[AstralSkier]

Hello- My husband & I are currently residing in the Raleigh, NC area & are originally from NJ. We’ve been living in NC for almost 2 ½ years now & are counting the days until our home sells & we can move to the New England area. We haven’t really taken to the culture nor the hot, humid climate around here. We’ve narrowed it down to either VT or ME for various reasons & would love to hear others’ opinions and suggestions. A bit about us:

We’re in our early 30’s, no children yet but hopefully in the near future, not particularly liberal nor conservative (I suppose we’d both lean toward independent notions), friendly but introverted. Both of us hold Bachelor’s degrees, myself in Psychology & my husband in English. As for employment, I’ve been working as a Research Assistant in various positions for over 5 yrs now but am hoping to work from home. I may or may not be able to bring my current position with me by telecommuting when I move. My husband is currently working a contract position as a reader/evaluator of middle & high school papers & also substitute teaching. His plan is to go back to school in the near future. Not sure of the area of study yet- perhaps Graphic Design? We’re possibly interested in homeschooling our children & are anti-vaccine (hence the VT/ME choice as I understand there is a philosophical exemption in both states).

Our concerns:
We’re not seeking a lavish lifestyle by any means but certainly want to be able to survive, which we are a bit worried about after reading of the high cost of living vs. low wages in the NE area. We currently pay under 1K a month for a modest home in a remote suburb; I’m not sure if this would be possible up there. Our other main concern is that we don’t really like having others push their political ideologies onto us & I’m not sure if this could be a problem in some areas of NE due to a strong liberal viewpoint. We feel similarly here with religion (neither of us are religious). Also, one thing that family members have warned us about is that we won’t be accepted being from out of the area… I’m really not sure if there’s much validity in this or not.

Sorry for the long post but I wanted to provide enough background for some relevant feedback. Thanks for reading & I look forward to your responses.

[RunawayJim]

You probably won't find a COL to salary like you have now anywhere in New England. It's more expensive up here, that's just how it is. People tend not to push their political viewpoints on others up here, but we do lean to the left in New England and in some parts (mostly southern New England), people are vocal about it, but you will find plenty of others who don't care to talk about politics and let everyone be.

The only places in VT where you might find work in research are at UVM or Dartmouth (which is really in NH but you can spit into VT from there). And those 2 areas are probably the more expensive areas to live in VT.

Completely out of curiosity, why are you anti-vaccine? I don't have kids yet myself, but there was just a huge thing about how the link between vaccines and autism (the main reason people tend to be anti-vaccine) was debunked.

[68vette]

I would say that some of what you are looking for can be found in Vermont. Vermont tends to be more liberal. The conservative areas would be considered liberal in most other states. I think you would be accepted in most areas. The majority of Vermonts population are out of staters. Some of the older natives can be a little standoffish. Your biggest hurdle will be work and finding an affordable place to live. In Vermont, the average 2 bedroom apartment is almost $1000/month. The cost is higher in areas like Burlington. I would contact DHMC in NH and FAHC in Burlington to see if they have any research positions open. This is a very small state and the amount of opportunity in your field is limited to primarily those two facilities. As mentioned, they are also expensive areas to live in.

I'm curious about the vaccine thing as well. I work primarily in pediatric critical care at FAHC. We see many kids who suffer or pass away because they do not get vaccines. Polio, measles, whooping cough, smallpox, they're all nasty diseases, and they're all preventable with vaccines. Incidences in some of these diseases have been increasing in recent years because of a reduction in vaccines.

[AstralSkier]

It sounds like my main concern would be the COL, as I suspected. I don’t necessarily want to continue in the field of research but that is where my experience lies. I’d prefer to work from home in some capacity, whether that means continuing in a similar field or even working for myself in a home-based business (no concrete ideas for that yet, however). Thanks for including the suggestion for Dartmouth- I hadn’t realized that was close enough to VT to consider. I’m definitely glad to hear that politics would not be much of an issue.

As for the vaccine issue, I was simply including that to help explain why we narrowed it down to VT & ME while overlooking the other NE states. I’m sure you’re both familiar with the recent news hype over this & it sounds like you both have a firm idea of where you stand on the issue. Since I also hold a strong viewpoint that happens to be in opposition with that of the media, I don’t want to lead this post into any sort of debate. I do appreciate your curiosity regarding my viewpoint but just like religion & politics, I guess I’m the type who avoids emotionally-charged issues whenever possible. Probably a bad decision on my part to include that point at all, but I didn’t want to neglect to say why I was skipping over NH.

[atlaw]

I lived in Vt. for 30 years. Beautiful country. But-extremely expensive. Since I moved to the SW it's been like getting a raise-a big one. and this weekend they are predicting -20 temps and this is common. I saw -38 when I lived there. the furnace never shuts off. weekends, people from Ct., NY, Mass, and yes, NJ, crowd in. Enough have bought 2nd homes there to have forever changed the core of VT., just sayin.
If you are marginal on income and desire what you have in NC, not really a good place.

[RunawayJim]

Originally Posted by atlaw

I lived in Vt. for 30 years. Beautiful country. But-extremely expensive. Since I moved to the SW it's been like getting a raise-a big one. and this weekend they are predicting -20 temps and this is common. I saw -38 when I lived there. the furnace never shuts off. weekends, people from Ct., NY, Mass, and yes, NJ, crowd in. Enough have bought 2nd homes there to have forever changed the core of VT., just sayin.
If you are marginal on income and desire what you have in NC, not really a good place.

I visit VT on the weekends and have to say that I don't see the "crowding" of out-of-staters. I've also spent time up there mid-week (all times of the year) so I know the difference. Yes, places like Stowe, Quechee/Woodstock, Burlington, Brattleboro, and to a lesser extreme, the MRV see an influx of out-of-staters, but it's nothing compared to what you see in other touristy areas like the Cape or even the White Mountains and Winnepesauke in NH. The only time I ever saw ridiculous amounts of out-of-state traffic in VT was for the "last" Phish festival in Coventry, though Stowe can see regular weekend traffic as well, but if you avoid it, it's nowhere near as bad as people say.

As for it being expensive, it's all relative. I was skiing at Smugglers' Notch last week and talking to a local. He had actually moved to the Burlington area (I wanna say Essex Junction) from NYC and said with overtime, he was making about $46k and living pretty well... meaning he was able to afford the things he wanted.

[68vette]

Originally Posted by RunawayJim

As for it being expensive, it's all relative. I was skiing at Smugglers' Notch last week and talking to a local. He had actually moved to the Burlington area (I wanna say Essex Junction) from NYC and said with overtime, he was making about $46k and living pretty well... meaning he was able to afford the things he wanted.

It's relative if you can make a good income. It is a well documented fact that COL is a big problem in the state if Vermont. The state acknowledges this problem. Two facts that were released in the past year were the cost of housing and incomes. Nearly 50% of the working people in Vermont make about $13/hr or less (that is $27,000 or less/yr) while rents average nearly $1000/month on average in the state. Add in taxes, utilities, groceries, etc and it is easy to see how many Vermont families struggle week to week.
The state figure (Vermont Joint Fiscal Office) for basic needs, taxes and with employer assisted health insurance, a single person in a suburban area needs to make $17.08/hr. Two adults no children need to make about $54,500 and as you add people and childcare it continues to increase. According to the state of Vermont, if you make less than these figures, you are not able to afford the basics.

[sugarmaple]

Green Mountain - I too am a transplant, and did briefly entertain Maine - glad I am here.

[arctichomesteader]

Maine is more affordable, outside the Portland vicinity, than Vermont. FWIW. Both states have a poor economy but VT is less affordable, largely due to the price of real estate/housing.

[BickleTravis]

Originally Posted by RunawayJim

I visit VT on the weekends and have to say that I don't see the "crowding" of out-of-staters. I've also spent time up there mid-week (all times of the year) so I know the difference. Yes, places like Stowe, Quechee/Woodstock, Burlington, Brattleboro, and to a lesser extreme, the MRV see an influx of out-of-staters, but it's nothing compared to what you see in other touristy areas like the Cape or even the White Mountains and Winnepesauke in NH. The only time I ever saw ridiculous amounts of out-of-state traffic in VT was for the "last" Phish festival in Coventry, though Stowe can see regular weekend traffic as well, but if you avoid it, it's nowhere near as bad as people say.

As for it being expensive, it's all relative. I was skiing at Smugglers' Notch last week and talking to a local. He had actually moved to the Burlington area (I wanna say Essex Junction) from NYC and said with overtime, he was making about $46k and living pretty well... meaning he was able to afford the things he wanted.

I grew up here, left for maybe 8 years or so, and the changes since 2000 or so are pretty amazing. Most of it is do to exactly what this person is saying, lots of people moving here. Whether they're telecommuting or whatever, many of them do not seem to be working, and many have a lot of money. VT is definitely a lot different than it was, and its not an improvement. At the same time the cost of living here has skyrocketed.