[mustmove]

High taxes, high workers comp laws(very risky to put an employee on the books), telecommunications are way behind with no way to catch up, that is a killer right there. Population is one of the oldest in the country and only 600,000 people at that. Anti development laws. Roads suck. High rates of drug use there were a couple of different manufactures in the NEK that claimed 70% of potential new hires fail pre-employment drug testing. Those are the guys that think they can pass never mind the folks that don't bother applying.
Mainly state laws, the lack of a critical mass of people that can move the economy forward and no way to attract/retain those people, and insufficient telecommunications capacity. If folks like Vermont the way it is that is great, but I don't see prosperity in the state's future.

[ex-springfielder]

It was my understanding that the Shopping Plaza is one of the reasons for the downtown area dying. People drive past the downtown businesses in favor of convenient one-stop shopping. (The shopping plaza has looked to have been at least 85-90% occupied the last few years, with 3 strong anchors -- Shaws, Rite Aid, and Peebles.) It is the same phenomena which has happened all over the US and is not unique to Springfield. Many downtowns have died as large shopping plazas and malls are built outside of town. I can tick off a number of places on LI which have succumbed to the same fate as Springfield -- Patchogue being most similar, right down to having an ancient, abandoned mill. (The mill has since been razed.) In all fairness, you can't accuse a town of becoming a trough for government services. 'Town' is the people, and the people have to speak for or against such decisions. One thing I have always admired in VT is the Town Hall meeting. Are folks in Springfield that far removed from the day-to-day goings on that they would prefer to let someone else make critical decisions which would ultimately impact their wallets? (I respect your insight as a former resident.)As far as taxes and tax burden -- Springfield has nothing on NY. My neighbors are paying over $15K/year for a center hall colonial on 1/2 acre. Our school taxes are easily 66% or more of our tax bill. My Chester tax bill is peanuts in comparison. However I do realize that there's a difference in salaries, commutes, job availability, etc., and that $4K might seem like a lot, depending on what a person earns. That's why I would like to see the Springfield project become reality. if it brings in more jobs and contributes to the commercial tax base, it might help Springfield turn around. One step at a time, right?Ah...town meetings, I used to go every year to listen to the same song and dance from the town and school officials while 100 or so voters listened. Nothing in Springfield cna be decided at town meeting that has anything to do with money so it's voting day that matters. Springfield lies on the border with NH and as you can see there is very little retail business on the Vwermont side, it can't compete with NH's tax free status. The state cares little for the eastern border towns, all the political clout is centered in the Burlington area and the western side of the state borders NY which has a higher sales tax so retail stores there can compete. The state funnels it's low income and problem people into the poor run down mill towns like Springfield, Newport, Windsor and BF. The state even built it's prisons in Newport and Springfield in an effort to bolster local economy, being a prison town isn't something you brag about to potential business and residents. The original poster was asking if he should consider moving to Springfield, my honest reply would be no, not if they had any other choices. Even if you were to take a job in Springfield you'd do better to buy a house in Chester or Perkinsville rather then have the stigma of Springfield.

[ex-springfielder]

Sorry the first half of my post was a quote, my reply starts at Ah...town meeting

[western mass and love it]

wow all this griping about Springfield,you would think it was Springfield MA being discussed not some little town in VT..

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by western mass and love it

wow all this griping about Springfield,you would think it was Springfield MA being discussed not some little town in VT..

Very true; there's not a whole lot of ANYTHING in Springfield, VT, certainly not enough to argue about page after page...

[sugarmaple]

I drove by the Gear-shaper building the other day; the work appears to have started. VT Tool is still there and I think, actually, it will be a boost for both businesses AND the community. I remember when the Department of Corrections was beginning to look at Springfield for a prison site, people started to flip out, get scared and as as real estate broker, I have to "disclose" not only issues about a property, but let customers/clients "know" that a prison was being discussed for that area. Guess it has a "stigmatized" effect on people. However, what I did tell people IF the prison actually did come into the area, that in my opinion, I did not think that someone who was thinking about escaping would actually go to the Springfield Shopping Center, to Friendly's and sit down and have a frappe or some fronions, but rather would hit the Interstate and be gone!

To my knowledge, with the prison now well-established, no one has escaped and if they have, and I have not heard it and figure we all would if an offender was captured at Friendly's - , what the prison did help to do was bring in more employment, more housing, and consumers in stores.

I also believe that once the Shaper building is renovated and has its full face lift, it will in fact, be a plus for Springfield. And once the movie theater is redone since its fire, that too will be beneficial for the community.

Hope this information is helpful!

[looking4home]

This is OT, but why would a town in Vermont be named Newport? It seems illogical and kind of ridiculous to me since VT is land-locked and not on the ocean, or a bay, nor does it have a port. And no, Lake Champlain, lovely and big as it is, doesn't count!

[Sherylcatmom]

Originally Posted by looking4home

This is OT, but why would a town in Vermont be named Newport? It seems illogical and kind of ridiculous to me since VT is land-locked and not on the ocean, or a bay, nor does it have a port. And no, Lake Champlain, lovely and big as it is, doesn't count!

LOL! Newport is on beautiful Lake Memphremagog at the Vermont-Canada border. What, lakes can't have ports? :-)

[OhBeeHave]

Originally Posted by looking4home

This is OT, but why would a town in Vermont be named Newport? It seems illogical and kind of ridiculous to me since VT is land-locked and not on the ocean, or a bay, nor does it have a port. And no, Lake Champlain, lovely and big as it is, doesn't count!

Chances are any American town or city named Newport would have been named after Newport, Wales, UK.

Newport Wales is linked to Great Britain by a bridge over the River Usk.
Newport, VT is separated from Canada by Lake Memphremagog.

In both situations goods were shipped from one country to the other.

A port is a place where people or products can enter/leave a country.

Ports are not exclusive to oceans or bays.

There are 15 international and 50+ regional ports on the Great Lakes/St Lawrence Seaway.

[Sherylcatmom]

Originally Posted by OhBeeHave

Chances are any American town or city named Newport would have been named after Newport, Wales, UK.

You make an excellent point. So many towns in New England states are named after UK sites.

Some towns make their original names a point of pride. When I lived in Southern NH, I frequently drove through "The Only Henniker On Earth" -- yes, that's the town's motto.