[carolinajack]

my cousin, from SC just moved back home from Burlington. she loved it but wanted to start find a mate and get married. not many blacks there and hard for us to find dates so she had to go back home.

[expatvermonter]

Vermonters would love to have some pleasant southerners move here! We have been invaded with DROVES of hypersuburbanites from Mass, New Jersey and NYC Metro who drive Volvos, Subarus, and Beemers, sip latte, sit around and talk about the Darfur crisis all day, go to town meeting and fight wind power in Barton and Stratton, paint some unrealistic Currier and Ives portrait of Vermont yet buy zero lot line vinyl sided 5 bedroom subdevelopments on Spear Street.

Better than Florida.... Oh yeah! But don't expect laid back friendly folk unless you are into the grunge/hippy scene! This is the land of the rich and pretentious! You will notice the white plates with red and blue lettering and the tan plates with black lettering. Watch carefully you will see litter flying out of the windows onto I-89 as they travel North into Vermont at 90 MPH!

[Adream]

Originally Posted by expatvermonter

Vermonters would love to have some pleasant southerners move here! We have been invaded with DROVES of hypersuburbanites from Mass, New Jersey and NYC Metro who drive Volvos, Subarus, and Beemers, sip latte, sit around and talk about the Darfur crisis all day, go to town meeting and fight wind power in Barton and Stratton, paint some unrealistic Currier and Ives portrait of Vermont yet buy zero lot line vinyl sided 5 bedroom subdevelopments on Spear Street.

Better than Florida.... Oh yeah! But don't expect laid back friendly folk unless you are into the grunge/hippy scene! This is the land of the rich and pretentious!

I see quite a bit of what you are talking about here in Stowe, especially during ski season. Our license plates say NJ, but we're from Philly originally. We tend to carry a different vibe from our neighbors originally from NY and N.NJ. Some are nice, but others just scowl or at the very least, don't wave back when we pass by on our little road. I guess it's just a different way of life there so they have to adapt a certain behavior.

I used to live in Bucks County, PA, which had an invasion from NY back in the 1980's and my friends tell me is undergoing another invasion currently. I guess people from NY don't realize that when they leave the traffic and tension they can relax and drop the aggressive driving and attitude. My friends tell me that Bucks County just isn't the same and they will be leaving for SC & FL the minute the kids are off to college or they can retire. But, I digress...

I have found that while I've met many friendly Vermonters, I've met my share of 'prickly' local personalities here too. No one segment of society has the patent on 'friendly' but there really are some nice folks in Vermont, both locals and transplants. I think people from the South would make a great addition to the population.

Why on earth would anyone be against wind power? Are they afraid that the turbine will mar their mountain view?

[tkln]

There is definitely the NIMBY attitude no matter where you go or who you are - there was a farmer up in Hyde Park or Morrissville last year or two years ago that wanted to put up a single wind turbine to power his equipment and farm...(and it wasn't one of those giant ones, it was much smaller than what you see out in the wind farms) the amount of backlash was remarkable, especially since it wasn't blocking anybody's views or causing an issue for any of his neighbors (who are all local VTers). In the end, the town allowed him to put it up because there was no law on the books that prevented him from doing so but it was quite interesting to see how people reacted.

[lalagrace]

We moved to Middlebury from NC this past May. I can say I don't miss too much. I miss sweet tea, Bojangles biscuits, Chick Fil A. I miss seeing diversity, there are so few people here that are not white. I miss the convience that comes with being in a larger city, I miss having a lot of museams and kids activites.
I miss lots of available, high quality, recent construction, energy efficient, affordable housing. I miss low cost utilities.
I miss 3 month winters, (dec, Jan Feb).

What I don't miss:
overcrowded schools, congestion, strip malls, 15 fast food resturants in a row, feeling dsconnected with my community, rush hour, commuting, 100 degree days, feeling judged by if I went to /where I went to church, parks as the only green space

I think its all a trade off. It is more expensive to live here. There are bigots and "rednecks" in Vt same as in the south. For me, I think its a fair trade.

[mustmove]

Originally Posted by expatvermonter

Watch carefully you will see litter flying out of the windows onto I-89 as they travel North into Vermont at 90 MPH!

That's not littering that is protest speech against VT's anti-commerce laws.

[NativeFlorida]

Originally Posted by expatvermonter

Vermonters would love to have some pleasant southerners move here! We have been invaded with DROVES of hypersuburbanites from Mass, New Jersey and NYC Metro who drive Volvos, Subarus, and Beemers, sip latte, sit around and talk about the Darfur crisis all day, go to town meeting and fight wind power in Barton and Stratton, paint some unrealistic Currier and Ives portrait of Vermont yet buy zero lot line vinyl sided 5 bedroom subdevelopments on Spear Street.

Better than Florida.... Oh yeah! But don't expect laid back friendly folk unless you are into the grunge/hippy scene! This is the land of the rich and pretentious! You will notice the white plates with red and blue lettering and the tan plates with black lettering. Watch carefully you will see litter flying out of the windows onto I-89 as they travel North into Vermont at 90 MPH!

We still call them "yankees" down here. Now, I realize not ALL from NY, NJ, Mass, etc. behave in the way described above ... but a large % of them do. Being from FL, I have been thoroughly schooled in the behavioral differences between people from various regions of the country, and I have to say that on average, people from the areas mentioned above take the cake. When I travel, I am a visitor. And, I shall behave accordingly. Not these folks. It seems they must dominate everything from a simple conversation to an organized event. Geesh.

Now, with my US Behavioral Differences Degree in hand, I will say that folks from the mid west tend to be the most enjoyable to have visit. On average, they are extremely respectful and a delight to be around. Except for Ohio St. fans who understandably despise us Gators.

[quickdraw]

Originally Posted by NativeFlorida

We still call them "yankees" down here. Now, I realize not ALL from NY, NJ, Mass, etc. behave in the way described above ... but a large % of them do. Being from FL, I have been thoroughly schooled in the behavioral differences between people from various regions of the country, and I have to say that on average, people from the areas mentioned above take the cake. When I travel, I am a visitor. And, I shall behave accordingly. Not these folks. It seems they must dominate everything from a simple conversation to an organized event. Geesh.

The NY escapees who choose FL are completely different than the NY escapees who choose VT. I'm not going to get into ethnic backgrounds but...

NY'ers who go to FL are the whiny types - who can't take the cold. They whine about everything. They enjoy tacky italian restaurants with giant white pillars , lodged between a Jiffy Lube and Long John Silvers on a strip mall filled street. NY'ers who go to Vt are more artsy, laid-back people who enjoy the outdoors and come here for a more peaceful lifestyle.

The whiny NY transplants who chooses FL wouldn't last a week here. Nor would they want to.

[gussie]

We sure would have liked to move to Vermont. My boyfriend is from the Newport area. But the houses for what you get are horrible.. and the taxes are off the roof.. We moved to Georgia and have a house in Maine as well.. But Maine isn't Vermont.. it was a place we at the time could afford.. We are heading back to Georgia, we have a beautiful home on an acre, low taxes.,, we just can't afford beautiful Vermont.. wish it was more affordable for the working class income!!!

[OhBeeHave]

Originally Posted by quickdraw

The NY escapees who choose FL are completely different than the NY escapees who choose VT. I'm not going to get into ethnic backgrounds but...

NY'ers who go to FL are the whiny types - who can't take the cold. They whine about everything. They enjoy tacky italian restaurants with giant white pillars , lodged between a Jiffy Lube and Long John Silvers on a strip mall filled street. NY'ers who go to Vt are more artsy, laid-back people who enjoy the outdoors and come here for a more peaceful lifestyle.

The whiny NY transplants who chooses FL wouldn't last a week here. Nor would they want to.

That's a mighty broad brush you paint with

My NY parents retired to FL; the COL on LI grew more and more expensive, eating my dad's pension and my mother became increasingly more disabled over time. (She's now completely wheelchair bound.)

She could no longer navigate their multilevel home; they sold it and bought in a very developed area in Florida where they had a handicapped accessible home built for mom.

Whiny? Hardly. Trying to keep their heads above water? Yes. Trying to give my mom a better quality of life? Yes.

My grandmother moved down to be closer to her daughter my mom. She loved NY, loved her home, but missed her daughter. She would have stayed in NY if mom was still here.

My sister and BIL moved down south for a better life, better job opportunities. We can all agree that there are more opportunities there than there are in VT. They were able to afford to have children and buy a home there -- something they couldn't afford to do in NY. My sister would move back in a heartbeat if she could make a good living anywhere up north.

I, on the other hand, love the north. Sometimes I wonder whether I was switched at birth in the hospital nursery. FL is too hot, too flat, too commercialized for my taste. Others think it's great -- and if it works for them, that's great. But please don't go calling all FL transplants from NY whiny because that just isn't true.