Jud Horner and John Lamppa producing Real Green Foods salad dressings with microgreens at Butterfly Bakery of Vermont
In a limited series that hit Netflix on January 1, sets of identical twins follow different diets — one vegan, one omnivorous — for eight weeks to see how food choices and lifestyle affect their bodies.
“You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment” attempts to determine “if it’s about your greens, not your genes,” as the trailer says. Spoiler alert: The Stanford University clinical trial on which the series is based showed that consuming a healthy vegan diet improves overall cardiovascular health.
The study had its detractors, as nutritionist, author and public health advocate Marion Nestle pointed out recently on her Food Politics blog. But besides being “clever and adorable,” Nestle wrote, the twin approach “is further evidence for the benefits of largely plant-based diets.”
Vermont’s growing vegan food scene makes it easy for consumers to jump into the plant-based world, whether full-on or as a “flexitarian,” occasionally substituting vegan for animal-based products. Heck, we’ve even got vegan cheese and creemees now.
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Many of these products tout wellness — both for the people eating them and for the planet. Here are two new Vermont companies that aim to make going green delicious.
— J.B.
‘Greens on Greens’
Real Green Foods, realgreenfoods.com
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Courtesy
Real Green Foods’ Ginger Turmeric dressing on greens
“Is your salad dressing hurting your healthy diet?” asks a headline on Harvard Health Publishing. The article proceeds to cite a registered dietitian who notes that people often drench bowlfuls of fresh, nutritious vegetables with prepared dressings that are high in calories, sodium, sugar and saturated fat.
For the past 15 months, a company called Real Green Foods has been producing a line of refrigerated salad dressings that aims to let people have their dressing and eat healthily, too.
On the morning of January 12, two of Real Green’s three cofounders, John Lamppa and Jud Horner, were at Butterfly Bakery of Vermont’s 16,000-square-foot facility in Barre bottling the largest weekly production run to date of their six dressings.
A Butterfly Bakery employee working with the duo weighed handfuls of fresh microgreens and whirred them in a huge blender to stir into the previously mixed dressing bases.
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All Real Green dressings contain microgreens, from Lamppa’s favorite maple mustard flavor, made with syrup from Nott Family Farm in Hartford, to Horner’s preferred — and seriously spicy — serrano lime. They’re especially proud of their new Green Goddess, which — like all of their dressings, but unlike most by that name — is vegan.
Essentially, Lamppa said, Real Green enables people to eat “greens on greens.”
The company’s carefully composed mix of organic microgreens is grown sustainably indoors on a Massachusetts farm, in soil with a recirculating irrigation system.
Their proprietary combination includes tender shoots of broccoli, pea, radish and red cabbage. The greens are Real Green’s not-so-secret nutritional weapon, adding flavor and body while keeping fats, sugar, salt and calories low and bringing vitamins and minerals to the party.
The bottle declares that Real Green’s are “the healthiest dressings,” and Horner offered a chart of comparative numbers to prove it.
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The cofounders believe Real Green’s health halo merits their premium price of about $8.99 per 8.5-ounce glass bottle. They are targeting a surprisingly open niche in the $4.1 billion U.S. prepared salad dressing market, as tracked by market research company IBISWorld.
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Jeb Wallace-Brodeur
Jud Horner and John Lamppa of Real Green Foods
Lamppa, 38, who now lives in Norwich, earned a PhD in protein engineering from Dartmouth College but deviated from an expected career in biopharmaceuticals to work in food startups. At one, he met Horner, 71, based in Hull, Mass., who has a long track record of working in consumer packaged goods.
“We made John the CEO because this was originally his idea,” Horner said. Plus, he added, Lamppa is a supertaster — someone with a highly sensitive palate who can detect subtle flavors that others cannot.
“I’m a picky eater,” Lamppa joked.
About five years ago, Lamppa recalled, he and Horner “started kicking around some ideas” featuring one of Lamppa’s food passions.
“I’ve been a big consumer of microgreens. I just love eating them. I love that they’re highly nutritious,” Lamppa said. Because microgreens contain the nutrients to power a growing plant, “They’re just more nutritionally dense than a lot of lettuce or other leafy greens out there,” he explained.
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“I said, ‘Hey, it’d be great if microgreens were more readily available beyond just the clamshell at the grocery store, like in everyday products like soups, salad dressings and beverages.’”
Since the early days of recipe development, the Real Green team has partnered closely with Butterfly Bakery owner Claire Georges to refine, blend and bottle its dressings.
“Claire really brought these to life and even had some excellent flavor suggestions, like the Ginger Turmeric,” Lamppa said.
Real Green is among Butterfly Bakery’s two dozen clients at its Barre facility, where Butterfly Bakery also produces its own specialty foods and Fat Toad Farm caramels, which Georges purchased in 2022.
Horner said the January 12 production run of 540 bottles was more than double what the company has been shipping weekly to its distributor, Black River Produce of North Springfield.
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With a third partner, Richard Madigan, the trio has so far self-funded the venture and its team of six with about $1 million. After an inaugural year of carefully controlled distribution to about a dozen stores, mostly in Vermont, where they solicited customer feedback, Horner said they were ready to expand. Their store count has tripled in the past two months, and they hope for 500 regional outlets within the next year.
Black River Produce purchaser Rebecca Johnson said Real Green stood out among the many small food startups who come knocking. She highlighted its “beautiful” packaging and said products touting health benefits “are huge in the co-ops and those kinds of stores.”
Seth Walker, a category manager for the three locations of Healthy Living market, agreed that the “slick look” helps Real Green dressings sell, along with the fact that they’re fresh, made locally and can be sold beside the produce.
“Our customer base is looking for this kind of thing,” Walker said. “They check all the right boxes.”
— M.P.
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Deli Delights
Mighty Mudita, mightydelislices.com
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As a public middle and high school teacher, Andrew Wild saw growing activism around the climate crisis, particularly in his students’ food choices: They wanted more options that do less harm to the planet and animals.
Wild, 42, who holds a PhD in science education, wanted those options, too — and to do work that would contribute to reducing carbon emissions. Last year, he launched Mighty Mudita, a plant-based deli slice biz. Occasionally dressed in orange and green superhero garb that matches the brand’s logo, he’s adding lower-waste, locally sourced options to the plant-based protein scene at Burlington-area grocery stores and delis.
Wild and his wife, Rachelle Gould — an associate professor in the University of Vermont’s environmental program and Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources — started making their plant-based alternatives to Tofurky and Field Roast two years ago. They wanted to avoid the plastic waste and preservatives that come with those large-scale brands.
The Burlington couple shared their DIY results with friends of all dietary preferences. The taste testers’ encouraging feedback led Wild to leave his education career at the end of the last school year to run Mighty Mudita full time.
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Photos Courtesy Of Winter Caplanson/New England Food And Farm
A sandwich with Mighty Mudita deli slices
Over the summer, Wild figured out how to scale up the three-pound home recipe. He wasn’t yet licensed to sell Mighty Mudita products, so he donated batches to community organizations.
When he and Gould got married in July, instead of traditional wedding gifts, the couple asked friends and family to sponsor those donations. Wild also received a $9,500 loan through the City of Burlington’s partnership with Kiva, a microlending organization.
This month, the first three Mighty Mudita deli slice products hit the shelves of area stores such as Jake’s ONE Market in eight-ounce packages. Flavors include spicy chipotle carrot ($11.99) — based on garbanzo beans and peas and free of seitan and gluten — original seitan ($9.49), and sun-dried tomato and basil seitan ($9.99). They’ll be at local farmers markets and events throughout New England this winter, and in the grocery section and available on sandwiches in the delis of both locations of City Market, Onion River Co-op starting in late January. The original seitan slices are also available as a breakfast sandwich add-on at Henry Street Deli.
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“The market for plant-based proteins is growing quite a bit, so we’re super pumped that there’s somebody local doing it,” Cheray MacFarland, City Market’s director of community and marketing, told Seven Days. “And, unlike the big guys, you can explain all of the [Mighty Mudita] ingredients very easily.”
Many of those ingredients are locally sourced, including vegetables and Vermont Soy tofu. Ingredients from outside the state are mostly organic, including the vital wheat gluten used for the seitan, which is made in North America rather than from more common sources in Eastern Europe. The resulting products are lower in sodium and lack the lengthy list of preservatives found in national brands.
Mighty Mudita’s products are sold in reusable eight-ounce bags, rather than the standard 5.5-ounce packages. While it’s still plastic, Wild said, it’s thinner, representing a waste reduction of approximately 50 percent.
“I’m not attempting to imitate meat here,” Wild said, though the slices are often sold alongside it. He finds their texture satisfying in a similar way, and they’re protein rich — 18 grams per serving for the seitan, based on his rough estimate. “But it’s its own category,” he continued.
The seitan is versatile, but not as flavorful as the bean-and-pea-based slices; in addition to spicy chipotle carrot, Wild is finalizing the recipe for a smoky beet slice. He produces everything single-handedly in the commercial kitchen at Burlington Friends Meeting on North Prospect Street: 72 pounds in a seven-hour shift.
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Photos Courtesy Of Winter Caplanson/New England Food And Farm
Bagel with Mighty Mudita deli slices
Wild’s experience as an educator and familiarity with the scientific method came in handy as he tinkered with recipes and scaled up to launch the business. He’s on the third or fourth iteration of most of the pieces of equipment he uses. For shaping the plant-based protein into loaves, he’s moved from a hinged plumbing duct, which he bought at Lowe’s and lined with parchment, to candle forms to stainless-steel cheese molds.
But his background has been most useful in helping him deal with failure — something teachers inevitably experience as they try to meet the needs of students with different interests, advantages and disadvantages, Wild explained.
“Being able to rebound and learn from that has been helpful in dealing with challenges in the kitchen, like when a pile of bean-and-pea-based mush wasn’t fully cooked,” he said with a laugh. “I’ve been able to shrug it off and come back the next day without beating myself up too much.”
The business’ name is a double-barreled reference to joy: “Mighty” conveys a sense of happy activity, Wild said, and “mudita” is a Sanskrit word representing a state of empathetic joy. Regardless of whether Wild is wearing his orange cape as he samples and shares Mighty Mudita slices, his joy in this new path is mighty palpable.
MONTPELIER — The 20th annual Vermont Organics Recycling Summit (VORS) will be held on Wednesday, March 25, at the Montpelier Performing Arts Hub. It is organized by the Composting Association of Vermont (CAV) and the Agency of Natural Resources.
VORS brings together composters, farmers, businesses, educators, policymakers, and community leaders to advance solutions to keep clean organic materials out of landfills and return nutrients to Vermont soils. Additional workshops, tours, and hands-on learning opportunities will be held across the state on March 26..
“The 20th annual Vermont Organics Recycling Summit is guided by the theme, Compost! Feed the Soil that Feeds Us,” said Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Misty Sinsigalli. “This is a cornerstone gathering for Vermont’s growing organics recycling ecosystem. Whether you’re a backyard composter, a farmer, a municipal leader, or a sustainability advocate, VORS provides a critical forum for cross-sector collaboration.”
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A highlight of this milestone year will be the keynote presentation from Jayne Merner. Merner is a lifelong compost practitioner and co-owner / operator of Earth Care Farm in Rhode Island. She grew up working in compost production and now leads one of the region’s best-known large-scale compost operations. Merner also hosts The Composter podcast and has taught composting and soil stewardship around the world.
Each year, VORS fosters connections, sparks innovation, and helps translate policy and research into real-world action. The summit welcomes all who are passionate about creating healthier communities through composting.
CAV is partnering with ORCA Media to record sessions for post-event viewing.
To learn more and register for VORS, visit compostingvermont.org/vors-2026.
The Department of Environmental Conservation is responsible for protecting Vermont’s natural resources and safeguarding human health for the benefit of this and future generations. Visit dec.vermont.gov and follow the Department of Environmental Conservation on Facebook and Instagram.
SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – The Vermont National Guard held a change of command ceremony Saturday, with a new adjutant general taking the helm.
The passing of the state’s colors marked the transfer of authority. The flag used was the Green Mountain Boys flag, which has flown around the world.
Maj. Gen. Gregory Knight stepped down after seven years leading the Vermont National Guard. Incoming Adjutant General Harder, who previously served as deputy adjutant general, has 36 years of service across multiple roles within the organization.
At the ceremony, Knight reflected on the periods when the National Guard was deployed, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2023 floods and current overseas deployments with soldiers in Iran.
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“Our duty is to hand both the uniform and the mission forward in better condition than when we received it,” Knight said. “The mantle of leadership doesn’t belong to us. We borrow it for a time and our responsibility is to leave it stronger for the next person who wears it.”
Harder said the role carries significant personal meaning.
“Leading this organization is the honor of a lifetime,” Harder said.
Gov. Scott, a Republican, spoke to Harder’s qualifications during the ceremony.
“General Hank Harder’s service to our nation has proven him to be a distinguished leader with the right character and curiosity to continue the work of guiding the guard into the future,” Scott said.
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Harder acknowledged Knight’s tenure during the ceremony.
“Your leadership has left the Vermont National Guard stronger, more capable and ready for the future,” Harder said.
160 Vermont soldiers are currently in Germany on a training mission with Ukraine. Several hundred more are deployed in the Middle East.
Harder addressed the deployed service members during the ceremony.
“We are so proud of what they do each and every day and we’re supporting them from afar and we know what it’s like and we look forward to them completing their mission and coming home,” Harder said.
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Harder said the guard has no control over what happens once troops are overseas but is actively providing support to service members’ families in Vermont.
The ceremony was attended by Gov. Phil Scott, members of the military and family members.
New England has long attracted tourists and seniors alike with its rocky Atlantic coastal views and its distinctive old-timey streets, from historic seaports to classic riverside mill towns. For seniors looking to settle down on the East Coast, the region is also home to several affordable towns that balance savings and classic charm. Mystic, Connecticut, delivers quintessential coastal living on the Mystic River, anchored by the Mystic Seaport Museum and waterfront dining. And Pittsfield, in Massachusetts, offers a cozy mountain vibe in the Berkshires, with easy access to Pittsfield State Forest and the Colonial Theatre.
Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Located in the heart of the Berkshires, Pittsfield is one of western Massachusetts’ more cost-effective choices for retirees who want mountain scenery without Boston-area price tags. Day-to-day expenses can feel more manageable compared to many other New England communities, and Pittsfield’s typical home value hovers around $378,000, keeping homeownership within reach for more budgets.
The Berkshire Mountains provide some of Pittsfield’s most appealing views and outdoor recreation. Pittsfield State Forest features miles of trails, scenic picnic areas, and access to Berry Pond, the highest natural body of water in Massachusetts. Back in town, residents can keep things lively with cultural attractions like the Berkshire Museum and the Colonial Theatre, which hosts concerts, performances, and special events throughout the year.
For an easy way to stay active, the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail is a local favorite. This scenic path runs alongside lakes and wetlands, giving retirees a peaceful place to walk or bike while soaking in classic Berkshire views.
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Berlin, New Hampshire
Aerial view of Berlin, New Hampshire.
Named one of 2024’s “10 Best Places to Retire in New Hampshire” by NewHomeSource, Berlin is renowned for its affordability. The overall cost of living here is 21% lower than the US average and 26% below New Hampshire’s. But Berlin’s standout way to save is its housing costs—Zillow’s typical home value sits around $243,000, a figure that helps explain why Berlin remains a budget-friendly New England pick.
Along with classic small-town attractions like the North Country Bowling Center, Berlin’s natural surroundings anchor the community. Main Street runs parallel to the Androscoggin River, meaning after-dinner views are a regular delight at spots like Fagin’s Pub and River’s Edge Takeout. With the addition of Berlin’s new 3,200-foot Riverwalk, residents can stay active while enjoying the sights of this beautiful waterway.
A few miles from downtown Berlin will bring you to another outdoor haven. Jericho Mountain State Park is Berlin’s top attraction in every season, with miles of trails for hiking, biking, and snowmobiling. This rugged park also has tons of scenic overlooks, picnic spots, and a swimming beach to enjoy in the summertime.
North Adams, Massachusetts
Main Street storefronts in North Adams, Massachusetts.
North Adams, Massachusetts, is another budget-friendly town for seniors seeking affordable housing. North Adams also offers an overall cost of living 25% below the Massachusetts average, meaning there are plenty of ways to embrace an affordable lifestyle.
Affordability shows up most clearly in the local housing market, where the typical home value in the North Adams area is around $247,000—often far less than what you’ll find in many parts of the state. While some affordable small towns are labeled “boring” for their lack of attractions and activities, that could not be further from the truth in North Adams. This “Museum Town” made the top 10 list of “2024 Best Places to Retire in Berkshire County” by Niche, with users noting the town’s art scene and culture. Highlights include the Berkshire Art Museum and Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.
As the home of the Massachusetts College Of Liberal Arts, students and retirees alike are equally enthralled by the area’s natural landscape. Places like Natural Bridge State Park take the spotlight, offering a chance to see the only natural white marble bridge in all of North America. North Adams also serves as a gateway to a wealth of other picturesque landscapes and recreational opportunities. Whether boating at Windsor Lake, hiking the Hoosac Range Reserve, or taking the Cascades Trail for views of a 40-foot waterfall, natural beauty is around every corner.
Greenfield, Massachusetts
A beautiful street in Greenfield, Massachusetts.
Another cost-effective Massachusetts option is Greenfield, a welcoming Franklin County town with around 18,000 residents. Compared to many communities in eastern Massachusetts, housing here is generally more affordable, while the overall cost of living often lands below the state average. For retirees who want a relaxed pace of life with scenic surroundings, Greenfield is an appealing place to call home.
Greenfield sits near the meeting point of the Deerfield and Connecticut Rivers, giving the area easy access to water views and outdoor recreation. Energy Park, one of the community’s beloved green spaces, offers gardens, walking paths, and seasonal events. A short drive away, the Mohawk Trail—one of New England’s classic scenic routes—winds through mountain overlooks, forests, and charming small towns.
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That mix of scenery and value is part of the draw, especially with Greenfield’s typical home value landing around $324,000—often a gentler entry point than many Massachusetts markets. Nature lovers will also appreciate nearby Poet’s Seat Tower, where a short hike leads to panoramic views of the Connecticut River Valley. Combined with farmers markets, local arts, and quick access to western Massachusetts’ hills, Greenfield offers retirees a budget-friendly home base with plenty of scenery.
Mystic, Connecticut
Commercial dock in Mystic, Connecticut.
For another highly-rated retirement town, we can look to the charming community of Mystic, Connecticut. Niche rated this historic seaport village the #1 “Best Place to Retire in Connecticut” in 2024, applauding its attractions and coastal beauty. While housing is a bit more expensive here, the cost of living helps balance this out a bit, at 5% lower than the Connecticut average. Plus, with crime rates significantly below the national average, many are willing to spend a little more for increased peace of mind.
Similar to North Adams, Mystic boasts a variety of galleries and museums, such as the Mystic Museum of Art and the Denison Homestead Museum. Its shining attraction, however, is the Mystic Seaport Museum, the largest maritime museum in the country. With its remarkable collection of artifacts and a recreated seaport village, visitors can truly envision what life was like for 19th-century coastal New Englanders. For seniors interested in learning new skills, the museum also offers “See Classes” like Adult Beginner Sailing, Open Hearth Cooking, and Coopering for Beginners.
There are also plenty of ways to get out on the Mystic River in this namesake community. Whether boarding a Mystic River Cruise or docking your vessel at the Mystic Downtown Marina, boating is like breathing in this river town. And while prices can vary by neighborhood, the broader Mystic-area typical home value is around $400,000, reflecting the premium many retirees pay for that waterfront lifestyle.
Torrington, Connecticut
Coe Memorial Park in Torrington, Connecticut. Editorial credit: Mustafa H / Shutterstock.com.
Around two hours inland will bring us to Torrington, one of the most comfortable places to retire in Connecticut. Torrington offers a similar cost of living as Mystic, around 5% below the state average. With crime rates well below the state average, the similarities continue. However, the two towns differ in housing prices, with Torrington being the more affordable of the two. In fact, Torrington’s typical home value is about $287,000, making it an especially appealing option for retirees watching their budget.
In addition to historic and cultural attractions like the Hotchkiss-Fyler House Museum and Warner Theater, Torrington is famous for its state parks. Sunny Brook State Park is the more laid-back of the two, offering a blend of easy to moderate trails. The park’s senior-friendly paths take hikers through serene woodlands along the East Branch Naugatuck River. Similarly, Burr Pond State Park offers a tranquil escape with access to Burr Pond. The namesake centerpiece, an 85-acre manmade lake, is perfect for swimming, boating, and fishing. Locals can also enjoy scenic strolls along the 2.5-mile Walcott Trail, which traces the pond’s borders.
Central Falls, Rhode Island
Aerial view of Cogswell Tower in Central Falls, Rhode Island.
While the cost of living in Rhode Island is generally expensive compared to other states, you can still find affordable gems like Central Falls. Redfin (a real estate brokerage company) named this Rhode Island town the first of “10 Most Affordable Places to Live in Rhode Island in 2024.” A 3% lower cost of living compared to the Rhode Island average might not seem like much at first glance, but the savings add up.
Housing is where the difference really starts to show, and Central Falls’ typical home value sits around $371,000—often lower than many nearby Rhode Island markets while still keeping you close to Providence. As of 2024, NewHomeSource rated Central Falls #1 on their list of “The Best Places to Retire in Rhode Island.” Citing its “proximity to major cities” as a main perk, Central Falls residents have access to big-city attractions and healthcare facilities, like the Rhode Island Hospital in nearby Providence. For retirees looking to enjoy a gateway to urban centers without fully embracing life in the city, this Rhode Island town is the perfect in-between.
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Along with Providence attractions like the Roger Williams Park Zoo and the Providence Performing Arts Center, Central Falls offers countless small-town attractions for the perfect mix of lifestyles. Jenks Park is a charming local park in the center of town, ideal for your everyday dose of fresh air and footsteps. For a water-based adventure, Explorer River Tours is another popular Central Falls attraction, allowing locals to explore the Blackstone River and its scenic tributaries.
Newport, Vermont
Lake Memphremagog in Newport, Vermont.
For retirees seeking a small-town atmosphere with friendly locals and simple luxuries, consider the top-rated town of Newport. Its setting on the eastern shore of Lake Memphremagog gives the town a more out-of-the-way feel, resulting in a close-knit community. For introverted retirees, this means local attractions like the Newport Bike Path, MAC Center for the Arts, and Tavern on the Hill can be enjoyed at a tranquil pace.
With a cost of living 13% lower than the Vermont average and 12% lower than the US average, this means more of your savings can go toward leisure at Newport’s breathtaking reservoir. At 27 miles long, Lake Memphremagog is a beloved swimming, sailing, and fishing destination in the warmer months. Memphremagog Trails, on the other hand, can be enjoyed year-round. In the winter, these walking trails transform to snowshoe paths, granting stunning views of the lake in every season.
Another reason Newport stays on the “cost-effective” list is its housing: the town’s typical home value is around $247,000, leaving more room in the budget for lake days and weekend getaways. Locals can also appreciate the waters aboard a Northern Star Lake Cruise, listed as the #1 Outdoor Activity in Newport by TripAdvisor in 2024. The cruise is considered an international experience since three-quarters of Lake Memphremagog is in Quebec, Canada. For retirees who love to travel, Newport is also just a few hours from Quebec’s top cities: Montreal and Quebec City.
Montpelier, Vermont
The beautiful skyline of Montpelier, Vermont, in fall.
About an hour and a half south of Newport, Montpelier is a quintessential New England town beloved by seniors. As of the 2023 census, over 23% of its 7,991 locals are 65 and older, and it is easy to see why so many choose to retire here. With crime rates 7% lower than the national average, peace of mind is just one of the many reasons to call Montpelier home. In addition to homes being more affordable than the Vermont average, residents can enjoy the cost of living 6% lower than the national average and 7% lower than that of the rest of Vermont.
These affordable prices are even more remarkable when you consider Montepelier is the capital of Vermont. This means there is plenty to see and do here, from visiting the Vermont State House to touring the Vermont Historical Society Museum. Art and culture are also ingrained in the Montpelier lifestyle at places like the Lost Nation Theater and Artisans Hand Craft Gallery.
The town’s location in the Green Mountains along the Winooski River means outdoor recreation is equally popular. Green spaces like Hubbard Park take the spotlight, offering something to do in every season. With a scenic pond, countless picnic zones, and over 7 miles of hiking and skiing trails, this 200-acre park is the perfect daily escape—especially appealing for retirees who don’t mind that Montpelier’s typical home value is closer to $403,000 in exchange for capital-city amenities in a small-town setting.
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Lewiston, Maine
Aerial view of Lewiston, Maine. Editorial credit: James Aloysius Mahan V / Shutterstock.com.
Turning our attention to Maine, Lewiston stands out as one of the larger communities on this list, yet it still embraces that small-town atmosphere New England is famous for. Despite having just under 39,000 residents, the town remains close-knit by hosting a range of festivals and celebrations throughout the year. Of these, the Liberty Festival, Great Falls Balloon Festival, BrewFest, Holiday at the Plaza, and Riverfest are the most popular.
Lewiston’s location on the beautiful Androscoggin River (one of the longest rivers in Maine) means gorgeous scenes are always within reach. Whether strolling the Lewiston-Auburn Greenway Trails or taking a short drive to Androscoggin Riverlands State Park, this powerful waterway is one of Lewiston’s best features.
Affordability, however, is perhaps the very best part of calling Lewiston home. Living here will save you around 9% compared to the US average and 6% compared to elsewhere in Maine, and Lewiston’s typical home value is around $286,000—often leaving more of your nest egg for travel, hobbies, and a packed local events calendar. Adding to the allure, Lewiston locals also have access to a great range of healthcare facilities, including the Central Maine Medical Center and St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center.
Bangor, Maine
Paul Bunyan’s statue in Bangor, Maine. Editorial credit: EWY Media / Shutterstock.com.
Located about two hours from Lewiston, Bangor is a hospitable town with an eclectic range of attractions. Nights on the town can be spent enjoying Vegas-style slots and live entertainment at the Hollywood Casino, while art enthusiasts may prefer visiting the Penobscot Theatre Company and Zillman Art Museum. Bangor’s other local museums are equally enticing, including the Cole Land Transportation Museum and Maine Discovery Museum.
For nature lovers and retirees looking to stay in shape, Bangor offers a fantastic variety of outdoor recreation areas. The town’s proximity to the Penobscot River makes strolls on the Penobscot River Walkway a great way to get your steps in. For a change of pace, the Orono Bog Boardwalk and Bangor City Forest are beautiful alternatives.
Given its diverse range of attractions and local healthcare facilities like St. Joseph Hospital and Northern Light Emergency Care, some assume that living in this casino town would come with a hefty price tag. In reality, Bangor residents pay 14% less than the national cost of living and 12% less than Maine’s—and with a typical home value around $274,000, it’s easier to keep monthly costs predictable.
Why Retire In These New England Towns?
Whether you are currently retired or nearing your golden years, deciding where to buy your final forever home can feel overwhelming, especially if you are on a budget. But if you are someone who loves the quintessential charms of New England, there are plenty of affordable towns to consider. Whether choosing the region for its down-to-earth locals, safe communities, rich history, or breathtaking landscapes, these nine cost-effective towns have it all. From Mystic’s historic seaport to Lewiston’s fabulous festivals, retiring in New England may be peaceful, but it is never dull.
