[tired_of_MD]

I am very interested in relocating to VT in the next few years, and I was wondering about a couple of areas in particular- the NEK and the area around Johnson, VT. I am very excited from the posts I have read about Vermont discouraging certain kinds of development. Nothing worse than a McMansion community sprouting up near your rural town. I won't be depending on the local economy for jobs, but my wife, who is a nurse's assistant will be. How harsh is the tax structure? What is the job market like in the healthcare profession? How are the Public schools in the NEK? I am also happy to see that this seems to be a very open and tolerant state from what I've read.

[jackmccullough]

Well, it depends on a lot of things. I've never lived there: when I moved here I had a chance to possibly work in St. Johnsbury, but it seemed like too much of an outpost to me.

About thirty of the towns in the Kingdom have a population of below 1,000, with most of those below 500. Only three have populations over 5,000. If you're looking to be way out there, in a very rural area, the Kingdom may be for you. Of course, a lot of the people in those towns live either on farms or in "the village", so there is still a feeling of community there.

In most of the Kingdom there isn't much chance of a McMansion community springing up, in part because there isn't enough economic activity to support that kind of thing. In general, the Northeast Kingdom is an area with serious economic hardships and a higher level of unemployment than the rest of the state, even in good times.

I don't know what to expect for health care jobs. There are at least two hospitals in the Kingdom (St. J. and Newport), and I would guess there are other types of organizations that employ nurses' assistants.

As for taxes, you will hear complaints about Vermont's tax structure. For years we have had a system in which the education component of your property taxes is subject to "income sensitivity", a method of tying school taxes to ability to pay and removing the unfair advantage that certain "gold towns" had in supporting their schools.

One web page that can provide a lot of housing information is housingdata.org.

Here's another:

VTSDC - Annual Population Estimates for Vermont Communities

Finally, many of the small towns have very small elementary schools, but the high schools are generally larger, union schools that cover several towns. This probably expands the offerings that those schools are able to offer.

I hope this helps.