[flu189]

Amazing how events develop. Both myself and wife's employment situations are potentially facing negative developments according to rumors. In her case a buyout and in mine a failure for the state to fund my position if federal grants are lowered. It is becoming really frustrating living month to month and quarter to quarter not being able to feel secure. I guess we have lived charmed lives because never in the past in other states even during times of actual recession have we faced such a situation.

[leedspaddy]

Originally Posted by flu189

Amazing how events develop. Both myself and wife's employment situations are potentially facing negative developments according to rumors. In her case a buyout and in mine a failure for the state to fund my position if federal grants are lowered. It is becoming really frustrating living month to month and quarter to quarter not being able to feel secure. I guess we have lived charmed lives because never in the past in other states even during times of actual recession have we faced such a situation.

This is the exact situation, my wife and I are in except she has already lost her job. We have been living paycheck to paycheck knowing full well that if one of us lost our job we could be in trouble. The thing is throughout the whole 2.5 years since we have been here we have stressed ourselves out over this exact possibility not because of the money issue(though obviously that's an issue in itself) but because there were no jobs to replace the lost job. This is why we are aiming to move to a more populated area such as RI so if the worst happened again it wouldn't be a big deal to find another job. But when it comes to VT there is no such luxury and so people have to leave. If I'm honest, I think that I did get myself stressed out over the "possibility" of losing a job because I think there was a time where I was completely deluded or insane by actually thinking I could make living in VT work. You will be glad to know that I have now had some treatment and am back on course to escape VT!!!!!!!!!!!! After my experience here, the biggest piece of advice I can give anyone mad enough to move here is RENT first. I am now a huge believer in the concept that you truely don't know an area or state until you have actually live there........and if your experience is bad at least you can walk away unlike when you have a house to sell in a bad market. If we didn't have a house to sell, we would have left a long time ago even before my wife lost her job. On last thing and this goes out to all Vermonters both natives and flatlanders, will the last person to leave the state please turn out the light!!!!!!.............the whirlwind of even higher taxes and fewer jobs is on its way and I am glad I won't be living here to see it

[lukedaddy]

"After my experience here, the biggest piece of advice I can give anyone mad enough to move here is RENT first. "

I know you have had less than a stellar time in VT, but I will take the above advice.

[sazara]

Vermont hasn't much to offer for what it costs to live there. I was raised in the east and have spent much time in VT and now, as an adult with a family, have tried to live there several times but to no avail. Very difficult to make a decent wage, housing extremely and unreasonably high priced and long, long freezing winters (actually snowing as we speak!!! . . . in April!!!!). My hit on this situation is that the predominant attitude of Vermont is to become exclusive enough that the "riff-raff" won't be able to live there. It is a beautiful place, but coming from the east myself and knowing the attitude of all the "cutsey" eastern places, I think they just don't want anyone there who can't afford to maintain the "look". For all Vermont's progressiveness, the state seems to be extremely narrow minded, closed and just generally difficult to settle in.

[chaz longue]

Nice post. Glad to have you here at the board, and nice to have you here in VT

David

Originally Posted by cleobarker

I thought I might interject here, leedspaddy. Perhaps I am the exception to what you've experienced here in Vermont. I am a working woman, not rich by any means. I am single and self-supporting. At times I find it hard to support myself here but I think that's due primarily to the fact that the business I work in is very seasonal.

I think there are alot of other places where I could live that it would be much more difficult for me to survive. Perhaps it is easier for me due to the fact that I built my house fairly cheaply (although it's small for sure)12 years ago and the mortgage remains very reasonable.

I came here from the Boston area to live full time 10 years ago. I can't imagine that I could have stayed in that area and continue to afford it alone.

I'm sorry that your experience in Vermont has been so negitive for you.

[cleobarker]

Thanks David,

Although there are others on this forum who seem to think Vermont is hell I am enjoying living here.

[vter]

Yes Cleo...welcome. I was born and raised here, and moved to Boston for 6 years after college, then came back for good. I can't imagine living anywhere else (well, maybe somewhere warm for a month or so in the winter lol)!

[Roxanna]

leedspaddy (and others),

Please be warned that Vermont is not, in fact, at the bottom of the states list. Don't entertain a second's thought about moving to Delaware! Many people are doing exactly that these days because of lower taxes, but it's a difficult, often impossible search to find anything in this state, other than--in some towns--affordable housing. The school systems are mostly just plain bad. Medical is outrageously, frighteningly lacking. Except for the far north--and the Rehoboth Beach area during warmer months (if you can afford it and put up with the traffic)--forget about culture. And then you have your lonnnnng, hot, buggy, and incredibly humid summers.

I had great-aunts living in Vermont when I was a child, and I have the most wonderful memories of the beauty of this state from that time period, and much more recently too. You're saying there's nothing else, just beauty, right? What about college towns like Middlebury and Burlington? Doesn't the U of Vermont have a medical school and an associated teaching hospital? Is the quality of medical care there terrible too? What about over toward New Hampshire, across the river from Hanover? Isn't there a medical center there?

My husband and I are (finally) in a situation where we are freelancing and can work just about anywhere, children either through or almost through college, so we're itching to get out of Delaware, but we're also, in middleage, thinking about living where medical care is good. Otherwise, I think we'd be happy doing what we've done on visits to Vermont, walking a lot--beautiful walks and hikes almost everywhere it seemed to us--exploring towns and restaurants, and history, sitting back and gazing at the views.

We like winter, though have to admit that we haven't spent an entire winter in Vermont. We have been there for 6 weeks a couple times. We do some cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. Love the fall and the summer, and haven't found spring mud season too awful given the lovely changes going on during our visits at that time.

Housing. Well, I have left that, haven't I? Twenty-some years of owning a nice big house in Delaware won't give us more than 250-265 K to shop with. Possible in Vermont--in the Burlington or across-the-river from Hanover areas?

Best to you, wherever you go--to all of you!

[chaz longue]

Roxanna -

What a great post! Your reflections about VT will be very valuable to people who haven't your perspective or experience. It's true - VT is changing. And we've got our problems. And it's not the place it was when we were kids. But in many ways it's just becoming more interesting.

And yes - It's possible to find a nice place in The Burlington area, or the other areas you mention for reasonable prices. Heck - there are 223 single family homes and Condos on the market right now offered for between 150 and 250. And that's just Chittenden County.

[Derringer]

Leedspaddy, I can guarantee you your wife would have doctors fighting to treat her for FREE if she was an African Refugee!