[Devildoc]

Greetings mikeandaija2009 ,

I'm from the Cleveland Ohio area and I'm looking to move to somewhere new like Vermont. Like you, I was looking through the forums for information on White River Junction. I believe I'll have an offer to work at the VA medical center there (PACU) within the next several weeks and since it's been several years since your original post I'm wondering if you did move there and what your experiences have been like.

I'm an older guy, 56, retired Navy, and all I really want at this stage is a place to go for a cold one once in a while and a small town feel. Where I live now there are 3 malls within a 20 minute drive and a fast food joint on every corner. Any input you could give me would be appreciated.

Regards,
Frank

[ansible90]

DevilDoc

Look at threads on both the VT and NH forums that reference "Upper Valley"

and these towns:

Lyme (NH)
Norwich (VT)
Lebanon (NH)
Woodstock (VT)
Quechee
Hartford (VT)
White River Jct (VT)
Dartmouth (college)

All of these are close to the VA hospital in White River Jct. There are a couple of recent threads on this area.


BTW, there are NO malls within a 20 minute drive of any of these towns. We have a few big box stores in West Lebanon NH. There is a not-very-exciting mall in Manchester NH and a much nicer indoor&outdoor mall in Burlington VT.

[Devildoc]

Ansible90,

Thank you for the info. I've done a little research on a few of those areas but still need to do more. Got to tell you though, I'm shocked at the real estate prices, rent or own. I live in typical middle class America, suburb of Cleveland called Westlake, and my 3000 sqft 4 bedroom, 3 bath Colonial with a family room and full finished basement was 210K just 4 years ago. Very typical for this area since cost of living is low here.

From what I've seen in some of those areas even to rent a smaller home I'm looking at 1500 a month give or take. I was a bit surprised at that. But, as they say, it is what it is.

Thanks again.

[ansible90]

Yup, coming from Ohio you will see a cost of living increase. I came from MD so there wasn't much difference.

Google "cost of living calculators" to see changes between various cities. Use Manchester NH or Burlington VT as comparison cities up here.

Also, if you are currently a federal employee within the VA system, ask them for a cost of living increase. Fed salaries do differ in different parts of the country. Or if you're not currently in the fed system, ask anyway for a cost of living increase when you negotiate your salary. You might be surprised that they will offer more just to get people with needed skills to come up to this area.

As to a 3000sf house up here, I wouldn't want to pay to heat something that big.

[Sporin]

Originally Posted by Devildoc

Ansible90,

Thank you for the info. I've done a little research on a few of those areas but still need to do more. Got to tell you though, I'm shocked at the real estate prices, rent or own. I live in typical middle class America, suburb of Cleveland called Westlake, and my 3000 sqft 4 bedroom, 3 bath Colonial with a family room and full finished basement was 210K just 4 years ago. Very typical for this area since cost of living is low here.

From what I've seen in some of those areas even to rent a smaller home I'm looking at 1500 a month give or take. I was a bit surprised at that. But, as they say, it is what it is.

Thanks again.

Yeah, COL is pretty high around here and, sadly, the salaries are not keeping up in the Upper Valley.

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by Devildoc

Greetings mikeandaija2009 ,

I'm from the Cleveland Ohio area and I'm looking to move to somewhere new like Vermont. Like you, I was looking through the forums for information on White River Junction. I believe I'll have an offer to work at the VA medical center there (PACU) within the next several weeks and since it's been several years since your original post I'm wondering if you did move there and what your experiences have been like.

I'm an older guy, 56, retired Navy, and all I really want at this stage is a place to go for a cold one once in a while and a small town feel. Where I live now there are 3 malls within a 20 minute drive and a fast food joint on every corner. Any input you could give me would be appreciated.

Regards,
Frank

Coming from the Cleveland suburbs, White River Junction will be quite a shock. In general, Dartmouth College, across the border, is the only nearby community with anything going on, so you'd be spending most of your time over there. Boston is 2.5 hrs away, as is Montreal ( passport required now). Burlington, about 1.5 hrs NW of White River Junction, is much more lively, only an hour from Montreal, and the home of the University of Vermont, is much more interesting, but fairly expensive. I'd reconsider the size difference between where you are presently, and where you'd like to go, to make sure you actually want this..

[Devildoc]

Originally Posted by MassVt

Coming from the Cleveland suburbs, White River Junction will be quite a shock. In general, Dartmouth College, across the border, is the only nearby community with anything going on, so you'd be spending most of your time over there. Boston is 2.5 hrs away, as is Montreal ( passport required now). Burlington, about 1.5 hrs NW of White River Junction, is much more lively, only an hour from Montreal, and the home of the University of Vermont, is much more interesting, but fairly expensive. I'd reconsider the size difference between where you are presently, and where you'd like to go, to make sure you actually want this..

MassVT,

Thank you for the info. Truth is, I'm looking for "quite a shock." Let me give you an idea of where I live now. The Cleveland area is a happening place with everything you could want to do right at your fingertips. 3 major sports teams, all with their own stadium, I can drive to each one in 20 minutes. The city next to me, North Olmsted Ohio, was actually in the Guinness Book of World Records once for having the most restaurants in a one mile stretch. In fact, there are about 15 bars within 3 miles of me. You can find anything from Chinese food to an American burger anytime you want.

Next to me means the city line actually runs partially through my backyard. There are no wide open spaces between cities here. The main road has over 150 separate businesses in a 10 mile stretch. If you can't find what you want on that main road then they don't make it. Three huge malls, two of them 10 minutes away.

So when you say size difference you've got a pretty good handle on where I'm coming from. What I want is the exact opposite of where I live now. Iv'e been in the middle this type of environment my whole life and I want out.

Plus I used to love hunting and fishing. It's been decades since I've had the opportunity to do either. Even with Lake Erie 10 minutes north of me. I also own a beefy four wheel drive Sierra. So I'm good to go in that area.

[Sierrajeff]

Originally Posted by Devildoc

Ansible90,

Thank you for the info. I've done a little research on a few of those areas but still need to do more. Got to tell you though, I'm shocked at the real estate prices, rent or own. I live in typical middle class America, suburb of Cleveland called Westlake, and my 3000 sqft 4 bedroom, 3 bath Colonial with a family room and full finished basement was 210K just 4 years ago. Very typical for this area since cost of living is low here.

From what I've seen in some of those areas even to rent a smaller home I'm looking at 1500 a month give or take. I was a bit surprised at that. But, as they say, it is what it is.

Thanks again.

Look in Sharon VT and Windsor VT. They are the forgotten step-children of the Upper Valley - both with very easy interstate access (and, especially in the case of Windsor, both starting to benefit from growth and IMHO poised to see some property value increases in the coming years), and both just one town away from Hartford (i.e., White River Junction), but both less expensive than the big-name towns like Woodstock or Quechee.


Have you checked out the Northern New England MLS? nneren.com. It has a great search feature where you specify a number of criteria, including price min/max and specific towns.

[Sierrajeff]

Originally Posted by Devildoc

So when you say size difference you've got a pretty good handle on where I'm coming from. What I want is the exact opposite of where I live now. Iv'e been in the middle this type of environment my whole life and I want out.

Plus I used to love hunting and fishing. It's been decades since I've had the opportunity to do either. Even with Lake Erie 10 minutes north of me. I also own a beefy four wheel drive Sierra. So I'm good to go in that area.

Apologies for the serial replies, but I hit reply on your cost of living comment before seeing this.


So you definitely should check out Windsor and Sharon, because they're less densely built up - Windsor esp. is easy access to WRJ and West Leb., for when you do need big-box shopping ... but maybe also check out Strafford VT, which is north of Sharon and Norwich - or Pomfret VT - west of Sharon and Quechee. From both of those it's a bit more of a schlep to get to the interstate, but the flipside is lower property values and more open space and elbow room.

[Sporin]

15 year resident of Windsor VT here, and we love it. it's an easy 20 minute drive to WRJ and a few more minutes to Hanover or Lebanon. There is a nice commuter bus now from 91 exit 9 park and ride that my wife takes daily to her job at the College.

You can buy a nice house for well under $200k here and taxes are reasonable. For a down and out New England industrial town, we're finally finding our way again. Some in the Upper Valley still look down their noses at Windsor, but we who live here know better, and the outdated perceptions are quickly being replaced.