Martha's Vineyard

Martha's Vineyard (Wampanoag: Noepe) is an island located south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, known for being an affluent summer colony. It includes the smaller Chappaquiddick Island, which until 2007 was part of the same land mass before becoming detached by a storm.

Often called just "The Vineyard," the island has a land area of 100 sqmi. It is the 58th largest island in the United States and the third largest on the East Coast of the United States. It is also the largest island not connected to mainland by a bridge or tunnel on the East Coast of the United States.

It is located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as a part of Dukes County, which also includes Cuttyhunk, as well as the island of Nomans Land, which is a US Wildlife preserve, and was a US Naval practice bombing range until 1996. The Vineyard was also home to one of the earliest known deaf communities in the United States; consequently, a special sign language, Martha's Vineyard Sign Language (MVSL), developed on the island.

The 2010 census reported a year-round population of 16,535 residents; however, the summer population can swell to more than 100,000 people. About 56% of the Vineyard’s 14,621 homes are seasonally occupied.

Martha's Vineyard is primarily known as a summer colony, and is accessible only by boat and air. However, its year-round population has grown considerably since the 1960s.

A study by the Martha's Vineyard Commission found that the cost of living on the island is 60 percent higher than the national average and housing prices are 96 percent higher. A study of housing needs by the Commission found that the average weekly wage on Martha's Vineyard was “71 per cent of the state average, the median home price was 54 per cent above the state’s and the median rent exceeded the state’s by 17 per cent.”

Exploration
Originally inhabited by the Wampanoag, Martha's Vineyard was known in their language as Noepe, or "land amid the streams." In 1642 the Wampanoag numbered somewhere around 3,000 on the island. By 1764, that number had dropped to 313.

A smaller island to the south was named "Martha's Vineyard" by the English explorer Bartholomew Gosnold who sailed to the island in 1602. The name was later transferred to the main island. It is thus the eighth-oldest surviving English place-name in the United States. No one knows who the namesake of the island is, but some suppose that since Gosnold's mother-in-law and his second child, who died in infancy, were both named Martha, Gosnold perhaps named Martha's Vineyard after his daughter, who was christened in St James' Church (now St Edmundsbury Cathedral), Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, England. Martha is buried in the Great Churchyard which lies in front of the Abbey ruins between St Mary's Church and the Cathedral.

The island was also known as Martin's Vineyard (perhaps after the captain of Gosnold's ship, John Martin); many islanders up to the 18th century called it by this name. The United States Board on Geographic Names worked to standardize placename spellings in the late 19th century, including the dropping of apostrophes. Thus for a time Martha's Vineyard was officially named Marthas Vineyard, but the Board reversed its decision in the early 20th century, making Martha's Vineyard one of the five placenames in the United States today with a possessive apostrophe.

Colonial era
English settlement began with the purchase of Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and the Elizabeth Islands by Thomas Mayhew of Watertown, Massachusetts from two English "owners". He had friendly relations with the Wampanoags on the island in part because he was careful to honor their land rights as well. His son, also Thomas Mayhew, began the first English settlement in 1642 at Great Harbor (later Edgartown, Massachusetts).

The younger Mayhew began a relationship with Hiacoomes, an Indian neighbor, which eventually led to Hiacoomes' family converting to Christianity. Ultimately, many of the tribe became Christian, including the pow-wows (spiritual leaders) and sachems (political leaders). During King Philip's War later in the century the Martha's Vineyard band did not join their tribal relatives in the uprising and remained armed, a testimony to the good relations cultivated by the Mayhews as the leaders of the English colony.

In 1665, Mayhew's lands were included in a grant to the Duke of York. In 1671, a settlement was arranged, allowing Mayhew to continue in his position while placing his territory under the jurisdiction of the Province of New York. In 1683, Dukes County, New York was incorporated, including Martha's Vineyard. In 1691, at the collapse of rule by Sir Edmund Andros and the reorganization of Massachusetts as a royal colony, Dukes County was transferred back to the Province of Massachusetts Bay, and split into the county of Dukes County, Massachusetts and Nantucket County, Massachusetts.

Indian literacy in the schools founded by Mayhew and taught by Peter Folger, the grandfather of Benjamin Franklin, was such that the first Native American graduates of Harvard were from Martha's Vineyard, including the son of Hiacoomes, Joel Hiacoomes. "The ship Joel Hiacoomes was sailing on, as he was returning to Boston from a trip home shortly before the graduation ceremonies, was found wrecked on the shores of Nantucket Island. Caleb Cheeshahteaumauk, the son of a sachem of Homes Hole, did graduate from Harvard in the class of 1665" (Moneghan, E.J., 2005, p. 59). Cheeshahteaumauk's Latin address to the corporation (New England Corporation), which begins "Honoratissimi benefactores" (most honored benefactors), has been preserved. (Gookin, as quoted in Monaghan, 2005, p. 60.) In addition to speaking Wampanoag and English, they studied Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. All of the early Indian graduates died shortly after completing their course of study. However, there were many native preachers on the island who also preached in the English churches from time to time.

Mayhew's successor as leader of the community was the Hon. Leavitt Thaxter, who married Martha Mayhew, a descendant of Thomas Mayhew, and was an Edgartown educator described by Indian Commissioner John Milton Earle as "a long and steadfast friend to the Indians." After living in Northampton, Thaxter, a lawyer, returned home to Edgartown, where he took over the school founded by his father, Rev. Joseph Thaxter, and served in the State House and the Senate, was a member of the Massachusetts Governor's Council and later served as U. S. Customs Collector for Martha's Vineyard. Having rechristened his father's Edgartown school Thaxter Academy, Hon. Leavitt Thaxter was granted on Feb. 15, 1845, the sum of $50-per-year for "the support of William Johnson, an Indian of the Chappequiddic tribe." By this time, Leavitt Thaxter had taken on the role, described in an act passed by the General Court of Massachusetts, as "guardian of the Indians and people of color resident at Chappequiddic and Indiantown in the County of Dukes County." Thaxter Academy, founded by Leavitt Thaxter as first principal in 1825, became known for educating both white and Native American youth.

19th century
Like the nearby island of Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard was brought to prominence in the 19th century by the whaling industry, during which ships were sent around the world to hunt whales for their oil and blubber. The discovery of petroleum in Pennsylvania gave rise to a cheaper source of oil for lamps and led to an almost complete collapse of the industry by 1870. After the Old Colony railroad came to mainland Woods Hole in 1872, summer residences began to develop on the island, such as the community of Harthaven established by William H. Hart. Although the island struggled financially through the Great Depression, its reputation as a resort for tourists and the wealthy continued to grow. There is still a substantial Wampanoag population on the Vineyard, mainly located in the town of Aquinnah. Aquinnah means "land under the hill" in the Wampanoag language.

The island was the last refuge of the Heath Hen, a once common game bird. Despite 19th Century efforts to protect the hen, by 1927, the population of birds had dropped to 13. The last known Heath Hen perished on Martha's Vineyard in 1932.

Modern era
The linguist William Labov wrote his MA essay on changes in the Martha's Vineyard dialect of English. The 1963 study is widely recognized as a seminal work in the foundation of sociolinguistics.

The island received international notoriety after the July 18, 1969, Chappaquiddick incident, in which Mary Jo Kopechne was killed in a car driven off the Dike Bridge by U.S. Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy. The bridge crossed Poucha Pond on Chappaquiddick Island (a smaller island formerly connected to the Vineyard and part of Edgartown). As a foot bridge, it was intended for people on foot and bicycles, as well as the occasional emergency vehicle when conditions warranted. Currently, 4×4 vehicles with passes are allowed to cross the reconstructed bridge.

On November 23, 1970, in the Atlantic Ocean just west of Aquinnah, Simas Kudirka, a Soviet seaman of Lithuanian nationality, attempted to defect to the United States by leaping onto a United States Coast Guard cutter from a Soviet ship. The Coast Guard allowed a detachment of KGB agents to board the cutter, and subsequently arrest Kudirka, taking him back to the former Soviet Union.

In 1974, Steven Spielberg filmed the movie Jaws on Martha's Vineyard most notably in the fishing village of Menemsha and the town of Chilmark. Spielberg selected island natives Christopher Rebello as Chief Brody's oldest son, Michael Brody; Jay Mello as the younger son, Sean Brody; and Lee Fierro as Mrs. Kintner. Scores of other island natives appeared in the film as extras. Later, scenes from Jaws 2 and Jaws: The Revenge were filmed on the island as well. In June 2005 the island celebrated the 30th anniversary of Jaws with a weekend-long Jawsfest.

In 1977, distressed over losing their guaranteed seat in the Massachusetts General Court, inhabitants of Martha's Vineyard considered the possibility of secession from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, either to become part of another state (having received offers from both Vermont and Hawai'i), reincorporating as a separate U.S. territory, or as the nation's 51st state. The separatist flag, consisting of a white seagull over an orange disk on a sky-blue background, is still seen on the island today. Although the idea of separation from Massachusetts eventually proved impracticable, it did receive attention in the local, regional and even national media.

On March 5, 1982, John Belushi died of a drug overdose in Los Angeles, California, and was buried four days later in Abel's Hill Cemetery in Chilmark. Belushi often visited the Vineyard and his family felt it fitting to bury him there. On his gravestone is the quote, "Though I may be gone, Rock 'N' Roll lives on." Because of the many visitors to his grave and the threat of vandalism, his body was moved somewhere nearby the gravesite. His grave remains a popular site for visitors to Chilmark and they often leave tokens in memory of the late comedian. Bill Clinton spent vacation time on the island during and after his presidency, along with his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and their daughter, Chelsea. Clinton was not the first president to visit the islands; Ulysses S. Grant visited the vacation residence of his friend, Bishop Gilbert Haven on August 24, 1874. As a coincidental footnote in history, Bishop Haven's gingerbread cottage was located in Oak Bluffs at 10 Clinton Avenue. The avenue was named in 1851 and was designated as the main promenade of the Martha's Vineyard Campmeeting Association campgrounds. On August 23, 2009, Barack Obama arrived in Chilmark with his family for a week's vacation at a rental property known as Blue Heron Farm.

On July 16, 1999, a small plane crashed off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, claiming the lives of pilot John F. Kennedy, Jr., his wife Carolyn Bessette and her sister Lauren Bessette. Kennedy's mother, former U.S. first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, maintained a home in Aquinnah (formerly "Gay Head") until her death in 1994.

In the summer of 2000, an outbreak of tularemia, also known as rabbit fever, resulted in one death and piqued the interest of the CDC, which wanted to test the island as a potential investigative ground for aerosolized Francisella tularensis. Over the following summers, Martha's Vineyard was identified as the only place in the world where documented cases of tularemia resulted from lawn mowing. The research may prove valuable in preventing bioterrorism.

Martha's Vineyard is also the setting for Robert Harris' 2007 novel, the political thriller The Ghost.

Hereditary deafness and sign language
A high rate of hereditary deafness was documented on Martha's Vineyard for almost two centuries. The island's deaf heritage cannot be traced to one common ancestor and is thought to have originated in the Weald, a region that overlaps the borders of the English counties of Kent and Sussex, prior to immigration. Researcher Nora Groce estimates that by the late 19th century, 1 in 155 people on the Vineyard was born deaf (0.7 percent), almost 20 times the estimate for the nation at large (1 in 2,730, or 0.04 percent).

Mixed marriages between deaf and hearing spouses comprised 65% of all deaf marriages on the island in the late 19th century, higher than the mainland average of 20%, and Martha's Vineyard Sign Language (MVSL) was commonly used by hearing residents as well as deaf ones until the middle of the 20th century. This allowed deaf residents to integrate into society smoothly.

In the 20th century, tourism became a mainstay in the island economy. However, jobs in tourism were not as deaf-friendly as fishing and farming had been. Consequently, as intermarriage and further migration joined the people of Martha's Vineyard to the mainland, the island community more and more resembled the wider community there.

The last deaf person born into the island's sign language tradition, Katie West, died in 1952, but a few elderly residents were able to recall MVSL as recently as the 1980s when research into the language began.

Climate
According to the Köppen climate classification system, the climate of the island borders between a humid continental climate (Dfa/Dfb) and a humid subtropical climate/oceanic climate (Cfa/Cfb), the latter a climate type rarely found on the east coast of North America. Martha's Vineyard's climate is highly influenced by the surrounding Atlantic Ocean, which moderates temperatures throughout the year. As a result, winter temperatures tend to be a few degrees warmer while summer temperatures tend to be cooler than inland locations. Winters are cool to cold with a January average of just slightly below 32 °F. Owing to the influence of the Atlantic Ocean, temperatures below 0 °F are rare, occurring at least 1 day per year and most days during the winter months rise above freezing. The average annual snowfall is 17.0 in. Summers are warm and mild with temperatures rarely exceeding 90 °F, with only 1 or 2 days reaching or exceeding it. During the summer months, the island's warmest months (July and August) average around 71.5 °F. Spring and fall are transition seasons with spring being cooler than fall. Martha`s Vineyard receives 46.94 in of precipitation per year, which is evenly distributed throughout the year. The lowest temperature ever recorded was -9 °F on February 2, 1961 and the highest temperature was 99 °F on August 27, 1948.

Political representation
Martha's Vineyard is divided into six towns. Each town is governed by a board of selectmen elected by town voters, along with annual and periodic town meetings. Each town is also a member of the Martha's Vineyard Commission, which regulates island-wide building, environmental, and aesthetic concerns.

Some government programs on the island have been regionalized, such as the public school system, emergency management and waste management. There is a growing push for further regionalization areas of law enforcement, water treatment, and possible government regionalization.

Each town also follows certain regulations from Dukes County. The towns are:
 * Tisbury, which includes the main village of Vineyard Haven, and the West Chop peninsula. It is the island's primary port of entry for people and cargo, supplemented by the seasonal port in Oak Bluffs.
 * Edgartown, which includes Chappaquiddick island and Katama. Edgartown is noted for its rich whaling tradition, and is the island's largest town by population and area. It is one of the island's "wet" towns.
 * Oak Bluffs is most well known for its gingerbread cottages, open harbor, and its vibrant town along busy Circuit Avenue. Oak Bluffs enjoys a reputation as one of the more active night-life towns on the island for both residents and tourists, and is also a "wet" town. It was known as "Cottage City" from its separation from Edgartown in 1880 until its reincorporation as Oak Bluffs in 1907. Oak Bluffs includes several communities that have been popular destinations for affluent African Americans since the early 20th century. It also includes the East Chop peninsula, Lagoon Heights and Harthaven.
 * West Tisbury is the island's agricultural center, and hosts the beloved well known Martha's Vinyard Agricultural Fair in late August each year.
 * Chilmark, including the fishing village of Menemsha. Chilmark is also rural and features the island's hilliest terrain.
 * Aquinnah, Aquinnah is home to the Wampanoag Indian tribe and the famous Clay cliffs.

Water
Martha's Vineyard is located approximately seven miles off the southern coast of Cape Cod. It is reached by a ferry that departs from Woods Hole, Massachusetts, and by several other ferries departing from Falmouth, New Bedford, Hyannis, and Quonset Point, Rhode Island. The Steamship Authority operates most of the shorter routes, while other, smaller ferry services run faster, longer distance ferries to Rhode Island and Hyannis. There are direct ferries to each place. SeaStreak also runs a ferry service on the weekends from New York City to Martha's Vineyard. One ferry departs New York City on Friday afternoon and returns on Sunday night. The trip through Long Island Sound and along the shoreline of Rhode Island and Massachusetts takes about 4 and a half hours

Air
The commuter airline, Cape Air offers frequent service to Martha's Vineyard via the Martha's Vineyard Airport (MVY). Cape Air provides service year-round to islanders and visitors to Boston, Hyannis, New Bedford, Providence, and Nantucket. Cape Air also provides seasonal services to White Plains, New York. Additional air service is provided by Continental Express, which provides a seasonal service to Newark Liberty International Airport, and US Airways Express, which serves New York-LaGuardia and Hyannis year-round, as well as Philadelphia and Washington-Reagan seasonally. JetBlue now services the island out of New York's Kennedy Airport. The airport also handles much general aviation traffic. There is also Katama airpark, with grass runways, that is popular with private pilots. It is located near South Beach.

Mass transit
Bus service is provided on the island year-round by the Martha's Vineyard Transit Authority (VTA).

Education
Martha's Vineyard is served by Martha's Vineyard Public Schools:
 * Edgartown School (Grades K-8)
 * West Tisbury School (Grades K-8)
 * Oak Bluffs School (Grades K-8)
 * Tisbury School (Grades K-8)
 * Chilmark School (Grades K-5)
 * Martha's Vineyard Public Charter School (Grades K-12)
 * Martha's Vineyard Regional High School (Grades 9-12)

Five of the six towns have their own elementary schools, while Aquinnah residents usually attend nearby Chilmark's elementary school. The Chilmark school serves only grades pre-K to 5, so students in grades 6 - 8 must attend another middle school—usually the West Tisbury school. The Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School, located in West Tisbury, serves the entire island and provides grades K-12. Martha's Vineyard Regional High School, which is located in Oak Bluffs, serves the entire island.

Tourism and culture
The Vineyard grew as a tourist destination primarily because of its very pleasant summer weather (during summers, the temperature rarely breaks 32°C / 90°F) and many beautiful beaches. It is primarily a place where people go to relax. Most social life and activity takes place at people's houses, not in the very small towns.

During the whaling era, wealthy Boston sea captains and merchant traders often created estates on Martha's Vineyard with their trading profits. Today, the Vineyard has become one of the Northeast's most prominent summering havens, having attracted numerous celebrity regulars.

The island now boasts a year-round population of about 15,000 people in six towns; in summer, the population swells to 100,000 residents, with more than 25,000 additional short-term visitors coming and going on the ferries during the summer season. The most crowded weekend is July 4, followed by the late-August weekend of the Agricultural Fair. In general, the summer season runs from June through Labor Day weekend, coinciding with the months most American children are not in school.

In 1985, the two islands of Martha's Vineyard and Chappaquiddick Island were included in a new American Viticultural Area designation for wine appellation of origin specification: Martha's Vineyard AVA. Wines produced from grapes grown on the two islands can be sold with labels that carry the Martha's Vineyard AVA designation. Martha's Vineyard was the home to the winemaker Chicama Vineyards in West Tisbury, though it closed after 37 years on August 10, 2008.

Other popular attractions include the annual Grand Illumination in Oak Bluffs; the Martha's VIneyard Film Center, an arthouse cinema operated by the non-profit Martha's Vineyard Film Society, which screens independent and world cinema all year long; the Martha's Vineyard Film Festival, which runs a winter film festival in March, a Summer Film Series and Cinema Circus every Wednesday in July and August, the Martha's Vineyard African-American Film Festival, which showcases the works of independent and established African-American filmmakers in August, and Martha's Vineyard International Film Festival in September; the Farm Institute at Katama Farm in Edgartown; and the Flying Horses Carousel in Oak Bluffs, the oldest carousel in the United States.

Island life and residents
Its relatively small year-round population has led to a very activist citizenry who are highly involved in the island's day-to-day activities. Tourism, overdevelopment, politics, and environmentalism are of keen interest to the community. Keeping the balance between the much needed tourist economy and the ecology and wildlife of the island is of paramount importance to residents. In contrast to the seasonal influx of wealthy visitors, Dukes County remains one of the poorest in the state. Residents have established resources to balance the contradictions and stresses that can arise in these circumstances, notably the Martha's Vineyard Commission and Martha's Vineyard Community Services, founded by the late Dr. Milton Mazer, author of People and Predicaments: Of Life and Distress on Martha's Vineyard.

The majority of the Vineyard's residents during the summer are well-established seasonal residents from up and down the Northeast coast of the United States. While many of these summer residents come from all over the United States and abroad, the island tends to be a destination for those within close proximity. Many communities around the island tend to have deep family roots in the island that have matured over the years to create hamlets of good friends and neighbors. Nevertheless, many visitors are summer renters and weekenders, for whom the island is simply a "home away from home."

Many high-profile residents, movie stars, politicians, writers, and artists contribute to fundraisers and benefits that raise awareness of the fragile ecosystem of the Vineyard and support community organizations and services. The largest of these is the annual Possible Dreams Auction.

Martha's Vineyard has also been or is home to a number of artists and musicians, including Albert Alcalay, Evan Dando, Tim "Johnny Vegas" Burton of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, James Taylor, Carly Simon, Livingston Taylor, Kate Taylor, Alex Taylor, Tom Rush, Geoff Muldaur, Maria Muldaur, Willy Mason, Unbusted and Mike Nichols. Historian and author David McCullough is also an island resident, as are the young-adult books authors: Judy Blume and Norman Bridwell, and crime/political intrigue novelist Richard North Patterson. Late authors Shel Silverstein and William Styron also lived on the Vineyard, as did writer, journalist and teacher John Hersey, poet and novelist Dorothy West and artist Thomas Hart Benton Various writers have been inspired by the island—including the mystery writer Philip R. Craig who set several novels on the island. On related note, Martha's Vineyard Poet Laureate, Lee H. McCormack, has written many poems about the island. The Academy Award winning Patricia Neal owned a home on South Water St in Edgartown, and James Cagney, Lillian Hellman (who is buried in Abel's Hill Cemetery near the site of Belushi's grave), and Katharine Cornell all found the Vineyard an exciting, rewarding place to live. In addition the famous Life Magazine photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt was a fifty-year summer resident of the Vineyard until his death in 1995. Since 2006 the Australian born author Geraldine Brooks, writer of the Pulitzer Prize winning novel March, has lived there with her husband and two sons. Brooks' 2011 novel

Other well-known celebrities who live on or have regularly visited the island: Famously renowned Harlem Renaissance artist Lois Mailou Jones, U.S. President Barack Obama, former president Bill Clinton and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; comedian and talk show host David Letterman; Bill Murray; Tony Shalhoub; Quincy Jones; Ted Danson and wife Mary Steenburgen; Larry David; the Farrelly brothers; Meg Ryan; Chelsea Handler. Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes was a summer resident of Martha's Vineyard. Late anchorman Walter Cronkite was a prominent summer resident as well. Other regularly appearing celebrities include film writer/director Spike Lee, attorney Alan Dershowitz, comedians Dan Aykroyd and James Belushi, politico Vernon Jordan, and television news reporters Diane Sawyer, former Ambassador and President of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, William H. Luers and Charlayne Hunter-Gault. Despite popular perceptions of the Vineyard as "Hollywood East", the island is very low-key and quiet; celebrities go to the Vineyard to enjoy the atmosphere, and not to be seen. Locals tend to be protective of celebrity privacy, though recent coverage of celebrity sightings (most notably in the two local newspapers on the Island) has begun to erode that respect for privacy through more frequent reporting on celebrity sightings and famous visitors. Vineyard social life often occurs in private, down country roads, and not in the small towns, only two of which even sell alcohol (Oak Bluffs and Edgartown).

Many of the country's most affluent black families have enjoyed a century-old tradition of summering on the island. Concentrated primarily in and around the town of Oak Bluffs, and the East Chop area, these families have historically represented the black elite from Boston; Washington, D.C.; and New York City. Today, affluent black families from around the country have taken to the Vineyard, and the community is known as a popular summer destination for judges, physicians, business executives, surgeons, attorneys, writers, politicians, and professors. The historic presence of black residents on the island resulted in the nickname of one of Oak Bluff's most popular beaches. Dubbed "The Inkwell," this small beach is central to Oak Bluffs and within short walking distance to many of the homes of the more notable black families. The Inkwell (1994), directed by Matty Rich, dealt with this close-knit Vineyard community.

The Run&Shoot Filmworks Martha's Vineyard African-American Film Festival (mvaaff.com) held every second week in August, highlights the works of independent and established African-American filmmakers from across the globe. This annual event draws attendees from all across the world.

Since the 19th century, the island has had a sizable community of Portuguese-Americans, concentrated primarily in the three down-Island towns of Oak Bluffs, Tisbury and Edgartown; they traditionally worked alongside other island residents in whaling and fishing. It also has a large community of Brazilian immigrants who work mainly in the maintenance of the island’s vacation facilities.

The island's permanent residents were profiled in a London Telegraph article showing "the dark side of Martha's Vineyard".

In the same month an article titled "Edgartown's Darker Side" appeared in the Boston Globe detailing the extremely poor working conditions suffered by Irish and Serbian students in a newly built private members club in Edgartown.

The year-round working population of Martha's Vineyard earns thirty percent less on average than other residents of the state while keeping up with a cost of living that is sixty percent higher than average. Many people are moving to more affordable areas. Schools have seen a successive drop in enrollment over the past few years. Typically home to artists, musicians and other creative types, the Island has many residents who manage by working several jobs in the summer and taking some time off in the winter. The lack of affordable housing on the island has forced many families to move off-island.

Local television and radio

 * Plum TV, Ch. 76 and available on Comcast Video-on-Demand throughout New England
 * MVTV, Martha's Vineyard public-access television cable TV Community Television, Chs. 13, 14, and 15
 * Martha's Vineyard Productions, on-island content creator and provider for television and web
 * WCAI 90.1 91.1 94.3 FM Cape and Islands NPR station
 * WBUA 92.7 FM, affiliate of WBUR 90.9, Boston's NPR news station; WMVY, formerly on this frequency, is now online only
 * WVVY-LP, 93.7 FM, MV Community Radio, Inc.'''

Most Vineyard residents have access to TV and radio broadcasting from the Greater Boston Area.

Local Newspapers

 * Vineyard Gazette
 * The Martha's Vineyard Times