We’re always quick to think about the differences between the north and south, the east and west, and even the differences in each country. We rarely notice the similarities. People in the south tend to speak slower and may eat different foods than northerners while the west coast is said to be laid back and health conscious versus the east coast.
Now that I work in Vermont, live in Massachusetts and I’m from New York, I get a taste of lifestyle differences every single day. Some days I visit all three states and it gets real fun. When I first came to Mass., one of the few things I was told to recognize was the use of the word “wicked” and how to properly pronounce Worcester. It’s not Wor-Chester its Wah-ster, kinda.
After being living here for three and a half years, I’ve learned on my own that New Yorkers do not drive the same way Mass. drivers do…. Maybe this is the time to express how heavy my bias is and that I’m guilty of disliking other state’s customs.
If you drive in Mass., you WILL be cut off and you will get stuck behind people who drive the exact speed limit and not one notch faster. I’ve also seen a few hesitant drivers who contemplate pulling out or turning as well as not realizing the right of way. It also doesn’t help that the roads in North Adams are very difficult to get the hang of.
I read an article once that mentioned that New Yorkers have their own way of doing things and that might be true. I haven’t noticed much about the people in Vermont contrary to what people think, i.e. hipster stoners who live off of the land. There’s a lot of opioid use, just like the rest of the country has, and it also has the same strength and weaknesses as the rest of the country politically and economically.
The similarities have to do with geography and the beautiful rolling mountains. NY has the Adirondacks, VT has the Green Mountains and Mass. has the Berkshires. I lived in Maryland for a little and as much as I loved Ocean City, the flatlands and lack of fall foliage didn’t do it for me. Perhaps that’s why I haven’t gotten sick of these three states yet. They all have so much to offer and are generally doing the same thing. At least from my knowledge, the Berkshires’ art and music scene is rapidly growing on a large and small scale with support from locals. The same is happening in southern VT with the Vermont Arts Exchange and other small galleries. New York is a little different for that scene and I haven’t dabbled much in committees or groups, but there’s tons of entertainment, music and art in Albany and now in surrounding communities. All of which I was blind to growing up because I couldn’t wait to leave my small hometown and venture into the wonderful world of adults and bills and responsibilities.
I searched for common stereotypes in these three states and found this for Mass., Vermont and NY.
You may think Vermonter’s are hippies, but states exist in sections, and southern Vermont is not something to associate with the entire state. That also goes for Mass. and NY. I could go into a debate about upstate NY versus downstate, but I’ll leave that to the blogs with “20 ways you know you’re from Upstate NY.” It’s like an island inside a state inside a country. When people think of Mass. they think of Boston. When people think of NY they think of the city, and when people think of Vermont they think of mountains and hippies and legalized marijuana.
Yes Vermont has a lot of cattle and farmland, but SO DOES Mass. and NY. They probably have the same if not more. I always thought I was from the country growing up next to the Heldebergs, but 10 minutes any which way from there was much more country than what I thought country was. Even Maryland has country, and people only think of Baltimore and crabs. 
The moral of all of this is is that I’m a New Yorker living elsewhere and it’s pretty hard to adapt to other customs. I’m not sure why Mass. drivers don’t understand the right of way, but one day I hope to seek that answer. Vermont is doing pretty well in my book so far, except for that all the large towns are very far away from each other. I’ll always call NY home despite the taxes. There’s too much pride in being where your from to hate it. I’ll try my best not to tailgate the massholes for as long as live inside state lines….