Livingston, Montana is located in the southwestern part of the state, between the Gallatin and Crazy Mountain ranges and north of Yellowstone National Park. It’s nestled along the Yellowstone River, surrounded by the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness Area, and in proximity to Interstate 90. At the 2000 census, the population was 6,851.

History
Livingston was founded in 1882 when the Northern Pacific Railway deemed it a good location for railroad shops to service its steam trains before they went over Bozeman Pass (which was the highest point on the line at ~5600 feet). Livingston was the original gateway to Yellowstone National Park.

People, Arts & Culture
The town was home to Calamity Jane for two decades, and is currently home to actors Peter Fonda and Margot Kidder, as well as to Saturday Night Live alumnus Rich Hall and musician Roy Strykert. A number of movies have been filmed in Livingston, including A River Runs Through It and The Horse Whisperer.

Livingston has become an art mecca in recent times, attracting many artists and writers to the area. The downtown has more than 15 art galleries and there are over 200 artisans in the county. There is live theater at two different theaters in town, and there are also a number of museums (including the Yellowstone Gateway Museum, and the International Fly Fishing Federation’s museum).

Recreation and Events
Fly fishing along the legendary Yellowstone River is a popular, as is hunting (there are numerous guides and outfitters in the area). Whitewater rafting, hiking, biking, bird watching, horseback riding, golf, skiing, rock climbing and camping are all popular in the area. There are also a number of working ranches in the area that are open to visitors as well.

On Independence Day weekend is the annual Livingston Roundup, the 10th ranked rodeo in the country. Also held in July is the Summerfest Along the Yellowstone (a music festival), the Kids’ Trout Derby, the Festival of the Arts and the CNR Sustainability Fair. From June through September Downtown Art Walks are held every fourth Friday of each month, and in late summer is the Park County Studio 2-Day Tour, which allows art lovers to visit artists in their own studios.

Real Estate
Single family homes start at around $140,000 and top out at over $6,000,000. Land parcels start at around $40,000 for subdivision lots of 10,000 to 20,000 square feet, and extend all the way $10,000,000 for a 910 acre parcel currently on the market.

Photo by tofslie.

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In a major demographic shift, growing numbers of wealthy retirees are moving to rural communities across a large swath of the country. This new migration trend portends significant changes to many quiet communities, increasing demand for products and services sometimes unavailable in out of the way places., such as wireless and other broadband internet access.

Some of the significant changes taking place as a result of this new rurally bound migration are outlined in an interesting article from The Wall Street Journal.

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Freeport, Maine is located only 12 miles by sea from Portland (15 miles by land), and two and a half hours from Boston. The population was around 7800 in the 2000 census. In addition to being the home of L.L. Bean, it’s also located near the Desert of Maine.

History & Development
Freeport was first settled around 1700, and was officially incorporated on February 14, 1789. The town developed as four villages – Mast Landing, Porter’s Landing, South Freeport and Freeport Corner.

Mast Landing is located at the head of tide on the Harraseeket River. The main industry their was shipping timber that was generally used for ships’ masts (hence the name). There was also a gristmill, sawmill and fulling mill, along with limited manufacturing.

Porter’s Landing was primarily involved in shipbuilding.

South Freeport was the largest of the seaside villages, and at one time had four shipyards. There was also fishing, canning and farming. In 1903, the Casco Castle and Amusement Park were built here to attract tourists on electric trolley cars. The castle was built mostly with wood, but did have a stone tower that still stands today (most of the castle, which served as a hotel, burned to the ground in 1914).

Freeport Corner was an inland village for farming and trade. In 1849 the railroad was established there and made it the commercial center of Freeport (which it still is today). In 1912, Leon Leonwood Bean opened a store in the basement of his brother’s apparel shop here, selling the “Bean Boot”, or Maine Hunting Shoe. L.L. Bean became so popular that in 1951 they started staying open 24 hours a day, and are now a multi-million dollar international mail-order company.

Recreation & Attractions
The Mast Landing Audobon Sanctuary is located at Mast Landing. This 140 acre sanctuary has open fields, a salt marsh, apple orchard, freshwater stream, and a mature evergreen forest. There are 3.5 miles of marked trails throughout the sanctuary. Mast Landing Camp has been operated as a summer day camp since 1965 for kids grades 2 through 10.

Wolfe’s Neck Woods State Park is only five miles from the center of Freeport’s shopping district. The park consists of more than 200 acres that includes varied ecosystems including climax white pine and hemlock forests, a salt marsh estuary, and rocky shorelines. Ospreys are the park’s signature residents and nest on nearby Googins Island.

The Desert of Maine is also close by. The Desert was originally the Tuttle family farm, but due to overgrazing, lack of crop rotation, and land clearing led to soil erosion which exposed a dune of sand-like glacial silt. The initial exposed patch of sand gradually spread and overtook the entire farm, creating a “desert”. The Tuttles abandoned the land, sold it to Henry Goldrup, who created a tourist attraction out of it in 1925 (it’s still operated as a tourist attraction today).

Wolfe’s Neck Farm was established in 1947 by Eleanor Houston Smith and Lawrence M.C. Smith of Philadelphia. They began their natural farming operation with 9 cows and a bull and by 1959 had a herd of 40. Eleanor was a conservationist and wanted to preserve the open spaces of the farm (the farm has 626 total acres). They now provide educational programs and agricultural internships and have a strong alliance with the surrounding community. Visitors are always welcome. There are trails for hiking, space to kayak, fish or swim, and in the winter, there are opportunities for cross country skiing and snowshoeing.

Other recreational opportunities fishing, beaches, botanical gardens, camping, cruises, golf, hiking and nature walks, lighthouses, shopping, theaters, sightseeing and more. There are plenty of restaurants in and around Freeport, especially seafood restaurants, but also ethnic, pizza, pub fare, vegetarian and natural and organic options.

Real Estate
Single family homes in Freeport start at well under $200,000 and top out at around $3.5 million. Condos start out at less than $120,000 and max out at less than $430,000.

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Nags Head, North Carolina: $799,000

3 Bedrooms, 1 Bathroom, Oceanfront

Sutton, New Hampshire: $795,000

5 Bedrooms, 4.5 Bathrooms, 8 Acres

Orange Beach, Alabama: $779,900

4 Bedrooms, 4 Bathrooms, Condo

Holland, Michigan: $759,900

3 Bedrooms, 2.5 Bathrooms, 4836 Square Feet, 4.23 Acres

Hills Beach, Maine: $749,000

3+ Bedrooms, 2 Bathrooms, Oceanfront

Gibraltar, Wisconsin: $728,000

4+ Bedrooms, 5,000+ Square Feet, 2.38 Acres

Destin, Florida: $710,000

5 Bedrooms, 2400 Square Feet

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Key West, Florida is the southernmost city in the continental United States, 129 miles southwest of Miami (it’s actually closer to Havana, Cuba than it is to Miami). It’s also a popular seaport destination for cruise ships. Key West is among the westernmost islands in the Florida Keys.

History
The first visitor to Key West was Juan Ponce de Leon in 1521. When Florida became a Spanish colony, a fishing & salvage village, as well as a small garrison were established in Key West. Key West was officially claimed as a part of the U.S. on March 25, 1822 by Matthew C. Perry. Major industries in the 19th century included fishing, salt production, and salvage. Salvage operations made Key West the largest and richest town in Florida, and the wealthiest per-capita in the U.S.

In 1912, the Overseas Railway Extension of the Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) connected the island with the mainland. The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 destroyed the railway, and the FEC couldn’t afford to rebuild. The U.S. government rebuilt the railroad line as an automobile highway, and it reopened in 1938 as an extension of U.S. Highway 1.

People
The population of Key West in 2006 was a little over 23,000 people. Famous people who have lived on the island include Judy Blume, Jimmy Buffett, Calvin Klein, Shel Silverstein and many others. President Harry S. Truman had his Winter White House on Key West. Ernest Hemingway wrote “A Fairwell to Arms” while living above the showroom of a Ford dealership on Key West. He also lived in a home there until divorcing in 1939, and wrote or worked on “Death in the Afternoon”, “For Whom the Bell Tolls”, “The Snows of Kilimanjaro”, and “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” while there. Tennessee Williams was also a resident of Key West from 1949 until his death in 1983.

In 1982, Key West and the rest of the Florida Keys declared their independence from the U.S. and established the Conch Republic after the U.S. Border Patrol instituted a blockade that created a seventeen mile traffic jam as the Border Patrol stopped every car leaving the Keys to search for illegal aliens attempting to enter the mainland U.S. This effectively paralyzed the Keys, which rely mainly on the tourism industry.

Recreation and Events
There are quite a few annual events that occur in Key West, including the Key West Race Week international sailing event in January, Key West Literary Seminar (also in January), Conch Republic Independence Celebration (April), Red Ribbon Bed Race (April), Cuban-American Heritage Festival (June), Hemingway Days Festival (July), and the Boat and Holiday Parade (December).

Popular recreational activities include fishing, beachcombing, water sports, snorkeling, diving and golf. There are also plenty of sidewalk cafes, open-air bars and pubs and world-class restaurants.

Weather & Climate
The weather in Key West is tropical, with January temperatures ranging from 67 - 75 degrees Fahrenheit, and July temperatures ranging between 81 and 90 degrees. The lowest temperature recorded in Key West was 41 degrees, making it a frost-free zone (Key West claims to be the only city in the lower 48 to have never had a frost). The highest temperature recorded was 97 degrees.

Real Estate
Single family homes in Key West start at around $270,000 and top out at around $6 million. Condos start at around $175,000 and top out at around $4,000,000. Timeshares are also widely available, starting at under $10,000 and ending upwards of $35,000.

Photo by Jiashiang Wang.

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