[Pokesmom]

Hello everyone.
We will be moving this coming summer from south Florida. I’m a registered nurse (shouldn’t be a problem finding a job) with two teenagers. (16/19 this summer). We will be buying a home. I’ve lived in a small city and a small town before (western NC).
We have decided to leave the iguana and bug infested sprawl of Ft Lauderdale. I truly miss four seasons, and the mountains. I hope I have lived through my last hurricane. We don’t want to go back to NC (or TN) and I’ve ruled out most of the south.
My 16 year old will continue in public schools.
We are normal blue collar working folks (not wealthy, not retired). COL is a concern (and really, isn’t it for everyone??).
We are currently considering several areas including the White Mountains area of New Hampshire and also Vermont.
Although FL doesn’t have state income tax, our property taxes and home owners insurance is ridiculous. And I know that every state figures how to get their money (be it sales, property or income).
Any particular starting points for rural mountain areas or towns in Vermont?
Thank you for your time!

[arctichomesteader]

First find work. Good paying jobs are scarce in VT and the rural parts of NH.

[Pokesmom]

The 4 towns I have researched have jobs available in my specialty of nursing. Not particularly worried about employment

[timberline742]

What are the four towns?


Incidently, while VT doesn't get a lot of hurricanes, Hurricane Irene did tremendous damage in VT in 2011. Pretty much destroyed downtown Brattleboro.

[cgregor]

I'm an incorrigible Springfield booster and advise you to check us out. A lot of Vermont small towns have the well-off retired enjoying their Horatian years while the rest of the population lives by the dictates of the state song, "Moonlight in Vermont (or Starve)."

Springfield, having little to attract well-off retirees and having lost a huge chunk of its capital base in the 1980's, is finally coming to terms with the fact that the industrialists who used to run the town really aren't going to come back and tell us what to do next. So, we're starting to work on it ourselves.

So, if for example, you want a town with an excellent school system, all you have to do is move to a place like Woodstock and plunk down $600,000 for a home-- or you can help make an excellent school system from the ground up in Springfield, where recently the average asking price for a home was $170,000 and the selling price was $113,000.

In short, you can be part of the audience in a Vermont town or you can be part of the show. Good luck in finding what you want!

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by cgregor

So, if for example, you want a town with an excellent school system, all you have to do is move to a place like Woodstock and plunk down $600,000 for a home-- or you can help make an excellent school system from the ground up in Springfield, where recently the average asking price for a home was $170,000 and the selling price was $113,000.

Or you can live in Bridgewater which tuitions out all their middle/high school students to Woodstock. GreatSchools.com has Springfield's middle school rated as a 2 and the high school rated as a 4. Why on earth would anyone send their children to a failed school system if they had other options?

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

Or you can live in Bridgewater which tuitions out all their middle/high school students to Woodstock. GreatSchools.com has Springfield's middle school rated as a 2 and the high school rated as a 4. Why on earth would anyone send their children to a failed school system if they had other options?

Seriously.

[harry chickpea]

The iguanas only started making real inroads into greater Ft Lauderdale sometime after 2001. They did add to the change of character.

I know what you are feeling with missing mountains and REAL rocks, not that foamy weak coral. Unfortunately the economics and my intolerance for the lack of sunlight midwinter ruled out coming back home. The Champlain valley around Burlington and down to Charlotte seem to get the most consistent winter sun. Coming from Florida, especially if you do so now, it will feel like moving into a cold dark closet in some places.

I will mention that you might adjust fine, but it is going to be a shock to that 16 YO, and the 19 YO will skeedaddle out within a year or two at most out of boredom and lack of work.

Also recognize that even those map distances seem short, commuting time can be long due to road conditions, tourists, and the inevitable slowpoke.

In your shoes, I would concentrate from Stowe to Waitsfield, Burlington to Barre. Truthfully though, I would only go back to live in late spring and summer. Where I live now in north Alabama is more like the Vermont I grew up in than Vermont.

[vter]

Another area I would consider is the Upper Valley - White River Junction/Hanover NH/Lebanon NH area. Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center is a large hospital that serves that area.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by vter

Another area I would consider is the Upper Valley - White River Junction/Hanover NH/Lebanon NH area. Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center is a large hospital that serves that area.

Absolutely, my brother lives in Norwich and loves it.