[DC Fairwinds]

I live about 15 minutes from Newport. It's pretty but as another poster stated, it has the highest unemployment rate in the state, poverty, TONS of people on welfare. There is an adequate hospital right in Newport.

It is frigid up here. Right now we are having negative numbers and the wind blows like crazy.

It's super hard for middle income folks to make it here. The wealthy (doctord, lawyers etc.) Do well and lower income do ok because of welfare benefits.

We had a brand new super walmart built last Nov. It's a nice store.

If you are looking for some nightlife, you won't fid much. We have a couple of decent restaurants. We do not have an Applebees, 99, or Olive Garden. Those are almost 2 yours away.

We have a heroin problem. A huge bust a few weeks ago. We have a lot of DUI/DWI charges, domestic disturbances. Vandalism, b &e, that kind of thing. That's it for the most part. Drugs really is a big issue and it causes the rest of the crimes imo.

If you are anti-hunting, you might not like it here. Hunting season comes and you will see game strappend to the top of rigs. Lots of summer people, lots of seniors. We have aixture of farmland and forests. You WILL get stuck behind a tractor, even on the main roads. You will find people riding horses through the middle of town.

Tough to find jobs. 60-70 applicants for every office job that's open. Traffic is not a problem, other than tractors etc lol.

So, basically, I find it a safe place to live. VERY hard to make a living, fairly high taxes. Very cold winters. That'd it in a nutshell.

[slowlane3]

Originally Posted by Hackopotamus

$5K in taxes! Yikes! Have you considered looking at NH? Property taxes are cheaper, no state sales tax and no state income tax.

? But I had heard, New Hampshire has high property taxes.

[DC Fairwinds]

I live about 15 minutes from Newport. Newport has the highest unemployment in the entire state. Welfare is rampant. Heroin is a HUGE problem in the Newport area.

For crime you will see a lot of DUI/DWI, domestic disputes, robberies, vandalism, assaults. There is crime here.

My own home was the victim of 2 attempted break ins. They were both thwarted by my large dogs (Mastiffs/Rottweilers).

We do have a new Super Walmart but we also have Price Chopper and Shaws for larger grocery stores and some smaller ones and a bunch of convenience stores.

We don't have a Lowe or Home Depot. No chain restaurants either.

The short summer we have is really nice. Our Fall is beautiful too. Winter is terrible. It can get VERY bitter cold and with the wind, it's brutal. We get a lot of freezing rain which will knock out power, sometimes for days. A generator would be a smart investment.

My family are actually leaving VT and moving to a warmer climate, probably SC.

Good luck in VT and don't forget your thermal underwear and heavy coat and boots.

[cgregor]

The best way to survive in Vermont in the non-touristy season (Thanksgiving to Easter, roughly) is to be outdoors and moving-- snowshoeing (18 calories a minute) is free, once you have the shoes. Cross-country skiing can be free if you don't want to pay to use the groomed trails-- and it can be exciting if you decide to bushwhack! Alpine at all the major resorts can be free, but you have to snowmobile up the back side of the mountain to avail yourself of the trip down (since they're on state-owned land, they can't charge people who get to the top on their own.) Snowmobiling is not really a way to keep warm, but it can be fun if you don't mind using fossil fuels or risking the week-long walk back out of the woods it took you only an hour to get deep into before your machine broke down. Unlike the Southern states (where you can't cool off by moving less) in Vermont you can get warmer by moving more.

Once afoot, you can layer on additional activities, like transecting-- going in a straight line for a mile or so to see what sort of evidence of wildlife you encounter. (And yeah, as a transectual, you can use either bathroom, I think.) Get in with the Audubon Society to see what they do as well in the wintertime.