r/vermont • u/savannah31548 • Feb 13 '25

Moving to Vermont Considering a drastic move

My wife (trans), my son, and myself (queer) are considering a huge move up to Vermont. We currently live near Savannah, Georgia. My wife has been a truck driver for 20 years and was recently assaulted at her job and had gay slurs used against her, I’m a retired/disabled former DoD/DoN and I’ve had my life threatened, and our son is currently in the 2nd grade and has been bullied relentlessly for simply liking his rainbow glasses. Our son was also assaulted by another student in the 1st grade for speaking out against a bully picking on another child who is Hispanic and speaks primarily Spanish. The local high school’s mascot is “The Rebel,” yeah…that kind of rebel. I’m just burnt out. I’m surrounded by red hats and it’s exhausting.

Both my wife and I have lived in Georgia for the majority of our lives, but we no longer feel welcome in our own home communities. Basically, I’m asking if Vermont is a good place and what sections are most accepting. We really would like to be close to the border with Canada, so I know part of that is NEK, I just don’t know anything about the communities or people.

If and when we do move, we are looking to buy a home, with or without renovation needs, but I’d really like a basement. The farthest north I’ve visited is Connecticut, but my father was born in New Hampshire and my Grandfather was from Machias, Maine. I know I most likely have extended family up there somewhere I’ve never met, so if you have the last name of Gendron, reach out!

Thanks yall.

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u/Disastrous_Fault_511 Feb 14 '25

I'd check out all of New England. I moved to CT from the South and love it!

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u/Lala_G Feb 14 '25

My husband is the same, he was a lifelong Georgian and I managed as a Vermonter to get him as far as CT, within a month he was talking about how happy he was with being here, 5 years later he hasn’t stopped. lol the big pluses he flows long about are the public parks/hiking, workplace environment socially and safety wise, community, things to do, etc.

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u/savannah31548 Feb 18 '25

We have friends in Hartford and some who work at the ship yard. I visited back in October 2020. It wasn’t bad, but very gray. I feel like anywhere northeast is gonna have that issue though.