[Will & Cache]

dear folks,
my husband and I are looking to move to the Middlebury, Brandon, Vergennes area. 20 years ago we lived in the hills of Lincoln and it seems there have been a few changes. we are looking for home, community, good garden soil, and a friendly, warmhearted, hip town for him to continue his 15 years of practicing acupuncture.
can anybody give us some feed back?
thank you for any help.

[vter]

I would check out Middlebury, simply because it's got the biggest population of the towns you mention and the college.
Middlebury is growing fast right now. There are 3 or 4 big (for VT standards)developments being built.
Have you done any research to see if there is a need for acupuncturists? Given that these are small towns, not sure how much of a market there would be if there are already some practices set up.
The Addison Independent is the local paper. addisonindependent.com
Good luck!

[leedspaddy]

Originally Posted by Will & Cache

dear folks,
my husband and I are looking to move to the Middlebury, Brandon, Vergennes area. 20 years ago we lived in the hills of Lincoln and it seems there have been a few changes. we are looking for home, community, good garden soil, and a friendly, warmhearted, hip town for him to continue his 15 years of practicing acupuncture.
can anybody give us some feed back?
thank you for any help.

Why in the h*ll would you want to come back to this terrible state. It is by far the worst state I have ever lived in, with outrageous real estate taxes, no jobs, low salaries and full of a bunch of "save the trees" enviromental weirdos. The second I can sell my house, my family are out of this godforsaken state and WILL NEVER EVER RETURN

[arel]

Leedspaddy, your post is the most negative I have seen about Vermont. Most are positive, even with the acknowledged economic issues.

Your post implied that you have lived in several other states. I'd like to know which states you did like and why.

[VALT]

For Artists, Brandon is growing in reputation - also, in resturants and tourists. If you want to be more daring, check out Rutland. RutlandDowntown.com is starting to offer some of the programs that Brandon has, at a fraction of the cost - better housing stock too.

John Valt

PS we just sold our house in Rutland and now live in Burlington

[meontop]

Leedspaddy -
If Vermont is truly that bad, I have a nice house in Vegas that I will gladly trade with you for yours in Vermont.
There's a lot of money to be made here, and if you like a busy, crime infested rat race with rude people and gnarly traffic issues on freeways and surface streets, this place is for you.
You are the first, and only person I have seen any reply from that has anything negative to say about Vermont. Where are you moving back to? Or better, where are you originally from? A big city? A similarly slower paced country area? I'm curious to know why you think Vermont is so bad. Though we make a ton of money here, we're planning on relocating there to have a better quality of life for our family. What part of Vermont are you in? I'll make sure to do more thorough research in that area.

[vter]

A lot of people move here assuming that they'll get the same level of services, have the same conveniences etc. Vermont is a small, rural state. You can't move here expecting things to be the same. You have to pay a private trash hauling firm to get your trash. You may have to drive 15 miles to get milk, 1/2 hour to go see a movie. Most towns do not have paid fire/police. Most towns (activity wise) shut-down by 9:00 (with the exception of Burlington). People are super laid back. Native Vermonters are more reserved, but wonderful people and will help at a moment's notice. They're not going to come over with the welcome wagon when you move in, but if they see you stuck in the driveway, they'll help.
Moving here causes quite a lot of culture shock for folks from more urban areas. Some adapt, some don't. Those that don't are usually gone in a year. I'm assuming this is what happened with the above poster.

[classyladya1]

I m a native Vermonter who moved away for many years while working for an engineering company. Some of the areas I lived in included Boston, Alexandria, VA, Berkely Heights, NJ, Highland Park NJ and Omaha, NE. I think being happy in any area is a state of mind. That said, I always looked forward to moving home to VT and did so 5 years ago. Sadly, I will need to sell my Ludlow log home (Okemo MT) and move again. I have had a solid welcoming return to Vermont and plan to live here again. Folks like the negative poster probably have a negative attitude as well. We welcome people who are part of the solution and not part of the problem.

[DogLady321]

leedspaddy does have some good points,
the taxes are higher than other areas, perhaps due to the lack of industry
it is difficult to find a job here and the pay does tend to be low but VT does have the #2 highest minimum wage of the entire east coast.
As far as the environmental weirdos, that's what makes this place so unique.
And like another poster said, it's all in your attitude.
I may not be super rich, making a ton of money at my job BUT i enjoy the eclectic mix of people here, conservatives, radicals, environmentalists, artists, locals, farmers and flatlanders and i do NOT regret moving here so that my daughters could grow up in an area that was not infested with malls, materialism, drugs and teen sex. I'm not saying none of that exists here but it is far less than where i came from.
Wherever you live, it's all what you make of it.