 25 miles away and entailed my staying during the activity (and my kids also had activities on a regular basis that were 50 miles or more away). </p>
<p>I have to say that I live in a very beautiful place and so whenever I go to cities and bigger places, which can be fun, it sure is always nice to drive through the mountains and come home to this gorgeous place.</p>