Submitted by RZRPRINCESS t3_11fbavm in vermont
So I just posted a question in New to Vermont asking: Without beauty or recreation being a reason, Why did you choose to move to Vermont?
Now I want to stir the pot a little and ask full-time, year-round Vermont residents why do YOU THINK PEOPLE are moving here? (without beauty or recreation in the answer)
I think it will be an interesting compare and contrast between the answers!
Haha underrated comment
Grin! My brother likes to joke "The last time I left the state was when I went to Burlington."
Few natural disasters and good beer.
Political landscape for some.
Weather really isn't super bad.
Crime isn't super bad.
Landscape isn't strip mall after strip mall or billboard after billboard.
Isn't far from Boston or Montreal so if you want city you can get a quick dose easy and then run away.
Y’all keep sleeping on New Haven. Great little city, amazing music venues and theatre, and the best pizza in the world. All just a nice easy drive straight down 91.
NY isn’t a bad trip down 87 if you’re on the west side of VT either.
Man, we got some great options! It’s shocking to me so many Vermonters don’t take advantage of getting out to these places more.
I think a lot of people move here looking for Vermont culture without realizing what Vermont culture really IS. They think hippie organic food strong community type stuff.
Meanwhile we absolutely will help you if you need it, overall? We just want to be left alone and aren’t known for working hard to make new friends.
In addition to cost that’s why so many leave, by my view. They came here and lived here and never found “their people” get sad and leave. I’ve been here my whole life and of the really close friends I’ve made locally in nearing 40yrs there’s one left in the state. The rest all leave within 2-5yrs.
To get away from suburbia, traffic and other people in general. Also definitely a minority I know have actually moved here for jobs - we do have some unique (but not exactly abundant) opportunities.
There used to be a unique blend of politics here that resulted in common sense governance. It was more of a fiscally conservative socially liberal "live and let live" ideology that was paramount. Nowadays the progressive supermajority is hellbent on screwing all of us except the wealthy.
Sorry to see you getting downvotes because that's how it was. Fiscally conservative, socially liberal. I know that sounds impossible, but it happened. If you weren't here then you could find that really hard to understand.
I grew up here and that was very accurate. The joke was that Howard Dean was our best Republican governor (because he was centrist and worked well with both parties). Now it's all about idealism, virtue signaling, and screwing the degenerate deporables outside of Burlington/Montpelier/Norwich so that finally they can live in a civilized manner.
He was the 2nd person ever to be cancelled for his war cry. Paul Rubins was the first.
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It seems like "fiscally conservative" usually means, "I get social security and medicare, a property tax prebate, my acreage is in Current Use, and I think it's a zero sum game, so T.S. for you."
And it seems like "socially liberal" means you have the common sense of a Peter Pan type that never grew up.
If only anybody who argues policy from the position of self-identified "common sense" had any.
Common sense as they say is no longer common.
As someone who grew up voting Progressive I can tell you the democrats aren't it.
Look at the overlap between Doug Hoffer and Phil Scott and you're on the right track.
Abundant and clean drinking water
Would you look at that, all of the words in your comment are in alphabetical order.
I have checked 1,378,303,282 comments, and only 264,134 of them were in alphabetical order.
I grew up here, then moved away for college, then moved back for grad school.
I chose to come back to Vermont after college to stay away from all the kinds of people moving here now. Yuppies, I can't fucking stand yuppies.
It’s being yuppified for sure. My current neighborhood used to have a range of ppl, from ppl living near the poverty line to millionaires. Now it’s all rich ppl. Sucks!
The word is out, the jersey gentrification is on, vt is dead and gone. Even the relatively chill VT of 2015 is gone. Now it's big money, big entitlement.
I moved to Vermont because of a girl. I stayed because I have many connections here, and I love my river in the summer and the winters are easy now, lol.
No lie: 2 friends of mine moved to Vermont to get married. I think it's a decent place to raise a family, but not great if you're an extrovert and need more population density.
I have to agree there. Been single the last 4 years, everyone my age is married and has kids.
I think some suburbanites/urbanites think life here is like a Hallmark movie.......
It is for them, they have the cash.
I used to let out a groan of inconvenience along with all the other NYC subway commuters whenever the conductor would say, “we will be delayed due to a sick passenger onboard,” which was often code for, ‘someone jumped on the tracks.’
Then I moved to Vermont and learned to care that my neighbors exist!
Goodness that's a grim tale! I'm happy to hear you've gained a new appreciation for human life after moving to VT :)
Establishing roots in an area that will fair well in the ongoing climate crisis. I’m from here, but this is also part of why I came back.
I like it! I thought of that when I moved back, family & climate were my top 2 reasons. Oh and for the love of lots of trees....the desert lacked in trees.
I spent some time in the dessert as well. And beach communities. Beautiful for other reasons but I quickly realized in my travels that having mountains always in my view just feels right 🤷♂️
VT does not exist in a vacuum, as much as some of us would like it to. When climate change destabilizes the world, VT is not going to be safe, it's going to be overrun.
Many people come here for school and then forget to leave after graduation.
Moved here for my parents. Staying for the wonderful, Hallmark boyfriend that found me ❤️
I'm moving to Vermont for work, and I like the political climate over NY.
Welcome! You'll find a lot of love here
The north is in my DNA. The area we are in is socially and community minded. Community dinners, events, resource pooling. Constant examples of wholesome offers on Front Porch Forum. Important state laws and political positions that matter to me. Loads of responsible gun owners that don’t make gun ownership their whole personality. Efforts to protect and preserve the land, landscape, beauty of the state. Crystal clear lakes you actually want to swim in. Town meetings. People will trade and barter. The visible milky way and stars. A handshake and reputation mean something. Incredible local consumables and food - syrup, breads, ciders, beer, restaurants. Authentic general stores! That accent. Jeezum crow!
I moved her because of a girl (my daughter). If didn't move, then I wouldn't see her again.
Proximity to family.
My fiance got a job here
I moved here because my girlfriend got a job here. She is a bovine vet
Thank you for moving here!! We need more large animal vets, please stay forever!
As long as we can find a house to buy! The market is just dreadful. I'd say people are definitely NOT moving here for the housing market
100% agree with that statement!
You're calling her a cow or she's a vet for cows?
I lived here and left and spent the entire time I was gone figuring out a way to get back and it took 12 years. Even though everyone is working hard it still feels like a slower pace and less anxiety than literally anywhere in NYS that I have lived. I like that people are helpful but not overly friendly and generally keep to themselves while still somehow managing to create community. I like the proximity to things outside of VT.
I do think people idealize VT and have a sense that it is a state focused on making you happy while you're here and that's because when people visit as tourists it's a different level of interaction in communities they likely wouldn't live in if they move here. Even so I think it's very much an it is what you make it kind of place, as long as you can find a way to be financially stable.
Weather. And climate.
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To your #2, that's just it. Most Vermonters are kind, not nice.
#5... True, but the wages here are equivalent to Mississippi with a California cost of living. Those west coast cities are a lot more affordable. And there are presumably people there who aren't old, rich and white, which you will not find in VT.
Income averages in VT on the whole are about 10% above the national average and presumably well above the Mississippi state average. I'm not saying that things aren't tight or can't be, nor am I suggesting that the state is free from gentrification pressures, but relative to the PNW these problems appear to be smaller. This could be because of VT's rural character. And yes there are old, rich, white assholes everywhere.
A while back I posted that I came here on a job interview and it felt like home, so that was the job I took.
Aside from that and something that's been developing while I've been here - Vermont is one of the better places to be in a warming world. This real estate is going to become downright prime over the next fifty years or more.
I hate that you said the quite part out loud! It's true. The less that know, the better in my opinion
Moved here for the deciduous trees and historic standing structures. Chose VT over the other states with those because of the aggregated politics.
It's because they saw Super Troopers when they were 17.
I lived in vt my whole life, Beauty is definitely one reason, but I think people move here because there is more space and it’s a lot safer than a city. Many people don’t want to live in an overpopulated area, so they come up here from the big cities.
I moved here so I could be taxed into poverty. It's working better than I had anticipated.
Ain't that the truth!
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Don't delete this! it's great input and I love that you have traveled all over and found that you are most happy here!
Lower cost of living relative to major cities like Boston, NYC, along with a better quality of life (less crowded, less frenetic/stressful).
Yes, but far, far lower wages.
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I moved to Vermont to escape the crime, higher taxes, too many people in CT.
So after reading everyone's answers, I have to say the Vermonters and the newcomers are pretty aligned. If anyone has an interest in what the newcomers have said, definitely check out:
Some of their reasoning and life stories are really touching. It definitely gave me a deeper appreciation and a wider perspective.
We've always been the destination for crunchy hippie types with lots of money in the northeast. It's not a new thing, work from home just totally ruined the state. If we had people of all different types moving here for jobs, that would be great. We don't. We have rich white people from NJ and that's about it.
yeoldecrowe t1_jaiow0h wrote
Well, I chose to move to Burlington because I wanted to be close to Vermont!