Where in Vermont should my mom move?
October 18, 2018 9:39 AM Subscribe
My mom wants to move to Vermont. Any suggestions of where to look?
My mom lives in California. Her husband just died. In the aftermath, it came out that she's never really liked living in California (for 35+ years) and would like to move back to New England, where she grew up. This would also put her much closer to me, which would be good. This isn't going to happen imminently. No hasty decisions. But she is starting to poke around.
- Winter doesn't bother her, but it would be good if someone took care of the winter chores (shovelling, de-icing, etc.) (Yes, this could be handled as a separate issue. But either way, she doesn't need or want a huge plot of land.)
- She doesn't want to live in a ski resort town.
- Right now, she lives off the beaten path (the closest store is about 20 minutes away by car) so it doesn't need to be IN a big town, but near a town would be best.
- She is open to some sort of 55+ community but doesn't need or want an assisted living arrangement for now.
- Probably some sort of condo would be good.
- She's open to renting or owning. If owning, around $150K-200K would be great. If renting, maybe something like $1000/month. But these numbers are rough and flexible.
- She would be retired when she moves so while she is open to taking a part-time job, economic opportunity is not much of a consideration.
- Closer to the Canadian border is better.
- Upstate NY is also an option, but she would prefer Vermont.
My mom lives in California. Her husband just died. In the aftermath, it came out that she's never really liked living in California (for 35+ years) and would like to move back to New England, where she grew up. This would also put her much closer to me, which would be good. This isn't going to happen imminently. No hasty decisions. But she is starting to poke around.
- Winter doesn't bother her, but it would be good if someone took care of the winter chores (shovelling, de-icing, etc.) (Yes, this could be handled as a separate issue. But either way, she doesn't need or want a huge plot of land.)
- She doesn't want to live in a ski resort town.
- Right now, she lives off the beaten path (the closest store is about 20 minutes away by car) so it doesn't need to be IN a big town, but near a town would be best.
- She is open to some sort of 55+ community but doesn't need or want an assisted living arrangement for now.
- Probably some sort of condo would be good.
- She's open to renting or owning. If owning, around $150K-200K would be great. If renting, maybe something like $1000/month. But these numbers are rough and flexible.
- She would be retired when she moves so while she is open to taking a part-time job, economic opportunity is not much of a consideration.
- Closer to the Canadian border is better.
- Upstate NY is also an option, but she would prefer Vermont.
Mother-in-law lived in a condo in the Upper Valley area of Vermont and New Hampshire. It was similar to, and near to, this one in White River Junction, VT. The area is nice, sorta country, but near nice towns like Norwich, VT, and right across the river from Hanover, NH. This is good because there are lots of good doctors/medical stuff in the area, including Dartmouth-Hitchcock. It is not super close to the Canadian border, but I would definitely recommend your mom consider this area.
posted by gudrun at 10:33 AM on October 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by gudrun at 10:33 AM on October 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
I would also suggest she consider Randolph. Gifford Medical Center (hospital) is in town. There are some assisted living places in the area associated with the hospital as well.
Closer to Montreal than White River Jct, but in the (hopefully near) future both locations will provide train service to Montreal.
If you want to visit and check places out, MeMail me. We have a spare room.
posted by terrapin at 10:56 AM on October 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
Closer to Montreal than White River Jct, but in the (hopefully near) future both locations will provide train service to Montreal.
If you want to visit and check places out, MeMail me. We have a spare room.
posted by terrapin at 10:56 AM on October 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
For an older person, I would definitely recommend either being near Dartmouth-Hitchcock (so Central Eastern VT) or UVM Medical Center (so somewhere near Burlington). Healthcare isn't completely ubiquitous in this state and, while there are some good local hospitals (I live 10 minutes from one), anything even slightly complicated sends you to either Dartmouth-Hitchcock or UVM. Also, even though the state is small, the lack of big interstate network means that travel times are longer than you think (e.g. for me to drive the short way across the state -- 40 miles -- takes a bit over an hour even when the weather is good).
Burlington is definitely the "big city" in VT, but it's small as big cities go. Norwich VT/Hanover, NH is smaller, but also lovely.
I would encourage her to consider northeastern NY, too. House prices go down quite a lot when you cross the border into NY and there's, of course, no real difference between adjacent areas on either side of the border. I don't know how true it is at the NH/VT border but there is a noticeable price difference between western VT and eastern NY. There's a real premium for the green license plate.
posted by Betelgeuse at 11:06 AM on October 18, 2018 [5 favorites]
Burlington is definitely the "big city" in VT, but it's small as big cities go. Norwich VT/Hanover, NH is smaller, but also lovely.
I would encourage her to consider northeastern NY, too. House prices go down quite a lot when you cross the border into NY and there's, of course, no real difference between adjacent areas on either side of the border. I don't know how true it is at the NH/VT border but there is a noticeable price difference between western VT and eastern NY. There's a real premium for the green license plate.
posted by Betelgeuse at 11:06 AM on October 18, 2018 [5 favorites]
There are so many great small towns in northern-ish Vermont and generally speaking, the farther she is from Burlington the more affordable it is. For bigger towns I’d suggest morrisville, Bristol, vergennes, randolph, Montpelier, hardwick, st Johnsbury. The surrounding towns are quite rural but you would be able to get to the grocery store in 20 minutes or so.
Also as a warning “big” towns in Vermont are literally 2,000-8,000 people. It’s more that they have a flushed out town center and are the hub of the surrounding tinier towns.
posted by pintapicasso at 11:06 AM on October 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
Also as a warning “big” towns in Vermont are literally 2,000-8,000 people. It’s more that they have a flushed out town center and are the hub of the surrounding tinier towns.
posted by pintapicasso at 11:06 AM on October 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
Also I gotta say that there is a huge difference between upstate NY, like Plattsburgh and the far northern plains/Northernmost Adirondacks, and VT. A very large cultural divide. Similar geography... and that’s about it.
posted by pintapicasso at 11:08 AM on October 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by pintapicasso at 11:08 AM on October 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
Also I gotta say that there is a huge difference between upstate NY, like Plattsburgh and the far northern plains/Northernmost Adirondacks, and VT. A very large cultural divide. Similar geography... and that’s about it.
Yeah. pintapicasso is totally right here. I think Lake Champlain divides things in a way that we don't have down in SW VT. Although, I might argue that this is more about the uniqueness of the Burlington area rather than any VT/NY divide. The southwestern part of VT, where I live, feels much more like upstate NY than it feels like Burlington.
posted by Betelgeuse at 1:12 PM on October 18, 2018
Yeah. pintapicasso is totally right here. I think Lake Champlain divides things in a way that we don't have down in SW VT. Although, I might argue that this is more about the uniqueness of the Burlington area rather than any VT/NY divide. The southwestern part of VT, where I live, feels much more like upstate NY than it feels like Burlington.
posted by Betelgeuse at 1:12 PM on October 18, 2018
Colchester, VT
posted by slateyness at 3:48 PM on October 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by slateyness at 3:48 PM on October 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
I see Randolph and Hardwick recommended above and would agree with both. I spend a lot of time in both places. Randolph is a little bigger, has a small hospital and a more walkable downtown. It is also much closer to I89, which is great if you want to travel to Burlington,Montreal or south to Boston. There are a fair number of people who I know have moved to the area for retirement. It is easy to get involved in anything you'd like to do. Housing stock is mostly older, but there are houses for the range your mom would be looking for. Plus, it is home to Jessamyn!
Hardwick is growing, they have a great local food scene, downtown co-op grocery and small bookstore. There is a health center in town and a small hospital about 15 miles away. The housing stock is similar age, but lower priced if you were looking in the village. It's not far from Greensboro and Caspian Lake, also about 35 miles from Newport. I'd be glad to give more detail or resources if you are visiting the area.
posted by bookrach at 5:20 PM on October 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
Hardwick is growing, they have a great local food scene, downtown co-op grocery and small bookstore. There is a health center in town and a small hospital about 15 miles away. The housing stock is similar age, but lower priced if you were looking in the village. It's not far from Greensboro and Caspian Lake, also about 35 miles from Newport. I'd be glad to give more detail or resources if you are visiting the area.
posted by bookrach at 5:20 PM on October 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
If she wants to come visit and scope out the area, I'd be happy to show her around Randolph (where I live) which is a 4500-ish person town in Orange County. Not a lot of condos here though, not even a lot of apartments. Might look into something north of Burlington or in that area, basically once you are outside of Chittenden County stuff gets a lot more affordable. Really depends just how rural she wants to be and how nice a place she wants to live in. There are definitely single-family homes in Randolph for that price but they're not condo situations. You can get people to do your lawn/driveway/snow pretty easily. When I lived further north in a much more rural town that was much more difficult.
posted by jessamyn at 7:41 PM on October 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by jessamyn at 7:41 PM on October 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
Veggieboy, looks like to you need to come visit so we can have a meetup :)
posted by terrapin at 6:45 AM on October 19, 2018
posted by terrapin at 6:45 AM on October 19, 2018
I think Vegennes is just the sweetest town. It is beautiful and near the lake. Many nice restaurants and shops. Button Bay Park is there and you can pay a couple dollars and go swimming in their zero entry pool. It's a half hour to Burlington and 15 to Middlebury. There is a nice bus system she'd benefit from that goes from Vergennes to Burlington all the way to Rutland. There is connecting public transportation to Amtrak which goes to NYC so, everywhere!
posted by beccaj at 7:31 AM on October 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by beccaj at 7:31 AM on October 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Thank you so much for all the thoughtful answers. You’ve given Mom a lot to look into. I really appreciate it.
posted by veggieboy at 9:45 AM on October 19, 2018
posted by veggieboy at 9:45 AM on October 19, 2018
My friends just moved to the Bristol Village Co-Housing Community and bought a two bedroom unit in a quadplex. They looked up and down the east coast before picking it. They're very happy and I'm sure would be happy to talk to your mom.
posted by orsonet at 2:41 PM on October 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by orsonet at 2:41 PM on October 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
Another Randolph plus is that it is mid-state and Interstate accessible with I-89 around 5 minutes from downtown.
posted by terrapin at 4:31 PM on October 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by terrapin at 4:31 PM on October 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by MadMadam at 10:12 AM on October 18, 2018 [1 favorite]