[CAVA1990]

Curious how you ended up in Houston? You don't seem the TX types.

[groens]

Originally Posted by Sherylcatmom

Cool! I love the Route 7 drive up and down the state. When you drive through Rutland, remember that downtown is just west of Route 7. You can turn west on West, Center, or Washington Streets. All those strip malls on Route 7 are not downtown Rutland, as I used to think before I lived here. I'd drive up 7 shaking my head, wondering where the "there" was.

I'll remember that!

[groens]

Originally Posted by vter

Groens-hope you have a great scouting trip in January. I'm glad you are finding some housing online that is in your price range and it's good that you don't mind a fixer-upper.
The Rutland area is really growing on me. My parents moved to the Rutland area from Bennington a few years ago and I've been exploring the area when I go visit.
If you have time when you come visit, please visit the Burlington area, Rutland area, UPper Valley (White River area) and the Northeast Kingdom (Lyndon/StJ/Newpoort). Each area has a different feel and you'll get a good idea as to what kind of cash will give you what.
Also....be sure to bring your long underwear!

LOL re: long underwear... I was just thinking of that yesterday! I have grown out of the ones I had when I lived in London...
We're definitely planning on scoping out every place you suggest... they're already on our list!

[groens]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

Curious how you ended up in Houston? You don't seem the TX types.

Unfortunately, I was borne here... but I went to university in Europe and lived in England & France for about 7 years.... I moved back to TX in 2000 and have been absolutely miserable since.

[groens]

Originally Posted by mustmove

You should definitely give VT a shot. A lot of VTers live on the Ok job + Ok small business method. You've been warned plenty about COL. Ideologically you will likely be very happy. Someone who lived in TX and now is in VT once told me that it is similar as to the weather making being outside unpleasant for X months out of the year. I guess it is personal preference whether you'd like to be uncomfortably hot or uncomfortably cold. RE is softening up in VT. From the little that I know a lot of stuff seems to be priced for a couple of years ago and not moving. It might take longer for reality to set in for owners, but consider listed prices as optimistic on the seller's side. You can always offer to rent a house that has been sitting. Never know what you will find if you ask.

I've always been lucky finding places to rent... and for some reason, I think we'll get lucky in January. We just really need to finish the work on this house to get it sold- hopefully with a a decent chunk of cash for the move. Fingers crossed.
I prefer cold to hot any day. At least when it is frigid, you can still breathe. Sometimes in the summers here you walk out & hit a wall of humidity & it is so hard to breathe. And the air smells so strong with chemicals, it makes it worse. Yuck! At least VT has 4 seasons. Here we have hot from april/may to november, and the rest of the time is generally warm. Something about xmas shopping in shorts & a t-shirt just feels off to me.
I have noticed that a lot of the houses we looked at online 8-10 months ago are still on the market... so maybe they would be very willing to strike a deal...

[mountainclimber]

Sherylcatmom's comment made me smile. I too wondered where "the there is" in Rutland, because the roads take you east of it.

I enjoy Rutland, but also really like the surrounding area.

One other thing that comes up a lot on this site is people consider newcomers "flatlanders" and look down on you. I have never experienced that, never a hint of it. People tell you their uncle, cousin, daughter or neighbor lived where you came from, just like people everywhere do.

I hope you have a good trip!

[groens]

Originally Posted by mountainclimber

Sherylcatmom's comment made me smile. I too wondered where "the there is" in Rutland, because the roads take you east of it.

I enjoy Rutland, but also really like the surrounding area.

One other thing that comes up a lot on this site is people consider newcomers "flatlanders" and look down on you. I have never experienced that, never a hint of it. People tell you their uncle, cousin, daughter or neighbor lived where you came from, just like people everywhere do.

I hope you have a good trip!

thanks for the well wishes... although now i'm getting a bit stressed thinking about driving all over the state in snow... i'm not used to it and i get very freaked out driving in rain... although here i'm more afraid of speed demons, tailgaters, and road ragers than the actual slipping and sliding....
when i lived in the pyrenees, i did drive 5 hours through snowy mountain passes in the middle of the night on twisty, turny, insanely steep roads-- i did alright, though... i was driving soooooo slowly!

BTW, how are the thunderstorms in VT? I LOVE storms...

[Sherylcatmom]

Originally Posted by mountainclimber

Sherylcatmom's comment made me smile. I too wondered where "the there is" in Rutland, because the roads take you east of it.

I enjoy Rutland, but also really like the surrounding area.

Wow! I'm unaccustomed to seeing positive comments about Rutland here.

I like the surrounding area, too. Rutland County has some wonderful towns. Some have their own downtowns. Since I like to walk to everything no town besides Rutland City has quite enough to motivate me to live there. There are Rutland County towns with decent town centers of activity and commerce (Brandon, Wallingford, Castleton, Poultney, Killington), some with less (Pittsford, Pawlet, West Rutland), and some with very little (Belmont, Middletown Springs, Tinmouth, Benson).

Originally Posted by mountainclimber

One other thing that comes up a lot on this site is people consider newcomers "flatlanders" and look down on you. I have never experienced that, never a hint of it. People tell you their uncle, cousin, daughter or neighbor lived where you came from, just like people everywhere do.

I have never experienced anti-"flatlander" sentiment either. Not a jot. I've heard it's more likely in some areas, such as in the Northeast Kingdom.

I've had only one experience in the NEK that lasted longer than a meal & drive-through. This summer I stayed in Lyndonville to staff my organization's booth at the Caledonia County Fair. The fair opened in early afternoon so each day I wandered the streets of Lyndonville and St. Johnsbury. Lyndonville was adorable and seemed so friendly. The people I spoke with who worked in the restaurants and shops as well as other browsers were a mix of Vermont-born and moved-here-later.

[groens]

Originally Posted by Sherylcatmom

Wow! I'm unaccustomed to seeing positive comments about Rutland here.

I like the surrounding area, too. Rutland County has some wonderful towns. Some have their own downtowns. Since I like to walk to everything no town besides Rutland City has quite enough to motivate me to live there. There are Rutland County towns with decent town centers of activity and commerce (Brandon, Wallingford, Castleton, Poultney, Killington), some with less (Pittsford, Pawlet, West Rutland), and some with very little (Belmont, Middletown Springs, Tinmouth, Benson).



I have never experienced anti-"flatlander" sentiment either. Not a jot. I've heard it's more likely in some areas, such as in the Northeast Kingdom.

I've had only one experience in the NEK that lasted longer than a meal & drive-through. This summer I stayed in Lyndonville to staff my organization's booth at the Caledonia County Fair. The fair opened in early afternoon so each day I wandered the streets of Lyndonville and St. Johnsbury. Lyndonville was adorable and seemed so friendly. The people I spoke with who worked in the restaurants and shops as well as other browsers were a mix of Vermont-born and moved-here-later.

The idea of a county fair makes me smile. A month or 2 ago, I had some friends on facebook who were posting about county fairs & I was so sad that I didn't have anything like that to go to here.

BTW we were planning on towing our car up there behind our company van... xcept someone ran a stop sign this morning & hit hubby & totalled our car. So, I guess it's gonna just be our company van. Ugh.

[Sherylcatmom]

Originally Posted by groens

The idea of a county fair makes me smile. A month or 2 ago, I had some friends on facebook who were posting about county fairs & I was so sad that I didn't have anything like that to go to here.

There are county fairs and regional events all over this state:

Vermont Agricultural Events 2009 -Fairs, Festivals and Field Days

Originally Posted by groens

BTW we were planning on towing our car up there behind our company van... xcept someone ran a stop sign this morning & hit hubby & totalled our car. So, I guess it's gonna just be our company van. Ugh.

Ugh, major bummer. Hope no one was hurt?