[Bang!]

BickleTravis, you sound like a reasonably smart guy. Articulate, spelling and punctuation are okay, etc.. Yet, you don't know ANYONE who makes more than $16/hr. I find this appalling. I know lots of people who appear less gifted yet I don't know anyone that earns so little. Why are you still in Vermont? You should move to CT we could carpool to VT on weekend to go skiing.

[BickleTravis]

Originally Posted by Bang!

BickleTravis, you sound like a reasonably smart guy. Articulate, spelling and punctuation are okay, etc.. Yet, you don't know ANYONE who makes more than $16/hr. I find this appalling. I know lots of people who appear less gifted yet I don't know anyone that earns so little. Why are you still in Vermont? You should move to CT we could carpool to VT on weekend to go skiing.

Thanks.
Most of my friends have degrees, but for some reason are still here working in retail (women) and warehouses (men) for an average of about $13 an hour.
Now, none of these people are CPA's or anything like that, but they are reasonably intelligent and educated people, yet the best they can do is service and manual labor.
In fact, I have some friends who live in Burlington's Old North End who actually pay more for their apartment than a friend who lives half a mile from Boston College. Now that is just ridiculous...

[quickdraw]

Originally Posted by ex-springfielder

The Vermonters I grew up with would have said "your entitled to your own opinion" if they said anything at all,

And the Vermonters we grew up with would have said "you're entitled to your own opinion". And that's why they make enough to live here and don't need to scurry elsewhere.

[ex-springfielder]

Originally Posted by quickdraw

And the Vermonters we grew up with would have said "you're entitled to your own opinion". And that's why they make enough to live here and don't need to scurry elsewhere.

wow...you make a lot out of a typo don't you, I guess that makes you a better person huh, smarter too. Being so brilliant maybe you can explain why Vermont is such a welfare state with an aging population while the smartest and most ambitious youth leave for greener pastures. You know reading different posts on different sites it's always noticeable that when someone hasn't got an answer to a debate they fall back on insulting someone for typos.

[tdna]

As usual, someone comes to the Vermont forum looking for some answers, and a certain group feels entitled to hijack the thread to use it as a platform for their tiresome anti-Vermont rants.

[mustmove]

As usual someone comes to the Vermont forum looking for some answers and the deniers invite them into the cult of poverty with open arms. The cult wants you- bring money.

[Sherylcatmom]

Originally Posted by mustmove

As usual someone comes to the Vermont forum looking for some answers and the deniers invite them into the cult of poverty with open arms. The cult wants you- bring money.

So if we're not poor, and our friends are not poor, and we discuss living in a high-cost/low-wage state and Vermont's other problems including those who are poor, along with all we love about Vermont, then what are we denying? If we're thriving and happy and we say so, then what is this cult of poverty you speak of? Are we miserable and we just don't know it? What's the difference between feeling happy here and actually being happy here?

[ex-springfielder]

Originally Posted by tdna

As usual, someone comes to the Vermont forum looking for some answers, and a certain group feels entitled to hijack the thread to use it as a platform for their tiresome anti-Vermont rants.

So any view that doesn't agree with your's is tiring? I'd still like to have people who talk about how great vermont is tell us what their vocation is. Any place can be good to live if you can make a good living, any place can be hell if you can't find a good steady source of income. Vermont has a fast fading private industry but a heavy public sector, the student to teacher ratio is one of the lowest in the nation, the number of state employees per capita is double that of neighboring NH. It also has an aging population which says a lot too so if you're in the medical industry you could do well too. But most people who dream of moving to vermont have read Vermont Life and seen the pictures of Woodstock and Stow and dairy farms, although the number of farms in vermont is a small fraction of what it was forty years ago and think that's what all of Vermont is like. If you like lots of hills with few people, a low crime rate and a state that's 96% white, radically liberal politically and expensive, and you can find employement that's steady and pays enough then you'll love vermont.

[Bang!]

It is curious the Vermont forum gets so many negative post isn't it? I especially dislike the ones about anti-prosperity. All the disingenuous talk about 'getting by' and living 'sustainably' masquerading as 'progress' is so tiresome. There's only so many ways to say 'poor is good as long as you have a view'.

[momnh]

I believe the reason why the negative posts come through so predominantly has more to do with the fact that Vermont has a small population. Think about it, there are really only 8 or 9 people who post here regularly, so of course 4-5 negative-focused posters are going to stand out. Other state forums have dozens of posters so the topics are much more varied. And I bet it's the same as in customer service - complainers are more likely to speak out than those that are perfectly happy. It's curious that most of the negative posters have already left Vermont but can't seem to stop posting about it. I think they are pretty bitter and actually do love the state and wish it worked out for them. Otherwise, why be so emotionally invested in a site like City-Data?