[goatwoodward]

Originally Posted by KoZmiC NinJa

Im
a full blown, liberal, run naked through Brattleboro,
Drop out-tune in-turn on old hippy so you would think Id
fit into VT by the perception, but the reality is I encountered
some of the most backward mindset I ever have since 1972
in Georgia.

That perception is fostered by those in Chittenden County. A lot of the rest of Vermont seems to harbor hardcore Republicans, rednecks, and "Take Back Vermont"ers (people strongly against civil unions). Not that all of them are, just Chittenden and the rest of Vermont are worlds apart.

[arel]

I can't imagine Chittenden County would be more liberal than the Brattleboro area. But there are some conservatives there, too.

[GypsySoul22]

Originally Posted by goatwoodward

You must be looking at the best places in town. Our average home in Burlington was $211,300 in 2005. Of course, if you want a large house in the heart of downtown, it will cost more, but there are affordable options. Try picketfencepreview.com or vtforsalebyowner.com

No, I gave those prices for where I live now in NY, not Vermont!!

By the way, thanks for all your links and posts. They have been helpful!

[JiminCT]

Lots of trust-funders hanging out in VT. Lots of folks who love the rural-chic idea..sold their tech stocks and ran up there. Lots of "artists"...

[GypsySoul22]

Originally Posted by JiminCT

Lots of trust-funders hanging out in VT. Lots of folks who love the rural-chic idea..sold their tech stocks and ran up there. Lots of "artists"...

Great...maybe I will be able to get into my novel writing and be an 'artist', too.

[KellyVT]

People don't need material items and fancy cars to provide them happiness around here. No one is impressed by Hummers, Benz's and Prada bags. There is no line at Starbucks. People in Vermont don't do without, they simply live within their means and feel no need to try and keep up with the Jones. You save a lot of money when you don't concern yourself with your image.
You all may scoff at our low salaries, but the cost of living I feel, is drastically lower than other areas. I grew up in a 5 bedroom house with a pond, horse barn, and sitting on over 100 beautiful acres and that house was less than 400,000. Find that somewhere else. When I moved out of that house, I moved into an apartment that was $550 a month with all utilities included. My gym membership is $19 a month. I think I can swing that. I will admit that rent in the Burlington area can be steep, but I wouldn't say its steep compared to other cities, just steep compared to the rest of the state.

I can't help but feel a little insulted that people think Vermonters are just these hokey people that get by on nothing and are miserably struggling their way through their everyday mundane lives. There is no sacrifice, we aren't missing out on anything. I have been to cities, I don't envy you. Life here is absolutely amazing and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. Ironically, the only thing I really don't like about it is all the tourists from out of state!
I don't see growing your own produce as any real 'struggle.' There is something very reassuring about knowing exactly where your food comes from, and what chemicals went into growing it.

If you want to move to Vermont then by all means I think you should. I have never had problems finding a job, housing or friends and things to do. Don't take advice about Vermont from someone in Florida. That doesn't make much sense. If you have a two income family, and you move to one of the midstate towns, you will do fine.

[localinsight]

Thanks to all the posters for your great comments. The specific suggestions on how to cut down of living costs is useful to many of us. I have noted before that I am primarily looking to leave MN for the Southwest but am from New England (MA, NH). My immediate family is in NH, aside from a sister in CO.
I already buy books (about 15% of what I used to buy) half priced online, and I appreciate the website ideas. It gives me a good sense that I have adapted well to the high cost of living the US is experiencing. Sometimes I felt stupid, honestly, because I might spend days figuring out how I can reduce costs, e. g. vitamins, or vitamins themselves, etc. I'm not "poor-mouthing", it is my reality and I do what I need to do. About once/month I get really stressed because virtually no one I know "in person" has to do the same thing. It is great to know "meet" those willling to share specifics.

I know that the nitty gritty details such as the neighborhood, the impact of gasoline costs, food costs relative to other places, etc. helped me narrow down searches, sometimes to the point of openning my search up to other states. Winnow and fan out, I call it. The "honest but true" comments, as referred to here, give me ideas for useful questions. The positive comments reaffirm, usually, what I had learned but in more "experiential" ways. They help put the smile back on my face as I contemplate .... Both types of comments are invaluable. I could never afford to travel to different places and ask locals info like this or ask them to help generate ideas.

With that in mind, you never really know until you do it, as I read here. That is also encouraging. Here in the midwest, some people are suspicious of others who want to relocate 1-3 times CA is more open to people relocating, probably because 80% are from somewhere else.

I feel so positive about continuuing my search, I should seriously consider New England again, even the prices mentioned here for Burlington are less than LA...plenty of low wages there. Thanks to all

[arel]

Originally Posted by KellyVT

People don't need material items and fancy cars to provide them happiness around here. No one is impressed by Hummers, Benz's and Prada bags. There is no line at Starbucks. People in Vermont don't do without, they simply live within their means and feel no need to try and keep up with the Jones. You save a lot of money when you don't concern yourself with your image.
You all may scoff at our low salaries, but the cost of living I feel, is drastically lower than other areas. I grew up in a 5 bedroom house with a pond, horse barn, and sitting on over 100 beautiful acres and that house was less than 400,000. Find that somewhere else. When I moved out of that house, I moved into an apartment that was $550 a month with all utilities included. My gym membership is $19 a month. I think I can swing that. I will admit that rent in the Burlington area can be steep, but I wouldn't say its steep compared to other cities, just steep compared to the rest of the state.

I can't help but feel a little insulted that people think Vermonters are just these hokey people that get by on nothing and are miserably struggling their way through their everyday mundane lives. There is no sacrifice, we aren't missing out on anything. I have been to cities, I don't envy you. Life here is absolutely amazing and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. Ironically, the only thing I really don't like about it is all the tourists from out of state!
I don't see growing your own produce as any real 'struggle.' There is something very reassuring about knowing exactly where your food comes from, and what chemicals went into growing it.

If you want to move to Vermont then by all means I think you should. I have never had problems finding a job, housing or friends and things to do. Don't take advice about Vermont from someone in Florida. That doesn't make much sense. If you have a two income family, and you move to one of the midstate towns, you will do fine.

Great post.

But not everyone has a two-income family. There are lots of single people, both with and without children. They also need to survive.

[chaz longue]

Originally Posted by arel

I can't imagine Chittenden County would be more liberal than the Brattleboro area. But there are some conservatives there, too.

I don't know exactly how liberal Brattleboro is, ...but Burlington elected Bernie Sanders (variously labeled Independent/Progressive/"socialist") mayor - several times, thus allowing him to begin his remarkable run as an elected official. And Sanders is now the US Senator from VT, after having served more than one term as United States Congressman. That counts for something, no? And plenty in Burlington don't consider Sanders very far left.

The whole VT civil unions campaign started in Chittenden County as well, if I'm not mistaken.

[chaz longue]

Originally Posted by arel

Thanks for the comments about Keene. It's within commuting distance of Brattleboro, my target town. But I have been warned about the difficulty of negotiating Route 9 in the winter. I do not relish the thought of skidding into Spofford Lake .

Since I am researching a potential move to Vermont, I really do appreciate the honest negative posts. They may be discouraging, and even at times depressing, but they are worth their weight in gold.

Fortunately, I will have some money if I move up after selling my house in Brooklyn. So I will avoid financial disaster if I can't make ends meet. But using my "nest egg" can only be a very temporary solution. If I have to keep dipping into my savings and do not take appropriate action (including leaving Vermont, if necessary) then I will be courting financial disaster down the road. I can give myself a time period - somewhere between 6 months to 2 years - to see if things work out. Meanwhile, I can develop my Plan B, be it Burlington, Montpelier, Middlebury, Northampton, Keene, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island (I doubt it, but I once lived there and have friends there, including my closest childhood friend), or even New York.

Another possibility is to rent my home in Brooklyn for that time, so I can return if I want to. I have pretty much rejected that option, for several reasons. One reason I want to move is to get rid of that house. It is much more house than I need and I would rather downsize and use the money to invest for retirement.

You're going to take equity out of the NYC Real Estate market and put it in equities? On purpose?