[goldenholden]

hello.

i know this is asking a lot, and that it may seem that i am wanting for somebody to paint with a broad-stroke brush, but can anybody give me at least some kind of idea of what people from vermont are like?

perhaps, as compared with different parts of the country, preferable those in states like montana, wyoming, and south and north dakota, if possible.

again, my apologies for the nature of the question. no offense intended.

thanks!

[chaz longue]

Before I make an attempt at this,
...have you read the rest of the Vermont threads pretty carefully?
I have a few observations which you might find helpful, but I don't want to repeat more than I need to.

Let us know, ok?

[goldenholden]

Originally Posted by chaz longue

Before I make an attempt at this,
...have you read the rest of the Vermont threads pretty carefully?
I have a few observations which you might find helpful, but I don't want to repeat more than I need to.

Let us know, ok?

not, thoroughly, no. mainly just those related to crime as of today. but will try. thanks!

[Vermonter]

Being a native Midwesterner and a former resident of Las Vegas, I can offer my two cents on Vermont from my unusual perspective.

I live on Main Street in a small town in VT and most of the folks here are quite friendly. Vermonters will be the first to stop their cars and let you cross the road - almost to the point of slamming on their brakes. In general, people here drive very slowly (which can be annoying on a winding two-lane road!).

Because of the small town atmosphere throughout VT, people are a little on the gossipy side and tend to know everything about everybody. If you are not from VT (a "flatlander") or a non-local, it may take a while to meet people and gain their trust, although I have found that the majority of people I've met are NOT from VT.

I don't think people are as laid-back here as people let on. But, the Rat Race really doesn't exist here. It really doesn't matter what you wear or what you drive. People seem to have a bit of a dry sense of humor.

For a state this small, however, there is a good variety of people. Burlington is much different than Rutland. Everywhere you go, there will be a good number of rednecks and an equal number of tree huggers. Depending on the day, I can be either one. Maybe that's why I like it here (although we are thinking of relocating to Upstate NY for a variety of reasons).

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by Vermonter

(although we are thinking of relocating to Upstate NY for a variety of reasons).

How does VT differ from upstate NY?

The reason I ask is that we are still considering both places.

New York seems to have higher taxes but cheaper real estate. Is that correct? What about quality of life? General culture?

[Vermonter]

We're considering the Syracuse suburban area because the schools seem to be better, amenities are closer, and our vacation property is much closer. My wife has had a little trouble adjusting to small town life also - difficult to break into groups of friends who went to school together, are all related, etc. - just a fact of small town life. Our particular town near the NY border isn't the most quaint either. Other areas of VT are much better in our opinion.

Upstate NY taxes are much higher, but the properties do seem a little less costly. I have found that vacant land is cheaper in NY (hence our "vacation property"). I think VT properties are definitely overpriced (check out Manchester on realtor.com. It's just as pricey as Long Island, and there really isn't anything that special about that town).

Hope this helps.

[vter]

Property is definately cheaper on the NY side of the lake. Go to realtor.com and check out Port Henry, NY. The downside? The economy. Many folks commute from that part of New York over to Vermont for jobs. Ticonderoga has the IP mill, but thats about it. Plattsburgh is a small city, but aside from the SUNY campus and the hospital, I don't think there are too many jobs there -yet. A big aviation company announced plans to move into the old Air Force BAse in a couple years promising 1000 + jobs.

[HONORARY WOODCHUCK]

There are many things i have learned after moving to Vermont. If traveling outside of the bigger cities, the multi-generation Vermonters, are usually standoffish to outsiders. I have learned over the years, that when folks move to Vermont for the "atmosphere", the way of life, etc., then decide they would rather have the "atmosphere" of where they came from, and try to change it to the way of life they just moved from. I was told to be a true Vermonter, there is at least seven generations. After moving to Vermont, and the "old-timers" nicknamed a "Honorary Vermonter" because i did not come to Vermont to make it like it was where i moved from. A lot of Vermonters enjoy life the way is/was. I could tell you stories!!!

[Jason_Els]

Vermont's constitution was written by a bunch of farmers on a scrap of cowhide. No point in wasting perfectly good paper when cowhide would do just fine.

Vermont was an independent republic before joining the United States. New York did lay claim to Vermont but as Vermont didn't hear tell of it then it didn't count. Same thing happened when the union joined Vermont. Americans just kinda showed-up one day and since they didn't bother much, Vermont let them believe what they wanted to. Some Vermonters have taken exception to that and have started Free Vermont, an active group seeking for Vermont to secede from the union. It is the most active secessinist movement of any American state.

Vermont has a unique concept of liberty. If the government does something for someone or some group then all Vermonters are entitled to it since all are equal before the law. That's how gay marriage got passed. It is, much to the chagrin of land owners, how property is taxed. You could live in a giant retirement town where the only children are the visiting grandkids but still end-up with a huge tax bill. All school districts must provide what all other school districts do.

Vermont is the only state to elect a Socialist to congress. Vermonters heard tell of the people in other states being shocked but they paid it no mind seeing as being a politician was not a good reason to dislike a Socialist.

New Englanders do take time to get used to you. They want to make sure it's worth their time to spend any of it talking to something other than a fool. You'll never be a native, unless you can claim previous lineage to a true Vermont family and even then you'll be considered, "a little odd" for some part of your family leaving in the first place.

Calvin Coolidge was a model Vermonter. Conservative in all ways and strongly believing in equality before the law. As an illustration:

As a government function in the nineteen-twenties, a young lady approaching President Coolidge, said gushingly, "Oh, Mr. President, I have made a wager with a friend of mine that I could persuade you to say more than two words to me. Could you?" And Coolidge, without expression, said, "You lose."

Calvin Coolidge had been to church. When he returned, he said nothing about the service. His wife prompted him. "What was the sermon about?" she asked. "Sin," Cal answered. "Well, what did the preacher say about sin?" she asked impatiently. "He was against it," Cal told her.

Vermonters do not allow death to hinder their pious belief in the value of frugality and practicality. If you're going to pay a mason to carve out a gravestone, you don't want to deprive the man of earning every penny of his pay. If there's space on the stone, may as well use all of it as illustrated by these Vermont epitaphs:

Here lies the body of our Anna
Done to death by a banana
It wasn't the fruit that laid her low
But the skin of the thing that made her go.

Might even want to advertise yourself a bit:

Sacred to the memory of
my husband John Barnes
who died January 3, 1803
His comely young widow, aged 23, has
many qualifications of a good wife, and
yearns to be comforted.

This gentleman is surely a true flatlander as he silently echos what might be the sentiment of every native:

I was somebody.
Who, is no business
Of yours.

[boyze]

- you plug in your engine block heater before your morning jo.
- your swimming pool brook trout ate the rubber duckies and the neighbor's cat.
- you really did walk to school in 2 feet of snow. Really.
- your "come bosssssssss" can be heard across two valleys and fill a barn.
- your new boots are waterproofed with genuine fresh steaming cow sh*t.
- your fondest pre-adolescent teats hung from a Jersey.
- your tractor is green with a manly hand clutch and has a 2 cylinder putt-putt deeper than any Harley Davidson.
- you enjoy 4 of the 5 seasons - summer, leaf peeping, hunting, skiing, and love the 5th - mud.
- you find the smell of a fresh manured hay field better than all the numbers of Chanel.
- you made half your summer wages as a kid driving tractors during the county fair calvacade.
- your normal work day starts at 5am and ends at breakfast.
- your hand calluses are tougher than an old wire brush and not nearly as soft.
- you use your turn signals sparingly because you know where you're going.
- you define fine gourmet dining by what's new at the county fair.
- you lobby the international olympic committee to make horse pulling an olympic sport.
- you save the -30 degree days for ice fishing. You do lots of ice fishing.
- you contributed 3 months beer allowance to the Fred Tuttle for US Congress fund.
- you use your neighbors pink lawn swans for target practice.
- you make extra money water witching for flatlanders.
- knowing Ames was the original Walmart.
- you had a farmers tan in the 1st grade at age 6 and popeye forearms in the 3rd grade at age 12.
- you were weaned on Black Label beer.
- your pickup is worth more than your house.
- your snowmobile is worth more than your pickup.
- your ice fishing shanty is worth more than your snowmobile.
- your gun collection is worth more than your fishing shanty.
- your pocketknife is your best friend.
- your next best friend doesn't dare borrow your pocketknife.
- your next best friend is welcome to borrow your truck, snowmobile and wife.
- your axe is double bitted and has an elmwood handle with your favorite Jersey's initials carved in it.
- you have 3 years of wood cut, stacked and seasoned. And years 4 and 5 on the ground.
- you found your wife at the weekend auction bidding against you for the farrier's anvil.
- your yearly fireworks display is the January chimney fire.
- your favorite chair and prized tools were found at the town dump.
- dump day is the Vermont sabbath.
- post graduate work is shop class.
- you decreed town meeting day a national holiday.
- fancy grade refers to canned beer and maple syrup.
- knowing Vermont was the 14th original colony and claimed rights to half of present day NY and NH and are now **** glad we gave them up.
- your great, great, great, grandfather voted for Ethan Allen for president.
- you eat dinner at noon and supper at 5.
- your milk is straight from the pail.
- your bacon is hanging in the wood shed.
- your eggs are straight from the old hen roost.
- your last 2 deer took 3 flashlight batteries and a salt lick to bag.
- summer camp requires down jackets and a ream of black fly netting.
- bag balm is used on your crotch psoriasis.
- horse hoof liniment is used for your toenail fungus.
- milkweed pods juice is used to clear your warts.
- your root cellar has sproutied potatoes from 3 years back and wilted carrots from the great depression.