There is a strong case to be made for moving to Vermont. The state motto should unofficially be: we work together! Vermont is all about collaboration. It is a state that believes strongly in working within the parameters of a community. It’s about farm-to-table, organic/natural/sustainable living and finding the perfect work/life balance. Not the perfect lifestyle, the perfect life. There is a difference. When you go somewhere where everyone is from away but have made a conscious choice to live, work and play in Vermont, you need to find out why.
What is the attraction of moving to Vermont from your childhood home and state and moving to the ski capital of the east? I spent a week in Vermont searching for the quintessential native Vermonter. Apparently, you are not a Vermonter unless you have six generations of other Vermonters to back up your claim. I found this both intriguing and intoxicating. By the end of my stay, I, too, wanted to move to Vermont with one caveat: that my hosts ditch the red, white and blue and embrace the maple leaf of red and white.
What can I say, I love being Canadian and inviting Vermont to join our confederation seemed like a good idea at the time. With the added benefit of free healthcare for EVERYONE, there was not one person that said they wouldn’t do it. There are many philosophical similarities with Canada and Vermont and I have 20+ Reasons why you want to move to Vermont – or why one week with Ski Vermont changed my life.
All kidding aside, on March 23rd of 2018, Governor Phil Scott and Vermont Tourism Commissioner Wendy Knight announced the Stay-to-Stay initiative, which aims to convert tourists who already enjoy visiting Vermont into full-time residents. With a population of just over 600,000, the state is in search of permanent residents. With an aging population, they are in need of more people to work and set up new businesses and grow the tax base! This active recruiting for moving to Vermont is being held over four weekends in April, June, August and October. You are invited to come down and meet businesses, check out the real estate in specific cities and more importantly, take the time to get to know each other.
I fell madly in love with Vermont and now I know why so many leave their home states and move to Vermont. Her are a few reasons why you may want to move to Vermont:
20+ Reasons to consider Moving to Vermont
Proximity to Canada
Proximity to Canada: Bordering on the province of Quebec, Vermont is an easy hour’s drive to Jay Peak and a four-hour drive to the southern most point in Vermont. Easily accessible to the Canadian Maritimes, Quebec and Ontario, you’ll be on a ski hill in two hours from Montreal, three hours from Ottawa, 6.5 hours from Toronto.
Easy Flights from Canada
Fly from Toronto to Burlington (read my full review here): Hop on a quick 90 minute Porter Airlines flight from Billy Bishop Airport to Burlington International Airport. These two airports are compact and have easy fly-in-fly-out convenience. No long security lines and miles of terminals to trek. Located minutes from the downtown core of the both cities.
Sustainable Energy Programs
Cow Power: Killington is enrolled in the Cow Power program, a completely local form of renewable energy made in Vermont. Staying with Vermont tradition of buying local, the K-1 Express Gondola and the Peak Lodge at the top of Killington are 100% powered from manure from local dairy farms. The farmers process the manure to create power. By collaborating with local farmers, Killington pays the farmer to supply the power. By doing so, it reduces greenhouse emissions produced by cows and expands the use of the readily available, renewable resource in Vermont.
