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My husband & I have lived in Albany for 20 years, and it's fine in a lot of ways but we're pretty bored with it at this point. We've been going to Montreal for years & would like to live there, but with our job skills (retail-bookstore) & finances figure that's not going to happen, so we decided to investigate border towns & were fairly taken with Plattsburgh (people seemed really nice like in the small towns where we grew up, it's pretty & clean & affordable, winter isn't that much worse than here, there's just enough to do & if not we'll go to Montreal or Burlington for fun (just an aside--we HATED Burlington, as it seemed a bit expensive/pretentious, no offense, just not our cup of tea).
Anyway, it didn't seem like there are a ton of jobs there outside of the hospital and some retail--and we're not sure you can live on what retail pays there. We're not spring chickens (Gen Xers, can you believe we're getting up there?)and would rather not have to work 3 jobs ,have a long commute or go without health insurance--and we're well-educated, hard workers, have a fairly low standard of living, and no kids to worry about. SO--are we crazy to want to move to Plattsburgh with no high-falutin' job lined up in advance, or is it possible to move willy-nilly and make a living? Any advice is appreciated!
It's nice here, and I'd recommend it. But not without at least one job with benefits lined up. It's cheap overall, esp. in the city if you're not driving everywhere, but not cheap enough to make a go of it with nothing in hand. IMO.
It is very nice here and extremely friendly and welcoming, but without even one job lined up, I couldn't advise you to "go for it". Having said that however, CVPH is constantly hiring (they have a website with their own job listings and offer health insurance as a benefit).........Think if you are resourceful and hard working, you would definitely get a job and we just got another pay raise Aug 1. Unions are strong here........Also, you can check USA.gov/jobs for jobs at the border. Those are decent jobs and include inspectors for FDA items, and processing documents. Not all are border patrol and immigration, although there are those as well. The border here is like a small town at Champlain/Rouses Point and of course if you have the financial skills, you can learn more about customs and always have a job there as well. The colleges are large employers (community and state) and of course there are those prisons which employ civilians as well. Our Borders store here at the mall is pretty busy and there are jobs in retail of course. I get an update everyday from some place called Indeed.com..........think if you google it, it gives the entire list of jobs in this area............Good luck and come on up if you are nice people and it sounds like you are......Don't forget to visit Lake Placid/Saranac Lake area. Guess you could get a pretentious vibe from Bton, Vt, especially since most of the kids there have to be from pretty rich families to be able to afford the tuition, but I have usually just found it to be an "old hippie" type city. Very 'save the whales, Darfur', whatever is going on in the world at the moment. My daughters and I went over there yesterday for the day and there were some protesters and signs downtown, but I just think that's what makes it Burlington and Vermont. If you go to Montpelier, it has a totally different type of flavor. Burlington is great for events, concerts, festivals, shows, and speakers........It does seem as though there is something for everyone in this area from Lake Placid to Montreal, to Burlington to Lake Champlain to the quiet of the hundreds of acres of untouched Adirondacks.........Best of luck.
Thanks nunoco and plattsburgher--it's always good to hear about a place from someone who is already there. Nunoco, I agree with you that it isn't the wisest thing in the world to move w/o a job lined up, which is why we're questioning our sanity. Plattsburgher, you've pointed out a lot of job possibilities we hadn't known we should consider, so that'll be really helpful when we start looking. The hospital sounds like it could be just the thing for me, and hubby would probably love the university if he could get in there--he's got a Masters in French (hence the love of Montreal). We don't want to own a house again, just rent--some parts of town seemed lovely and we're hoping we can get around town w/ just one car and manage to NOT live by students while staying in town instead of on the outskirts.
You've given us a lot of hope Plattsburgher--thanks again!
...hubby would probably love the university if he could get in there--he's got a Masters in French (hence the love of Montreal). We don't want to own a house again, just rent--some parts of town seemed lovely and we're hoping we can get around town w/ just one car and manage to NOT live by students while staying in town instead of on the outskirts.
That could be a game-changer! I'm no expert, but there's so much cross-border activity right now thanks to the strong Canadian dollar that Quebecois are down here shopping en force! And businesses may be looking for Franco-phone help.
Try the new airport. They're doing great attracting Canadians for snowbird flights to Florida, and may be in need of translation/marketing help. Might contact the Chamber of Commerce as well as Plattsburgh State to see if there are opportunities.
Finally, Plattsburgh State hockey rules! Women are two-time NCAA champs, and men made the Final Four last year.
Good luck.
Nuts !!! Hell NO-a nice city that has anything you might need except high culture
and Montreal for that. Adirondacks on one side,Champlain on the other-only way it could be better is be in Canada-LOL.
This may or may not appeal to you, but my sister lives in LA and to go ANYWHERE has about a 30 minute minimum to an hour and a half commute, depending on traffic, so all of this is relative, but.......
I know more than a few people who live here but work in Vermont. There are economical ways of doing it, but if you get a good paying job over there, it is worth the 45 minute commute, I think. (I lived close to the NY ferry side). I did it for a year, myself. You can be a walk-on passenger on the 13 minute ferry ride and leave a "beater" car for the drives or catch a ride, whatever.......
Just thought I would bring up that option because Bton does have a lot more people and more companies than we do, but the cost of living and buying a house is considerably less than in Vermont. Best of both worlds and it depends on what you consider a longish commute. I worked a bit north of Burlington in Colchester and actually enjoyed those ferry rides at the beginning and end of the day a lot
I am a "wanna-be-Canadian" and now live in Rouses Point, which is about 30 miles north of Plattsburgh and I absolutely love it there. The whole area, including Plattsburgh, is really a great place to live. For me personally, the people there are so much better than in Burlington, Vermont. I lived in Burlington for 10 years and hated it there. So if you are looking for a great place to live, Plattsburgh is the way to go.
As far as finding a job before moving there; I suggest possibly registering with a number of temp agencies that are national and transferring your records locally to Plattsburgh before moving there and then registering with local ones after the move.
This way, you could be sent out by the agencies to start working right away while continuing the search for the best job available. Just do some research in order to find out which of the national temp agencies are also located in Plattsburgh.
Good Luck,
Xosfylje
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Agreed.......
Thanks for the thoughts!
. Plattsburgher, you've pointed out a lot of job possibilities we hadn't known we should consider, so that'll be really helpful when we start looking. The hospital sounds like it could be just the thing for me, and hubby would probably love the university if he could get in there--he's got a Masters in French (hence the love of Montreal). We don't want to own a house again, just rent--some parts of town seemed lovely and we're hoping we can get around town w/ just one car and manage to NOT live by students while staying in town instead of on the outskirts. 
