[Giantone]

I know it's a broad question put I'm very serous about this,opinions appriciated Thanks.

[Quebecoise30]

I completely agree!!
Coming from Chicago, we thought for sure $1000 apartment would be a really sweet apartment in Burlington, but everything is trashy for that price it seems like... so sad that the state or city would be that expensive! Couldn't believe it when we heard about it... now we do.

[ComputerBlue]

Originally Posted by MTK1

I thought I would share some of my research on just how bad the cost of living situation is in Vermont. Many people will discuss it here but nobody ever backs it with published facts from various online resources. I made a really bad decision to relocate here without doing my research first. I am just trying to present some of the published facts to those interested in relocating here and not trying to deter anyone. It is a great are to live but with it comes a heavy financial burden. Majority of the people I have encountered here have all felt the same way and were either considering or had plans to leave.

I can't post links so you will have to cut and paste the http in.

Economy/Taxes

According to Congressional Quarterly's 2007 State Fact Finder, Vermont ranks 33rd in Personal Income from Wages and Salaries, and 10th in Cost of Living. This is not a sustainable relationship.

://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080113/FEATURES15/801130309/1030/FEATURES15]The]The gray wave is hitting Vermont: Rutland Herald Online (Editorial from the Commissioner of Economic Development.)

Economic outlook by the ALEC.

://www.alec.org/fileadmin/newPDF/Vermont.pdf (Vermont ranks last at 50)

A 2007 survey claimed that Vermonters were the least satisfied with their job in the whole nation and were the most likely to be making plans to leave

://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont#_note-34

Vermont reveunues fall flat

://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=7628665

Taxes are so bad the governor wants to lease the lottery.

://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=7624487

Housing

The median purchase price of a single-family home in Vermont in 2006 reached $197,000, an 8 percent increase from the previous year and a 97 percent increase since 1996.
A Vermont household would need an annual income of $66,000 to purchase that home. Sixty-seven percent of Vermont's households have incomes below that figure.

://www.housingawareness.org/facts.htm (read the 2007 update on the right for the full report)

One of the biggest problems- Vermonters are getting old and the young are leaving the state in huge numbers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/04/national/04vermont.html?ei=5090&en=443901397139f520&ex=1299 128400&adxnnl=1&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&adxnnl x=1167589466-Ryof870gv0DaScAVlIx4KQ]Vermont Losing Prized Resource as Young Depart - New York Times

A very detailed report of youth leaving Vermont and its consequences.

://www.thinkvermont.com/documents/nextgen/Next%20Gen%20Workforce%20Discovery%20Report%20fina l.pdf

Very interesting article of the NY Times!! That a shame for a state so beautiful. It kind of discourages me from moving there and Im 30. It seems the negatives really out weight the positives. Vermont really need industry. For mu opinion it seems as if the youth really don't want to leave thay have no choice. Where will they work and live? I mean i'm lookin at housing and its outrageous. Can't build in many places cause the lands protected. Im against urban sprawl but man it needs to build up some so people can get decent place to live and some more companies to relocate. People are just going were the work is and it makes since. I hope it could change one day. I would really love to live there but now i'm getn scared to even risk it

[MRVphotog]

For $1000 you can get a really "sweet" apartment in many places around Vermont. With UVM there results in a severe shortage of housing. The city of Burlington has been after UVM to build more dorms to ease the housing crunch but in the last 10 years that has not happened.

Here in the MRV a 1BR apartment is $600-700, same for Montpelier. Don't assume that what you found in Burlington is indicutive of the rest of the state.

Vermont is unique IMHO. If job/income is most important than perhaps Vermont is not the best place and many kids do move out of state as a result. For Vermonters like myself, quality of life is our top priority and moving to a state with twice the salary for the same job is just not as important. Been there, done that.

I don't take much stock in survey's or stats and especially things written about Vermont in the NY Times.

Having said that Vermont has the lowest forclosure rate in the US. While many states are seeing house value's plummet, Vermont's home value's are holding strong. Did the NY time mention that?

A majority of the posters in here are new transplants, out-of-staters, Vermonters who want to leave or folks who have left the state with an axe to grind. Most Vermonters who live here wouldn't live anyplace else on earth.

[IFlip4Carl]

[quote=MRVphotog;4720078]For $1000 you can get a really "sweet" apartment in many places around Vermont.

Just make sure you don't have a dog!

[Alt Dach]

If Vermonters are the "smartest" people in the nation(and how would anyone know such a silly "fact") its not because of the higher ed situation which is fair/poor at best.
The only 1st class institution in the state in Middlebury and I would be surprised if
10% of their student body is from VT.

[flu189]

Originally Posted by Alt Dach

If Vermonters are the "smartest" people in the nation(and how would anyone know such a silly "fact") its not because of the higher ed situation which is fair/poor at best.
The only 1st class institution in the state in Middlebury and I would be surprised if
10% of their student body is from VT.

The majority of students who attend the "best" post secondary schools in Vermont are in fact not from here and once getting their diplomas leave for other places. There are no doubt countless intelligent, hardworking, and capable folks here, but despite having degrees and work experience the ability to find suitable work that pays the bills here is getting much more scarce. Even the Freeps had an article on this. I'm afraid the Pursue Vermont campaign is just a flash in the pan. The current policies combined with economic reality does not bode well for the future here.

[Alt Dach]

Of course most Vermonters wouldn't live anywhere else.
Half are to poor too poor to leave and the other half
could not survive with the reinforcement of their Norman Rockwell fantasy
from each other.

[goatwoodward]

Originally Posted by MRVphotog

For $1000 you can get a really "sweet" apartment in many places around Vermont. With UVM there results in a severe shortage of housing. The city of Burlington has been after UVM to build more dorms to ease the housing crunch but in the last 10 years that has not happened.

UVM did build two new dorms a few years ago. The dorms were finished before they broke ground for the Davis Center. However, you are right that their dorm-building has not kept pace with their enrollment increases though.

If you plan to live in Vermont and care if your apartment is run down or not, it's nearly more cost effective to live a bit outside Burlington and own a home than it is to rent. My spacious one bedroom in the heart of the city is $1650/month and even at those prices, people scramble to live in the building because it is fairly quiet and recently renovated/well-maintained.

[flu189]

It's just amazing that when you would think the beatings would cease, or at least take a break to offer some respite with what appears to be an extremely costly winter season looming in the not too distant future, the tax burden just keeps growing unchecked. I thought my tax bill which just arrived was stunning, but today I read where the residents of Sunderland in the SW part of the state are being literally bludgeoned with a 31% increase over last year. I guess the attitude is that we had better get as much money as fast as we can before more and more folks are threadbare. I guess it does not come as a surprise that the moving industry is the one facing steady business. My older son's friend works for one and over a dinner conversation affirmed that business outbound is picking up for those that can afford to relocate.