[edkop]

I need a little help in persuading my wife to relocate to VT from NJ. We have 2 children, 4 and 6. My wife has a job offer in VT, in her field, which pays more then the job she has here. I too was offered a job with another company, part time. The income would amount to more then we currently make here in NJ, so from that standpoint, I think we’re OK. In my opinion, VT is a far better place to raise a family. My wife is open to the idea, but not sold on it like myself. I’d pack the car tonight and head up 89. We were there in August and are going back in February to have a mini-vacation and do some more research. We would have to be located within 45 minutes of Burlington, as that is where the job offer is. Any thoughts or words of wisdom to help the cause would be great, however, I’m open to any negatives as well.
Another question I have is about property taxes. We have a house in NJ that is worth about 335,000 and we pay over 7000 a year in property taxes. The house is about 1600 Sqft and the lot size is 80x200. Can anyone give me a comparison?
Your help is greatly appreciated!
Ed

[68vette]

As far as income is concerned and the value of your home you should do fine in the greater Burlington area. Taxes will be better here in Vermont in most towns. Vermont is a great place to raise a family, so I know why you would be looking forward to a move here.
There are many positives and negatives about living anywhere. The cost of living will be higher here. You will pay more for food, gas, utilities and heating oil, but if money is not a concern then that may not matter as much. The big issues most have are the job market(not an issue for you), cost of living and winter. If you love winter then Vermont may be perfect for you. It's not always below zero, but it is long and you will need to find winter activities or you will end up with "cabin fever". If you live in or near Burlington winter is more mild(temp and much less snow) than it is about 30-45 min out, but it lasts just as long. Come May even life long Vermonters look forward to warmer weather. Summer is great up here as well as fall. Read through the forum and you will come across a bunch of info. There is to much to add on pluses and negatives. Good luck.

[NowOrNever]

Originally Posted by edkop

I need a little help in persuading my wife to relocate to VT from NJ. We have 2 children, 4 and 6. My wife has a job offer in VT, in her field, which pays more then the job she has here. I too was offered a job with another company, part time. The income would amount to more then we currently make here in NJ, so from that standpoint, I think we’re OK. In my opinion, VT is a far better place to raise a family. My wife is open to the idea, but not sold on it like myself. I’d pack the car tonight and head up 89. We were there in August and are going back in February to have a mini-vacation and do some more research. We would have to be located within 45 minutes of Burlington, as that is where the job offer is. Any thoughts or words of wisdom to help the cause would be great, however, I’m open to any negatives as well.
Another question I have is about property taxes. We have a house in NJ that is worth about 335,000 and we pay over 7000 a year in property taxes. The house is about 1600 Sqft and the lot size is 80x200. Can anyone give me a comparison?
Your help is greatly appreciated!
Ed

Convince her?
Let's see well hmm...

*Less crime
*Less suburban wasteland and urban crime hell
*No gun control esp. compared to NJ
*Freedom
*No oceans and lakes full of nerve gas and mustard gas
*No forced vaccinations and druggings on people
*No tyrant NJ troopers who if you pass them will ticket you or say you are going 96mph when your going 5-10mph over 50.
*If you wanna stop being raped, moved to Vermont basically...

[GypsySoul22]

I'd suggest you read the posts from the ex-NYers on here, particularly those of us from the NYC/LI area.

I don't know what sort of jobs you do but both of you are lucky to get an out of state job offer!

[Ellwood]

My daughter left NJ 15 years ago and considers VT her home. She and SIL are teachers with two small children. Her children are not spoiled in anyway. They rarely watch TV, activities involving the family, although simple are highly enjoyed. There are playdates with friends, plays at community theaters, handmade ornaments, awareness of the environment and animals, etc. A big treat is going to a movie. Neighbors helping neighbors, potluck dinners. It reminds me of the life we had years and years ago in NJ.
I believe they pay about $1800 in property tax on a $200K home. Hope this helps.

[edkop]

Ellwood,
Your post describes what I'm looking for. My main reason for wanting to relocate is family. To me, VT seems much more laided back, when visiting, I noticed even how most of the people drive much differnet there. Not to say that there are no tailgaters in VT, but lets just say that I had to take a different approach to driving so no one would see my NJ plates and say, "ah, that figures, he's from Jersey!" I think in life you need to slow down and enjoy the moment, especially with young children. Here in NJ, everything is rush, rush, rush and then rush somemore just to keep up and get by. Anyway, I should also mention that I personally love the outdoors and snow. In fact last year I had to make a snowgun to make snow in the yard for the kids because in NJ the last 3 winter we got ripped off. I heat my house with wood, own a log splitter and enjoy every aspect of cold weather. I can't stand the 100 degree days and high humidity. I can come up with a million reasons to move to VT, but I think hearing them from true Vt'ers will help my wife decide. So my mission here is to gather as much information as I can, we'll be coming up for a visit again in Feb., I can't wait!

[Ellwood]

Edkop, If I had to do it over again I would have raised my children in an area similar to VT. Now they are grown (37 and 34) grad degrees and neither would EVER move back to NJ. We moved out of NJ to upstate NY (about 22 miles from VT). When we go to NJ we can't wait to get away from the crowds, rudeness, awful congestion and dangerous drivers and back to the peace and quiet. Best of luck in your decision. For raising children I think it is an excellent choice.

[vter]

I echo all the above...and since you have jobs lined up to me it would be a no brainer. If it's at all possible, bring your family back up for a visit if you can before you have to make a decision on the offer.
For towns within 45 minutes of Burlington...what are you looking for? Do you want urban? Suburban? Ex-urban? Rural? Meaning...do you want to be in an neighborhood with .25-1 acre lots? 5 acres? Tons of land and no neighbors in site? What are you looking to spend? All of the above is within 45 minutes of Burlington.
Good luck with your decision.

[mustmove]

Come on up. Expect the tax burden and cost of living to be about the same(possibly more) as NJ. Property tax is income sensitized and varies by locality(to a degree) we pay $3,500 our assessment is under 200k. If you want a slower pace of life VT is the place. I get to go sledding with my daughter in the backyard everyday(we have 2" of frozen snow already)- how cool is that?

[68vette]

Originally Posted by NowOrNever

Convince her?
Let's see well hmm...

*Less crime
*Less suburban wasteland and urban crime hell
*No gun control esp. compared to NJ
*Freedom
*No oceans and lakes full of nerve gas and mustard gas
*No forced vaccinations and druggings on people
*No tyrant NJ troopers who if you pass them will ticket you or say you are going 96mph when your going 5-10mph over 50.
*If you wanna stop being raped, moved to Vermont basically...

I don't mean to get off track, but as far as vaccinations go, my son just had to have two booster shots done or he was not allowed back into school this week. I don't know all the fine details of what the regulations are, but all I know was he was to have the shots by Monday or don't show up for school on Tue.