West Virginia, Maine, Vermont or rural New York?
My family is retiring soon and I'm planning on moving with them. We're trying to decide between West Virginia, Maine, Vermont or rural New York.
We're looking for 15+ rural acres, somewhere colder than the south, where we've lived our entire lives. We'd prefer 5 months or so of winter but we'd like to avoid 8 months of winter, like some areas seem to have. We'd also like to get away from the southern culture if possible. We're not really concerned with the city life or job opportunities. As long as we live within an hour or so of a city we'd be fine.
We absolutely love the scenery in West Virginia. Our concerns are that it's still close to the southern culture that we're trying to avoid. And the land is rugged and steep, it may not be as usable as we'd like.
We're seriously considering Maine because there are a lot of properties in our price range. Plus we love the outdoors, hiking and my family loves fishing. There's lots of water in Maine.
Vermont and rural New York also look very beautiful though.
Which would you suggest for our family? Which would you choose and why?