[MRVphotog]

You should consider both as both states are awesome places to live.

[kemcnyc]

Hi Audrey S- Please keep us updated on any information you may have!!

I would LOVE to move to Maine or NH. I just vacationed in both this Fall. Love it. Work in Banking though..... no idea how I would get a job up there.

Could care less about the cold. BRING IT ON !!

[OhBeeHave]

Originally Posted by kemcnyc

Hi Audrey S- Please keep us updated on any information you may have!!

I would LOVE to move to Maine or NH. I just vacationed in both this Fall. Love it. Work in Banking though..... no idea how I would get a job up there.

Could care less about the cold. BRING IT ON !!

It's actually a more pleasant cold in VT than here in coastal NY. No bone-chilling dampness.

[tkln]

Agreed. I'll take the dry cold over wet cold any day.

[AudreyS]

Originally Posted by kemcnyc

Hi Audrey S- Please keep us updated on any information you may have!!

I would LOVE to move to Maine or NH. I just vacationed in both this Fall. Love it. Work in Banking though..... no idea how I would get a job up there.

Could care less about the cold. BRING IT ON !!

Thanks everyone for your input! I received a relocation packet in the mail from the Vermont Chamber of Commerce. I need to sit down and read it though.

I'm in banking too, but I am fortunate enough to have a portable job, and I can work from home full time. Currently my boss is in Georgia, I'm in Maryland. When I asked her how a move would effect my position she said that I could work from the top of Mt. Everest if I found a way. I don't know what kind of banking work you do - I'm in equipment leasing & financing - but some banks are pretty flexible about this sort of thing. If you work for a large bank (as I do) it is sometimes possible to find a position elsewhere. A friend of mine did just that; she wanted to relocate to NYC and was able to transfer to our corporate office up there. I've also found that if you have any kind of a background in accounting or bookkeeping, those skills are pretty transferable. People always need someone to do the books!

[j_jimerino]

As has been mentioned, Vermont has done its best to chase out any businesses that it has. It is wrong to say the economy has made it hard to find jobs in Vermont. It wasn't easy before. Many of the businesses that have closed or downsized recently were already in the process of doing that during the so called "boom" times.

Property taxes are brutal on even a modest 3 bedroom house. Most properties under 200K are ancient dumps a retired person could not afford to update and maintain or condos. This is even after the decline in real estate prices. In exchange you get collapsing roads,and important bridges that are literally being closed due to poor condition. Forget building new roads to support the increased traffic, a complicated regulatory process has virtually closed the door on new projects. Not that there is any money thrown that way. The bulk of the tax money is thrown the way of education, spending double our neighbors in NH in order to get middle of the pack results. Attempts to reform the system to reduce overhead are vehemently attacked, and education budgets continue to go up despite declining student enrollments. (A trend that is likely to continue as more families are forced out of the state due to financial circumstances) A dirty secret regarding the roads that no one likes to talk about is that whenever a budget hole was discovered, it was standard practice to rob the transportation fund. Obviously this resulted in maintenance issues.

I've traveled to Maine a number of times. Without living there I cannot comment to much on the financial situation. I understand the property taxes are much lower. The roads I drove on were all of much better condition and design then the ones I drive on during my daily commute. The drivers were also more reasonable. Many Vermont drivers have a bizarre code of ethics where they will choose to stop in the middle of a busy road with 35 cars behind them in order to wave a dump truck in before turning off.

[mustmove]

VT is telecom challenged so if you do move there make damn darn certain your communication needs can be met. Do not believe fiber/cable/cell is coming tomorrow stories. Again be very very certain what you need is in place and it works. Satellite internet is not a sufficient solution for many and the state's copper phone lines are falling apart with no means to fix/replace them. I have no idea about MEs telecom situation.

Originally Posted by AudreyS

Thanks everyone for your input! I received a relocation packet in the mail from the Vermont Chamber of Commerce. I need to sit down and read it though.

I'm in banking too, but I am fortunate enough to have a portable job, and I can work from home full time. Currently my boss is in Georgia, I'm in Maryland. When I asked her how a move would effect my position she said that I could work from the top of Mt. Everest if I found a way. I don't know what kind of banking work you do - I'm in equipment leasing & financing - but some banks are pretty flexible about this sort of thing. If you work for a large bank (as I do) it is sometimes possible to find a position elsewhere. A friend of mine did just that; she wanted to relocate to NYC and was able to transfer to our corporate office up there. I've also found that if you have any kind of a background in accounting or bookkeeping, those skills are pretty transferable. People always need someone to do the books!

[monkey cabal]

Only Vermont and Maine? Ha! Isn’t there a state in between those two that you are forgetting?

[AudreyS]

Originally Posted by monkey cabal

Only Vermont and Maine? Ha! Isn’t there a state in between those two that you are forgetting?

Ha ha! We are looking at NH too - I haven't hit the NH board yet.

I really need to learn more about NH. All I know is those red barn looking liquor stores on I-95 that we pass when we're on our way to Maine. What cracks me up is the signs letting you know that an exit to one of the liquor stores is coming up, then as soon as you cross into Maine there is a huge sign telling you that Maine does not tolerate drunk driving.

That and my husband always seems to fall asleep behind the wheel in NH. We always have to pull into a NH rest stop for a nap. NH rest stops aren't bad!

[momnh]

I just moved from NH to VT. I liked NH, and spent 8 years there. What I like better about VT is that the towns have a much greater sense of community. There isn't really such thing as a town center in a lot of NH. I also like the schools in VT better, as well as the focus on local and sustainable agriculture and lifestyle. You can find that in NH too but it's not as prevalent.