[VT-Rider]

Yes, the MRV is great. Thinks to do all year.

Might have to be creative about a job to support your life style...

[Betsy77788]

I attended college in rural Vermont and I loved it! While attending college, I worked in White River Junction, Waterbury and Barre and found the "townies" to be incredibly friendly. In the rural areas, people may initially stare at you out of curiosity since there are so few blacks in Vermont. However, I think people tend to judge more based on character than race. I found the police to be especially nice. I locked my keys in my car twice and the police kindly helped me unlock my car doors (that won't happen in other states). BTW, I'm a black woman.

[clkad]

Coming from New York, it can be really tough in New England to meet people. I find people up here much more reserved and harder to get to know. You may want to live in Hanover or Lebanon in New Hampshire, only 10 minutes to WRJ. Lots more to do there as for live music, restaurants, shopping etc. If you do decide to live in WRJ, at least Hanover is close by so you have places to go out. But do keep in mind, it gets small quickly up here. It works for us because we love the outdoors, biking, hiking, etc. If you like those things, you'll never get bored. Good Luck!

[outdoorman]

Originally Posted by Why_Am_I_Here

So....black..republican, listens to rock and roll and have a dog? Will you marry me?

Dawg! These were my exact thoughts.
Did someone beat me to it. I just read her thread and was thinking what a catch she is.
I'm also different as the name implies-anything outdoors. Man, if I had read this last year, I'd probably had sold my place outside of Savannah and joined her up in Vermont. Places like Vermont, Maine, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Alaska and parts of the SW and SE are an outdoorsman's dream come true. Just need that special someone to share it with. And to find a brave enough black female who would even entertain the thought of moving there alone just boggles the mind. She must be special...an angel. Ok....let me get control of my imagination

BTW, when I first moved to Georgia in the early 90s, I spent much of my time exploring the backroads, US Forest Service and state park lands of North Georgia. I mean hiking, backpacking, camping, kayaking,float tubing all over northeast Georgia as well as bordering Tennessee and North Carolina. I spent lots of time in the small communities outside of these public lands and have met and had many conversations with the local folks too.I have had nothing but great memories of those years and every encounter I had with the white people in those areas was pleasant/positive. Now, I'm black and most blacks I met in Metro Atlanta warned that I might not make it back. In my experience, fears from the past prevent rural whites from feeling comfortable when they visit parts of inside the perimeter of Atlanta and vice versa for metropolitan blacks from experiencing the beautiful great outdoors.
As I come to think of it, pretty much all the people I met over the years of adventure and travel to many rural places including Yosemite, Rocky Mountain, Lassen Volcanic, Grand Canyon, Shenandoah, Great Smoky Mtns, Pocanos, etc were just good down to earth people. People who I perceive to trust and accept you if were decent and respectful towards them.

[vermonter16]

I was sitting in a bar in the town of Waterbury right before the flooding last year and a young black woman came in and sat down. My husband and I were talking to her and apparently she is a regular there. I asked her how long she had lived in the area and where she moved from. She said she had moved about 5 years ago (I think) and was born and raised in Washington, DC. She visited Vermont once and fell in love with the land and the people. She said she was tired of the city and all of the rudeness and craziness that went with it and has lived in Waterbury ever since. I thought that was pretty darn cool.

[citylover94]

WRJ does have some culturall amenities such as summer concerts in the town parks and their is a theater in town that does profession productions with talent from Broadway!
Shopping: walmart, k-mart, jcpennys bjs best buy books a million newbury comics tj maxx kohls 2 cvs walgreens gap gamestop 2 price chopper hannafords 2 shaws 3 coop supermarkets j crew- all in twenty minute driving distnce or less unless traffic is worse than usual
lots of restraubts and cafes aee in same distance and there are many more stores than i listed in the same distance plus 2 small movie theaters.
Traffic is almost none existent as far as trffic jams but at exit 17 on interstate 89 route 120 traffic will sometimes cause the exit to back up onto the interstate and route 12A is steady but since the rode was widened is not bcking up as bad.