ABSTRACT
Vermont, a small state in northern New England, looms large in the North American geographical imagination as a rural place. For over a century, the state has billed itself as a wholesome and beautiful landscape; tourists come here to ski, view colourful fall foliage, buy local cheese and maple syrup, and stay in ‘cosy’ bed and breakfasts (Hinrichs 1996). In many respects, the rural idyll deployed here is very similar to notions of rurality in the United Kingdom, with its mix of pastoral landscapes, forests, small villages, and associated assumptions of healthy living, traditional lifestyles, and ideal childhoods (O. Jones 1997; Bunce 1994; Matthews, Taylor et al. 2000). Although any place in Vermont is located just a few hours drive from the major urban centres of Boston, New York, and Montreal, it is by one census measure the most rural state in the nation. Most of Vermont’s residents (61.8 per cent) live in small towns and villages (Northeast Midwest Institute 2005). The population is predominately white, or Euro-American (98 per cent according to the Centre for Rural Studies and Vermont Centre for Geographic Information 2005). Browsing through the state’s popular glossy magazine, Vermont Life, one might get the impression that this is one of the most cohesive and homogenous populations imaginable. However, research with young people living in rural Vermont unsettles any notion of uniform or stable geographies.
