About Orange, Vermont
The Town of Orange finds itself at the junction of two landscapes.
At once it is both traditional rural Vermont and the frontier
of an expanding suburban front. It is a place where residents
gaining their livelihood from the land are neighbor to those who
commute 25 minutes to work each day. Positioned at the southern
boundary of the 25,645 acre Groton State Forest and adjacent to
Central Vermont's largest job centers, Orange is a community in
transition. A consideration of the population density of surrounding
towns illustrates the point well.
The three towns at Orange's northwest border (Barre Town, Barre
City and Plainfield) constitute a population density of 327.02
persons per square mile. To the northeast, east, and south, Orange's
four bordering towns (Corinth, Groton, Topsham, and Washington)
sum to a population density of 20.93 persons per square mile.
Orange itself displays a population density of 23.55 persons per
square mile. So, while Orange shares the rural characteristics
of neighboring towns to the northeast, east, and south, it is
clearly subject to the forces of change which have impacted its
more suburban neighbors to the north and west.
Dwellings are scattered sparsely throughout the Town. Two village
centers exist, East Orange Village at the southeastern corner
of Town, and Orange Village at the west and central edge of own.
Route 302 is the Town's major thoroughfare, providing a transport
route which bisects the Town on an east-west axis and hosts a
number of residential and commercial structures.
Despite its rural nature and relatively small population,
Orange is experiencing an extraordinary rate of growth. The population
of Orange had declined steadily from more than 1,000 residents
in the early to mid-1800s until 1960. In 1960, 430 people resided
in Orange.
Today, 915 live within the Town's boundaries. The population growth
of the last 30 years represents a 112.8% increase, more than a
doubling of the population. The recent growth rate in Orange is
far more than that of either the Central Vermont region or the
state as a whole. In the same thirty years (1960-1990), Central
Vermont's population increased 31.3%, and the entire State's population
increased 44.3%. Needless to say, Orange's high rate of growth
poses a tremendous challenge to the community in its provision
of municipal services.
Given Orange's proximity to regional job centers (i.e., Barre
City, Barre Town and Montpelier) and relatively low land costs,
it is reasonable to assume that population growth and associated
land development will continue. Whatever the dimension, growth
will require that fundamental municipal services keep pace.
Orange has almost 550 adults between the ages of 18 to 64, and
that number will increase in the decade ahead. However, the total
employment (other than self-employed) in the town is less than
50, and more than half is public employment (with most at Orange
Center School).
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CV chamber / P.O. Box 336 / Barre, Vermont 05641
(802)-229-5711 or CVermont1 @ AOL.com
In conjunction with:
Central Vermont Regional Planning
Commission
29 Main Street, Suite #4, Montpelier Vermont 05602
(802)-229-0389 or cvrpc@cvregion.com