[Nanny Goat]

Is there any noticeable or obvious discord between native Vermonters and flatlanders? Or under-the-surface type of tension? I know in certain states I've visited or lived in if you weren't from there as a native, there was always a feeling of being outside looking in? Is that true of Vermont or certain areas of Vermont?

[vter]

It depends.....the Burlington area is full of people from away (probably more vs. "natives"), so it's not really that big of a deal. Many folks from away are drawn to the Burlington primarily because it has the modern conveniences of a more urban/surburban area that they are used to.
When you get into the rural areas, the locals will be a little curious and a little skeptical at first. Most folks who move here come from much more urban areas and don't have much, if any experience living in a rural one. It's major culture shock for some. Locals want to make sure you moved here for what is here, and not to change it. Don't complain about how farms are noisy, dirty, and smelly. Don't freak out during hunting season when you see hunters out and about. Yes, your quaint dirt road will get WICKED muddy in the spring. No, we don't want streetlights (you get the idea ). Vermonters by nature are reserved and not overly social. Don't take that as being rude. We just don't feel the need to have a large social circle but will be the first to lend out a helping hand if a stranger is in need-you see this especially during winter when people get their car stuck in the ditch!
I personally don't make much of a big deal about it. As I noted in an earlier post, some of my good friends are "flatlanders". My father as even one!

[Nanny Goat]

When I lived in upstate NY, I went to New England quite a bit over the years, esp. Mass. next door and I think back now and yes, New Englanders are, by nature, reserved, cautious, wary even perhaps. Some states moreso, differences within each New England state,too, I think.
I think Maine'ers (?) are the most reserved, or insulated. I never felt comfortable in Maine, for whatever reason.

But, as you alluded to, there's something very helpful about people in general in NE and, I think, common sense is very widespread. Salt of the earth is the word I think of.

And, yes folks wanting to come in and change things could irritate natives. Can understand that--It's like when I lived in small town Hudson Valley and people from Manhattan came regularly to our small town and we were considered "woodchucks"--it was what they called us and we called them "city birds." Not maliciously, it was just the way we saw each other, although it was never much of a big deal.

Every hunting season, there would be a story, I think true, of how a person from the city would come up to hunt and mistake a cow for a deer. Or something similar. Different cultures within the same state.

[arctichomesteader]

Depends on your attitude. Yes, there are tensions (usually) below the surface (and sometimes not so below the surface) in VT but not necessarily with every flatlander. The ones who've done so much damage to the state by trying to make it like elsewhere and by pricing locals out of property are the cause of the bad feelings, and it can spill over to comments about all flatlanders in general but, don't try to mess with things, be friendly, and you'll probably get the same in return from most (there'll be some exceptions I'm sure). You know there is a reason for the "silent Cal" nickname one of our presidents earned, you may find people here a little less chatty/social than someone in the South perhaps, but don't interpret it as being mean or anything...

And oh yeah, hunting incidents: seems a lot of them are from "flatlanders." If I remember correctly, the farmer who was shot while he was sitting in his tractor was shot by a flatlander who was fooling around while hunting. But considering how many people hunt and how few accidents there are there isn't a reason to get too worried. Maybe wear hunter orange when out in the woods that time of year. Don't freak out or make a "man with a gun" call to the police if you even see people carrying guns outside of hunting season, unless they're obviously acting aggressive or such...all the flatlanders who make phone calls to the police every time they see a person carrying a gun gets really old fast...and when the police dept. has started hiring flatlanders (from MA no less) who hate people carrying guns, annoyance starts turning into threats of lawsuits...

[Lilybeans]

I'm sure there are some people who have a problem with it, but most people are just people. Vermont is still part of the United States. Everyone I've ever interacted with has been nice. I don't try to change things or impose myself on anyone. I try not to leave a big footprint. I support local charities and clubs. I help out where I can.

[Sherylcatmom]

I've never noticed any native/flatlander tensions in the Rutland area, but I guess they could be brewing. Most of our neighbors are very nice, friendly, and, well, neighborly folk. Some are from here, some from away. Some are not at all nice, but it doesn't seem to relate to where anyone is from, but rather their own misery.

[Alt Dach]

Its a matter of class not where you are from.Working class esp. older folks
cant afford people thinking "well its only $900 more on our property tax and
buffy should have that new gym " attitude that moneyed people bring with.
They really don't care about your Norman Rockwell fantasy anyway -if they
even know who he is.VT culture now consists of watching American Idol etc
just like everywhere else in the US.

[Lilybeans]

Originally Posted by Alt Dach

Its a matter of class not where you are from.

I think class is all a state of mind.

[Nanny Goat]

People are people, but people, too, are different depending on where you go. The south has its' own feeling versus the northeast versus the midwest versus the southwest and so on. I've found dramatic differences in people in all areas. The southwest, here, is extremely different from the northeast. The northeast is naturally different, very much so, from the south and so on and so on. And then, what feels right at one time in your life can change dramatically from another period of life.

[radioclown]

In Vermont, flatlanders are more or less the slime of the earth. This all comes from some key factors:

1) Flatlanders marry outside of the family.

2) We (Well, formerly I) support radical concepts such as a strong economy resulting from big businesses actually coming to the state.

3) We complain about roads with potholes bigger than submarines. How dare we want to avoid spending money on new rims and tires. That would ruin the economy!!!

4) We have never had our hands on a cow's udder and that just isn't Vermontish!!!!

5) We don't understand the Vermont way of life. (Cold, cold, cold, white people and kicking those who dare not to be white back to someplace else.....Like California.)

Flatlanders are evil in Vermont which is why I got out. To my beloved wife I will always be a flatlander and never understand the ways of a true Vermonter. At least now I have shed the label as everyone in Florida is from someplace else.