[NYLIER]

If I had to do the move over, I would have worked on Long Island long enough to have minimum $500,000. in savings. MINIMUM.

There was no disrespect intended when I said that people are working 2 - 3 jobs. I just feel that people should be paid more money. There are many people in this State working multiple jobs and are still struggling.

I would love to have only organic and local food on my table but I'm not paying over $3.00 a dozen for eggs. I shouldn't have to pay more for local food when there is no middleman. If it says "Made in VT" the price is much higher. It would be much easier if we could get our State products a little cheaper.

As for the winters, I used to LOVE winter. I felt the same way Sherylcatmom did about just putting on more clothes which you can't do in the hot summer months. The harsh winters let me appreciate the beautiful summers. All the states around us last summer were suffering droughts, lack of hay for their animals, etc.....VT was just perfect!! Mud season stinks though!!!

[Sherylcatmom]

Originally Posted by NYLIER

The harsh winters let me appreciate the beautiful summers.

This is so true! I was probably in Northern New England 15 years before I could appreciate a hot summer day. Now I love our many, many kinds of weather. The mud gets to me at first, but then something absurd happens, like I end up lying on my side in it with a bag of groceries sliding away, and I just laugh hysterically and don't care at all any more . . . :-)

[vter]

Everyone here has given you great advice. Remember, you're coming from a CITY of millions, to a STATE with only 600,000 people. You're bound to experience some culture shock. Vermont is a rural state. Don't come here with rose colored glasses - the advice about Vermont Life magazine is spot on. Vermont Life does not represent Vermont life at all.
I LOVE it here. Was born and raised here, and lived outside of the state for a bit after college. I came back when I realized that city life was not for me. DH and I both have good jobs and make a good living here. We bought a much smaller house than we could afford and because of that, are able to save money for the future and do some traveling.
Having a good life here is entirely possible. For me, the cost of living here is worth it.
PS. Oh - and if you do make it up here, don't get a home with a fireplace; The suck the heat right out of the house. They are romantic, but not all that practical up here. Go for a Vermont Castings or Hearthstone wood stove instead!

[Sherylcatmom]

Originally Posted by vter

PS. Oh - and if you do make it up here, don't get a home with a fireplace; The suck the heat right out of the house. They are romantic, but not all that practical up here. Go for a Vermont Castings or Hearthstone wood stove instead!

Great advice! Our otherwise-right house has a fireplace. So we bought a Harman pellet stove insert for it, had a liner dropped down the chimney, and voila! Very efficient, pleasant heat source.

[GypsySoul22]

I honestly don't know if we will stay in VT but looking for a place, and uprooting your child is a hard thing. It took us 3 years of research & looking to find somewhere to move (to here) and like it.

In the end, winding up here was random.

Like many of you, we do not like humid, hot weather. My husband and (I for the most part) decided 'down south' was not the answer. Yes, we probably could (if we got jobs) buy a house or live better (i.e. "more things/cash) if we lived in a 'cheaper place'). But, like I said, all places have good and bad points.

When you don't have a lot of money, your options are limited. All 'lower income' places are sort of the same, whether you live in NH, VT, KY, NY or wherever. The same goes if you have a good parcel of money for a new home or relocation.

I see so many people who are either 'very poor' or 'very rich.' I believe it is just more in your face here due to the 'main industry' being tourism/second home owners & their needs.

I am quite disappointed in the job market now I am able to work. However, this is not unique to Vermont.

My advice to 'anyone' is if you want to move, try it. I've lived in several other places and they have been an experience, if nothing else.

The reason I LIKE my son's school is he is classified special ed (nothing severe or physical, more just processing issues) but in a class of 18 or 19 (not 30) he can get more help. He easily got services that took me MONTHS of arguing and begging for at his old school in NY.

[LowboyTZ]

Originally Posted by GypsySoul22

I honestly don't know if we will stay in VT but looking for a place, and uprooting your child is a hard thing. It took us 3 years of research & looking to find somewhere to move (to here) and like it.

In the end, winding up here was random.

Like many of you, we do not like humid, hot weather. My husband and (I for the most part) decided 'down south' was not the answer. Yes, we probably could (if we got jobs) buy a house or live better (i.e. "more things/cash) if we lived in a 'cheaper place'). But, like I said, all places have good and bad points.

When you don't have a lot of money, your options are limited. All 'lower income' places are sort of the same, whether you live in NH, VT, KY, NY or wherever. The same goes if you have a good parcel of money for a new home or relocation.

I see so many people who are either 'very poor' or 'very rich.' I believe it is just more in your face here due to the 'main industry' being tourism/second home owners & their needs.

I am quite disappointed in the job market now I am able to work. However, this is not unique to Vermont.

My advice to 'anyone' is if you want to move, try it. I've lived in several other places and they have been an experience, if nothing else.

The reason I LIKE my son's school is he is classified special ed (nothing severe or physical, more just processing issues) but in a class of 18 or 19 (not 30) he can get more help. He easily got services that took me MONTHS of arguing and begging for at his old school in NY.

I'm chiming in on this topic, because it's hitting close to home.

From Ct. originally, been doing the Vt. thing since 1991. Have a great 20 acre parcel with views, great location. However, no decent paying job in sight, within an hour from here. Soooooooo, it's back to work down in Ct. now, living at the inlaws all week, coming home on Sat. evening and leaving again at 3:30 a.m. to be at work Monday morning at 7.

I'm earning about 10.00 more per hour down there than I can at best around here in my field. In a conversation with my mom-in-law about cost comparisons on food, etc., I saw with my own eyes that we pay more for food in Vt. than in Ct. Gasoline averages about .10 more in Ct., but you don't have to drive 30 miles to get to civilization or WalMart either, so it's less traveling.

The realtor's showing up today to go over our deal, and it's leaning towards us moving back down to Ct. for a normalized lifestyle once again. We're going to take a little less than we wanted for this place, but the sooner it sells, the sooner we recover our lifestyle again as a family. struggling has become tiresome here trying to keep it all together. Can't say it's been regretful raising our kids here. They turned out well, and I attribute that to being in a smaller environment, with less influence from the city lifestyle.

I agree with one of the posts here about moving here with 500K...that'd made life a whole lot easier on us from the beginning.

[MTK1]

I am making half of what I did in CT in Burlington. The benefits offered here are a joke to what I received in CT. I am moving back down to CT in less than a month. When I recently went to reserve a truck for my move the person I spoke with said the number of outbound trucks was greater than what was coming in. He said in his ten years he had never seen anything like it and that people are leaving the state in huge numbers. The real estate prices here is ridicoulous. I suspect that many of you bought a house over 10 years ago when VT real estate was a bargain. I also read that Vermont has one of the higest mortage free home ownership in the U.S. I ran into someone that rented my apartment 8 years ago and was paying half of what I currently pay. I have another friend who bought a house in chittenden county 10 years ago for 140k and its now on the market for 470K and his wages have gone nowhere in the same time frame. Wages have gone up .5% according to a recent report in Burlington in the last 10 years. In my opinion this state is doomed. It is just about impossible for a younger person to get by here and I dont think people realize what the
repercussions are going to be when the youth is fleeing in such huge numbers.

[LowboyTZ]

Originally Posted by MTK1

I am making half of what I did in CT in Burlington. The benefits offered here are a joke to what I received in CT. I am moving back down to CT in less than a month. When I recently went to reserve a truck for my move the person I spoke with said the number of outbound trucks was greater than what was coming in. He said in his ten years he had never seen anything like it and that people are leaving the state in huge numbers. The real estate prices here is ridicoulous. I suspect that many of you bought a house over 10 years ago when VT real estate was a bargain. I also read that Vermont has one of the higest mortage free home ownership in the U.S. I ran into someone that rented my apartment 8 years ago and was paying half of what I currently pay. I have another friend who bought a house in chittenden county 10 years ago for 140k and its now on the market for 470K and his wages have gone nowhere in the same time frame. Wages have gone up .5% according to a recent report in Burlington in the last 10 years. In my opinion this state is doomed. It is just about impossible for a younger person to get by here and I dont think people realize what the
repercussions are going to be when the youth is fleeing in such huge numbers.

It's a "mass exodus" for sure. Just got back from a haircut at JC Penney (only thing open Sundays,) and the stylist has been there 3 years. Said she came from elsewhere, found the same magic we all did in the Green Mtns., but can't make ends meet without working like a dog 7 days to make ends meet here. I was actually encouraged to hear that coming from someone else, to shore up what my wife and I have been realizing for some time, but wondering if it was just us doing something wrong...Really is a shame. Life here with some decent year round, $20.00+/hr. jobs for skilled labor would be enough to keep people like myself around forever. Just isn't a reality right here in southern Vt., unfortunately.

[nancny]

My thoughts about some of your postings:

It is hard everywhere... in NYC, although there are more jobs, the competition is fiercer. We are no spring chickens any more and to honest, I would like to avoid going for a job against job seekers in their 20's and 30's. Although I have mounds of experience and I am an excellent worker, we all know that employers often tend to hire the younger, cheaper people. It's called cutting corners.

However, what the postings, especially from the few transplants from my area (CT, LI, NYC) indicate is that it is hard to survive because of the lower wages. I was a bit shocked to see that a job paying $20 per hour is scarce... I know I wouldn't make anywhere near that if I were to come up.

We don't have $500K--I'd like to know who does here (because I think those people probably don't need to seek feedback on this forum). Our cost of living here is high but the salaries we have allow us to maintain a level of living while saving a bit for a rainy day. The problem is there is no outdoors to speak of. We have to drive 1-1/2 hours toward upstate to reach any expanse of green (for those of you who know Harriman State Park). That is what hurts.

We'd like to come up in a couple of weeks and check out some areas. The logical job location would be Montpelier.

Can anyone tell me where we should drive around and look at houses within a 30-40 min. drive of Montpelier? Where it is reasonably priced with decent taxes, and somewhat populated (we would need to live in somewhat of a community though not a city)? I tend to think going west toward Burlington is better? Or not?

I guess we do need to start our research and start to get a handle on what we would be up against.

[vter]

Montpelier is a small town of about 7500. If you want a more populated area, you'll want to head to the Burlington area. Burlington itself, the state's largest "city", is only about 40K. Metro Burlington is about 150K. Waterbury is a good location in between Burlington and Montpelier. It's a small town though.
When you come up, just drive around and get a feel for the area. Montpelier may feel to small for you. Burlington may feel to big! Have fun!