[arel]

Can anyone share experiences of moving from a big city to a small town in Vermont?

I'm thinking about issues such as sense of community, mutual aid, etc.

I am especially curious about the loss of big city anonymity. Do city transplants, especially big city transplants, bask in the relative intimacy of small town life? And or do they feel uncomfortable living in, relatively speaking, a fishbowl?

What does it feel like to know that you are being watched and noticed? Is it similar to living in a city neighborhood, or is it more intrusive?

Of course, I know it's not a matter of either/or and I realize that everyone is different. And every town is different. Bigger towns are different from tiny rural hamlets. Arts towns are different from farming towns. Southern Vermont is different from the Northeast Kingdom.

I am especially interested in Brattleboro, as that is where I am thinking of moving. I know that Brattleboro is considered a unique and sophicsticated place, but it is still a small town of 12,000. I would be moving from a city of 8 million.

I'd like to read of people's experiences.

[vter]

I did it the other way around. Grew up in small town Vermont and moved to Boston after college. Culture shock? Yes. I went from having privacy to having gazillions of people around all the time. No traffic to mega traffic. People were different too. I lasted 6 years there and couldnt get back to Vermont soon enough.
So...yes, you'll experience culture shock. The rural way of life is very different from city life.

[arel]

So there is more privacy in a small town, not less?

I don't like dealing with crowds - I dislike the physical intrusion of them on my space, my loss of freedom of movement, the potential dangers of pickpockets and purse snatchers and the possiblity, although remote, of a stampede - but one can be anonymous in a crowd.

I guess privacy means different things to different people. In a crowd, you lose the privacy of your personal space, but not the privacy of your anonymity. If you get angry at someone, you do not have to deal with people talking about it and the loss a needed favor at some future time.

In some ways, there is less personal accountability in the city. People can be rude, vulgar or overbearing, and know they will never see you again and be confronted about it. One would lose that freedom from accountability in a small town, but I don't see that as a bad thing.

Another thing I am concerned about is the loss of consumer leverage. If I am not happy with my dentist, for example, there are tons and tons of other dentists I can go to. I wouldn't be able to do that in a small town. At the same time, until recently there were no alternatives to the gas company or the cable TV company here in NYC, so there was no leverage if you were unhappy with services. I forgot about that. I just remember I got angry with a fuel company when I lived in a small Rhode Island town, and there was only one other fuel company to defect to.

[vter]

By privacy I meant that there are not as many people around you all the time. Where I live I can't see my neighbors. When I lived in Boston, my apartment building housed just about as many people as my whole town did.

[arel]

Gotcha. I see where you are coming from.

I don't like having so many people around me either.

I especially hate city congestion. Traffic, crowds. They give rise to anger and hostility, not to mention wasted time.

I have thought about living where I could not see my neighbors, but I decided, for convenience and security reasons, it would be better to live in town, or close to town.

[MRVphotog]

I like the clean air and water in a small town vs the big city. Many hicks like myself have wells which produce better water than you find on the shelf in the grocery store. The air in big cities smell bad. Diesel smell from all the buses in NYC really stink. Street scammers are a pain as well.

[arel]

I agree with you about the clean air and water. Pollution is one of the reasons I want to move.

What do you mean by "street scammers"?

[Suzet2262]

I cant wait to move to Vermont!! I am extremely tired of the congestion, rude people, wack job drivers, illegals everywhere (very touchy subject here in Calif, as well as in some other states), the heat, the smog, today was 103 and smoggy, I couldnt breathe very well. Summer air is truly awful here. There will be some things that I miss about Calif. I have some wonderful memories here, but I just dont like it here anymore. It doesnt feel like "my" Cali anymore. I think I can handle having someone not live so close to me. The only thing I worry about is, when my hubby is away for a few days at a time, and me suffering from Panic Attacks. I get really scared sometimes of someone "not" being close to me. That is the only fear I have of moving to Vermont. Here in my town, there are people everywhere, you are never really alone....

[ab8mi]

Originally Posted by Suzet2262

I cant wait to move to Vermont!! I am extremely tired of the congestion, rude people, wack job drivers, illegals everywhere (very touchy subject here in Calif, as well as in some other states), the heat, the smog, today was 103 and smoggy, I couldnt breathe very well. Summer air is truly awful here. There will be some things that I miss about Calif. I have some wonderful memories here, but I just dont like it here anymore. It doesnt feel like "my" Cali anymore. I think I can handle having someone not live so close to me. The only thing I worry about is, when my hubby is away for a few days at a time, and me suffering from Panic Attacks. I get really scared sometimes of someone "not" being close to me. That is the only fear I have of moving to Vermont. Here in my town, there are people everywhere, you are never really alone....

I don't know if you attend a church or not Suzet but when I moved here I started attending a local church and found so many nice people. Before my wife came out here I had so many offers of people having me over for supper it was incredible. I don't know if every church is the same but these people were great. they helped me get involved in the community and even helped us find a great housing deal.

Just a thought that of course will not appeal to everyone.

[vter]

I agree...going to church will be a great way to meet people. My parents moved from the Bennington area up to the Rutland area and made friends immediately by going to church. Like the above poster, they were invited for dinner to folks houses, cookouts etc. Now they have some great new friends.