I visited Vermont in the 1980’s and in November of 2022. I think it has a reputation as a liberal bastion it doesn’t quite deserve. Either my teenage self didn’t pick up on the situation or things have changed over the decades. During my recent visit, I heard blatantly white supremacist advertising on the radio. The NAACP is worried that Vermont is on the cusp of becoming a white supremacist hotbed and the Southern Poverty Law Center says it has more hate groups per capita than most other states (even more than my current state of Missouri, which is really saying something). No place is immune to this, of course, but still. As an outsider living in a “diverse” city, I think it’s easy for people who haven’t been to Vermont and even for many Vermonters themselves to think the state is filled with bunch of hippie progressives when the reality is Vermonters generally don’t have to deal with the effects of racially-based inequality on a daily basis. Beautiful place, though.

• My city is about 45% White and 45% Black. When the vast majority of the population comes from just 2 ethnicities, it doesn’t seem very “diverse” to me. YMMV

You're welcome. Good luck with your move!

Zones are more important for perennials than for annuals. But since you asked, plan for zone 4 and hope to be pleasantly surprised.

Even easier than ranked choice voting is approval voting, which is what we use in my city in the Midwest (for statewide elections, we’re still stuck with party primaries). But in my city, in the primary, all candidates are listed on the same ballot. You can vote for as many candidates as you like. If you like them all, you can vote for them all. If you like one, vote for one. Or any number of candidates in between. Then the top two candidates face off in the general election. In the first two election cycles since we implemented approval voting, we were able to break the stranglehold old-school Dems have had in the city since 1949. So, now we’ll see what the Progressives can do. (Republicans will never win in this city).

Hello from Missouri! 👋 Ticks are horrible here. My dog gets a NexGard chew once a month. It doesn’t prevent fleas and ticks from getting on her but it’ll kill them as soon as they bite.

You should definitely visit any area you are considering, even if the state seems to be ideologically aligned. No state is homogenous.

Just like the “Who’s Who” lists. 😂