[YankeeTom]

Originally Posted by nhyrnut

Study after study has proven you wrong Nh always comes in first with low taxes ppl pay. yes our property taxes are high but VT is not to far from matching and you still have your sales tax. as far as NH ppl tired of the GOP FAR FROM IT We stand behind the GOP 80% of the time just because we don't agree with bush don't mean we don't stand with the GOP. DIDN'T see anyone VOTE for DEAN LOL (unlike VT) WE IN NH are a much more conservative don't wast money and don't hug trees whe don't rehabilatat criminals we incarserate them IF you don't work for a living here we will shunn you and give your kids to someone who does.AFTER 2 years of welfare if you can't stand on your feet the state takes custody of your kids and you go to the street.when the shelters max out YOU FREEZE. WE might not have the services like subways but we have work and pay less in taxes than any other state. check the stats and KNOW what you are talking about before you trash. IN NH WE ARE MUCH BETTER THAN YOU VT LIBERALS.

New Hampshire is conservitive like Barry Goldwater was conservitive , Like Ron Paul is conservitive.

There is NOTHING CONSERVITIVE about G.W.Bush and company BIG SPENDERS ALL.
This Country is going down the toilet because of that cobal. The Good People of NH understand this and thus are TURNING THEIR BACKS ON THE NEW GOP.
The problem with Ron Paul is he does not have enough support in Congress to change things and people know this. We live in a Welfare country the question is WHO WILL GET THE WELFARE , THE RICH MAN OR THE POOR MAN?
POOR = under 200k a year by the way.
This is why dems will sweep the country in '08 including NH.
TAX THE RICH they been TAXING the poor long enough.
Recover the middle class , we built this country!!!
FAIR TRADE NOT FREE TRADE!!!

[LowboyTZ]

I have a little to get off my chest concerning being a "flatlander", moving to Vermont. Here goes nothing.

Left our homeland of New Haven, Ct. in 1991 like the Beverley Hillbillies (loaded up the truck, and moved to Arlington... Vermont, that is. Green Mtns. Babbling brooks. Moose and bear...you know the story.)

My wife and I were in our 20's, self employed, one small child. Thought we reached paradise finally. Rented a small apartment in Arlington, Vt. nestled in the woods.First night we spent sleeping on the floor surrounded by boxes, turned the TV on to the news that there were 7 murders in New Haven, Ct. that week. We looked at each other and nodded silently.

No job for wife, but I was a sucessful self employed young man, full of determination and motivation, I was going to make it anywhere.

7 years later,she was working, but my business had taken such a downward turn that we were in such financial distress due to the difference in the economies from Ct. to Vt., that we were wondering if we'd made a serious mistake moving so soon in life. I still hold that conviction.

The attitude in Vt. about paying a little more for a little better quality service, is virtually non-existant. Only from the other "outsiders" do you get that understanding. I was in the excavation business in Ct., had big equipment and insurance payments, and needed a certain amount of revenue to exist, as any business does. I couldn't meet those thresholds once we established ourselves here, due to an abundance of existing contractors, lower pricing by them, and most of all...unfortunately a lot of negative feedback from existing contractors to some of the potential customers that I had bid (and lost,) work for. They simply resent us "flatlanders" coming around, muscling in on their source of income that they so rightfully think they should have for themselves.

I am not talking negatively from my own viewpoint. After several years of being out of that business, and struggling to exist here now with 2 children and a minimal source of income, I've gotten the truth from a couple of natives that I think highly of and they also do of us. They stated that our demise was strictly because we "weren't from around here"...I often wondered if that was the case, but tended to blame myself for multiple issues, and for a lot of years afterwards. I thought it was me. My personality. My appearance, etc. talk about giving yourself a complex. Now looking back, I wasted a whole lot of time worrying about what happened, when it was a simple, common situation that I found I was not alone in.

Many other Ct., NY,NJ, and other "city people" (as the natives refer to them here,) have tried to break into the building and construction markets here. Some suceeded, more had failed.

It's a very "clicky" community in Vt. 3rd generation Vermonters are very sensitive when it comes to how they will spend their money, and whom will receive it in return for a service here. I've lost bids for as little as $200.00.

When I humbly asked the lost customer "why"?...they revealed that they were approached by a friend (who happened to see my truck in the driveway and me with my clipboard,) who has a cousin, who makes pizzas at the Little Caesars, who is a volunteer fireman, who drives dump truck for the guy who does excavation work around here. Simply put, it goes to a native most of the time. Even when I was busy at times, it was a challenge just trying to buy materials from the local sand & gravel pit. They wanted to know why THEY didn't get that job I was doing...It was brutal, for 7 long years.

The neighbors all seem to be stand-offish. We live in an area where it is dominated by Ct. transplants too, but they are of their own little "click" themselves, belonging to a self-righteous snowmobiling club that has caused the true natives to resent them because they have this certain type of "clout" with the state officials, and seem to get whatever they want when it comes to zoning changes or building issues. They generate a lot of revenue for VAST (Vt. Assoc. of Snow Travelers) which is an organization that polices certain snowmobiling regulations and other things I don't fully understand. You'd think we'd have some common ground, being transplants...but not with that crew. Oh well.

Looking back, if I had to do it all over again, knowing then what I know now...I'd simply visit Vt. when I ran out of maple syrup and Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar Cheese. I'd be living over in New Hampshire I'm sure, where there's more activity, they welcome progress, there's actually some decent wages, more industry, just a whole lot more to offer people who don't want to move into the town to change their local politics, or their lifestyles...just want to live and let live, that's all.

This isn't everybody's scenario obviously, just the plain hard truth from a man who gave it his all, and got beat up enough to where he's going to look for a fight somewhere else. No offense to anybody, please don't misunderstand.

If you are able to sustain yourself financially here, or make a living by a means not directly related to Vt. economy, by all means, it would make all the difference in the world. Had I been secure at my age when we came up here, I wouldn't have typed this long-winded thread for certain. I'd be praising the Green Mountains for all their worth. I still do to a certain degree, only it's going to have to be from a distance very soon.