Connecticut River Valley
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The Connecticut River Valley is a long river valley formed by the Connecticut River stretching from the New Hampshire/Quebec border to Long Island Sound on the Connecticut Coast. Orographically, the Connecticut River Valley stretches beyond the floodplain to encompass some towns.
The Connecticut River Valley is divided approximately into four parts:
New Hampshire
The New Hampshire portion of the Connecticut River Valley consists of the east bank of the northern half of the valley.The counties forming this area consist of Coos, Grafton, Sullivan, and Cheshire.
There are numerous small towns in the New Hampshire portion of the Valley. The largest communities are the town of Littleton and the small cities of Lebanon, Claremont, and Keene. None of these communities' centers, however, are located directly along the river.
Because of New Hampshire's lack of a sales tax, from neighboring Vermont often venture across the river to make large purchases.
Keene contains a large fireworks store, and due to its strategic location near Vermont and Massachusetts (both states in which fireworks are illegal), residents of those states frequently fireworks successfully across the border, to the of the state police forces. The store also has billboards along the Pioneer Valley.
Vermont
The Vermont portion of the Connecticut River Valley consists of the west bank of the northern half of the valley.The counties forming this area consist of Essex, Caledonia, Orange, Windsor, and Windham.
There are no large cities along the Vermont portion, however the city of Brattleboro along the river, as well as the town of Saint Johnsbury in the valley and inland from the river are modestly-sized cities. There are small towns along almost the entirety of the Vermont portion of the valley.
Windham County is wedged up between Franklin County, Massachusetts and Cheshire County, New Hampshire, but lacking the allure of New Hampshire's libertarian laws, the county is forced to come up with other ways to attract visitors.
These events include a Farmers' market in Brattleboro (though it features more baked goods than produce), as well as numerous entertainers, a Renaissance Fair in Guilford, and a historic village in Putney. Due to its demographic similarity with Southern Vermont, Franklin County is as closely tied to Vermont as it is to Western Massachusetts.
Massachusetts
The Western Massachusetts portion of the Connecticut River Valley, which is also called the Pioneer Valley, consists of three counties encompassing both sides of the second lowest potion of the valley: Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties.Most of the mid- to large-sized cities along the Connecticut River are in Massachusetts, the majority of those in Hampden County. Springfield is by far the largest of these, and the other Hampden County cities include Holyoke, West Springfield, and Chicopee. Greenfield in Franklin County and Northampton in Hampshire County are the only other two major cities in the valley. The college town of Amherst, slightly removed from the river itself, also has a large population when its three colleges are in session, but it remains a town, and one whose population shrinks drastically the rest of the year.
Connecticut
Connecticut itself dominates the lower quarter of the Connecticut River Valley, as well as its estuary. Hartford, Middlesex, and New London counties occupy Connecticut's portion of the valley.
Within the lower valley, the only sizable city is Hartford, the capital of Connecticut. With a population of about 121,578 people, Hartford is the second largest town in the Connecticut River Valley.
Connecticut is also home to the historic towns of Windsor and Weathersfield, which despite their small size have an ongoing rivalry with Hartford.
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