Vermont - it's very green and rather alternative

We spent a day driving up here from the Berkshires, and what a contrast it proved to be. Not so much the scenary. That's still attractively hilly (perhaps more so), but so covered with tress that you don't get any sense of grandeur. To be frank in 6 hours of driving, it all got a bit samey:


No, the contrast is in the way of life. Where the Berkshires seemed to be all pristine (indeed prissy) white clapboard houses, ladies who do charity work and overpriced precious inns, Vermont seems to be much more alternative on the one hand and middle America on the other. Burlington has all the things we are used to in the US: malls on each main arterial road complete with Barnes & Nobles and chain restaurants (not a bad thing). There are many more people of size than we saw further south, and it has its fair share of the homeless and prominent credit union establishments.

On the other hand, the whole state seems to be much more environmentally conscious - we've never seen so many Toyota Prius's and lots of houses have solar panels. There was even an anti-war protest in Church Street Mall whilst we were there - something I'm sure wouldn't be countenenced in Lenox!

In fact, in many ways it reminds us a lot of Stroud. The question is: is that a good thing?