[quickdraw]

Originally Posted by flu189

I live somewhat off the beaten path on a rural road and twice in three years I have had creeps drive up casing the house. On a third occasion

Same here, you can't see any of my property from the road. One night when I was home, two guys drove up our long driveway. Nobody drives up our driveway. Ever. Just the mailman and Electric Company lady. Two young guys got out and stood by their car. I went to the front door and asked them what they wanted. I was pretty nervous. They asked me if I wanted to buy any meat that they had in their trunk. I said no and they left. Who knows? They could have been casing my house and that was their b.s. story if they ran into a homeowner. They may have even had meat in their trunk to make the scam look real if the cops got involved.

I lived in a big city. I'm pretty certain that I won't be the victim of a violent crime here. But I'm guessing someone will eventually try to get into my house. It has nothing to do with Vermont. If I'm on isolated property in any state in the country, I'm fearful of a break-in. I have three dogs and a modest looking home and I'm guessing when someone here's my dogs barking they'll just leave. You never know though, people who break into homes aren't terribly bright.

[flu189]

Granted, it may be tough to stand up and be assertive with suspicious people, but from experience in law enforcement the majority of victims were victims because they in fact conveyed the label of being an easy mark and by being absolutely naive living life in what is termed condition "white." I am not advocating getting yourself into a situation where physical violence is pushed into being an immanent option, but it is true that most thugs when faced with a potential target that is alert and stands their ground will make them think twice. It seems that up here the majority of dopers and petty thieves do have the clarity to realize that rural homeowners for the most part have the means and will to defend themselves and their property and that in my opinion fosters a healthy respect.

[OhBeeHave]

Originally Posted by quickdraw

Same here, you can't see any of my property from the road. One night when I was home, two guys drove up our long driveway. Nobody drives up our driveway. Ever. Just the mailman and Electric Company lady. Two young guys got out and stood by their car. I went to the front door and asked them what they wanted. I was pretty nervous. They asked me if I wanted to buy any meat that they had in their trunk. I said no and they left. Who knows? They could have been casing my house and that was their b.s. story if they ran into a homeowner. They may have even had meat in their trunk to make the scam look real if the cops got involved.

I lived in a big city. I'm pretty certain that I won't be the victim of a violent crime here. But I'm guessing someone will eventually try to get into my house. It has nothing to do with Vermont. If I'm on isolated property in any state in the country, I'm fearful of a break-in. I have three dogs and a modest looking home and I'm guessing when someone here's my dogs barking they'll just leave. You never know though, people who break into homes aren't terribly bright.

Who knows -- if you hadn't used your head, you might have been the meat in their trunk.

[bobjsim]

Hi mcoop0397

I live in the NH seacoast area too, and I lived up in the Burlington area too. I agree with you, seacoast has changed in the last 10 years. And not completely for the better. Granted, its not as bad as Massachusetts. I grew up there, and when I go down to visit my family a couple times a year I'm struck by how crowded, aggressive, overbuilt and just plain unpleasent that it is.

But if you want to get away from that, to me South Burlington is the LAST place you want to move to. Unless you like shopping centers, big developments where all the (absurdly overpriced) houses look exactly the same. Someone said "5 minutes from funky Burlington". Not during rush hour--and like everywhere, 'rush hour' is really more like 6-8am and 3-6pm. Think trying to cross the General Sullivan at peak traffic times, that is the commute around Burlington-S.Burlington-Shelbourne-Essex. Not Boston bad, but not a picnic every day either. Just your normal suburban traffic issues. But whats nice is 20 minutes out of town, it's the Vermont everyone thinks of.
Not that I'm trying to rain on your parade. Go for it. I would move back there in a minute if there were any equivalent jobs in my field. The lake is beautiful, all the outdoor acitvities you want are at your doorstep, Burlington is what Portsmouth wants to be: funky, fun, good bars and restos (although where we have m*******s, they have a lot of NY/Jersey trustfund a-holes. But its not a deal breaker). And your urban fix is less than 90 minutes away in Montreal.
Damn, now I want to move back.

[NYLIER]

That's not the first time someone wrote that there are trustfund XXXX in Vermont. How do you know this? Are you referring to the people that own those huge homes that I see when I am driving on Route 7? I never thought of those residents that way. I just thought they had a well paying job....maybe a doctor or lawyer. The homes on the lake in Shelburne are gorgeous. Maybe they work over in NY or are self-employed. Are you saying those homes were handed to them?