[arctichomesteader]

Congrats, and good luck with everything!

[square peg]

And for the ability to live somewhere where people actually pay money to visit on vacation...priceless!


Been saying this for 24 years now. And it has pretty much held true. I came here without a job though but the 80s were different times. Really, there's few other places that I'd rather live. Someone once told me to follow my dreams. So I did. And I am. And I married her. Hasn't always been easy, but that's not why we moved here. VT is still our home. Hope you enjoy it as much as we have.

[momnh]

Thanks everyone!!!

Can't wait to start the next step of "setting up roots" - having our own place so we can garden again! Soon, soon...Spring is in the air!

[NJSouth]

Originally Posted by momnh

Thanks everyone!!!

Can't wait to start the next step of "setting up roots" - having our own place so we can garden again! Soon, soon...Spring is in the air!

Great to hear momnh. I'm coming up for a job interview in June and hoping it goes through. What is it about VT (and please everyone chime in) that you like. I've been doing as much research as I can and am looking at the Bennington County area. It seems like a beautiful place but I'd like to hear your good and bad reasons. Thanks and enjoy the new house!

[68vette]

There are so many positives. Good quality of life, safe/low crime (in most areas), natural recreation, views, seasons, some areas of the state can still be affordable (mostly rural sections), schools are better than average. Soime schools are very good and some are poor. It all depends on the town you live in. Summers are great esspecially on the lake. Fuel is cheaper than most of New England.
The negatives are the tax system in the state and/or the state government. The state has huge financial problems. The schools have contiued declines in the number of students, but the school budgets continue to grow out of control. The yearly "Your taxes are only going to increase by 200-300 dollars" is getting very old. Groceries are expensive (our short growing season and the cost of shipping goods here), summer is way to short, average incomes are much lower than surrounding states or states with similar expenses and tied into all of the above is an average higher cost of living. I will dive into the COL a little. This tends to be a hot topic at times. I belive this will clear it up a little furthur. When people from higher taxed states like NJ look at Vermont and see what things cost here, including homes. They think we are crazy talking about how expensive things are here. This is why income and the number of people living in a household is important to look at. Right off, fuel, utilities, groceries and other household expenses(in many towns this includes property taxes) will be similar. Income is much lower. An example was the gentleman from NY who stated he was making $100,000 per year as an LPN. An LPN in Vermont will only make about $25,000-$30,000 per year with experience. That's between 3-4 times less. This is where a home with more than one or two people living in it will make a difference. I will use myself as an example because I have a home with 6 people(two adults and four children). As many know the federal tax credits for children is just about nonexistant now, so that does not help. We just did our shopping for the next two weeks and our grocery bill(shopping in bulk at COSTCO and hitting the great deals at Pricechopper) came out to over $500. Add in other monthly expenses and a mortgage and you see how it can be expensive. A household with one or two people is very different than one with 4 or 6 on the same income. I won't even get into what the insurance cost is with teenage drivers.

[swanstone1]

Yay for you and your family.....glad to have you as neighbors! Gotta love anyone that seeks a more peaceful living situation. After my home burned I could have gone anywhere but after much research and consideration (and having actually lived elsewhere) I decided VT was just splendid! Glad you are home..............

[GypsySoul22]

A positive (I won't say the negatives) is the spring/summer/autumn weather which is mild and lovely for the most part. We never have used an a/c in the 3 years here.

[MikeSL]

insulate! the best payback on money spent

[sugarmaple]

Welcome to Vermont!

[lovinvt]

I live in N.Y. state & find it hard to believe its more to live in V.T. then "the tax state" (otherwise known as N.Y.)
I hear a lot of people say V.T. is expensive which scares me a bit since Im hopeful Ill soon be a V.T.Trooper.Ill make a considerable amount less than I do now.That makes me just a bit nervous. It will all work out though.