Allied Van Lines survey confirms many making Vermont their home

MONTPELIER, Vt. – If you like Vermont, you’re not alone.

An annual survey by Allied Van Lines said 69 percent of Allied moves last year were to Vermont – while only 31 percent were leaving the state.

That means more people are moving into the state than leaving – so many more, in fact, that Vermont was first in Allied’s statewide ranking for 2003.

Vermont Realtors said they weren’t surprised.

“I think Vermont represents a less hectic kind of lifestyle,” said Laird Bradley, who co-owns a real estate agency in Woodstock. “You get a lot of people pollution in a lot of the urban or suburban areas. In Vermont, it’s news when you get a traffic jam.”

Allied, a major moving company based in the Chicago area, has been conducting the survey for 36 years. Vermont also came in first in its ranking for the year 2001, and second in 2002.

The company attributed Vermont’s high percentage of move-ins to strong economic growth and to the state’s several research and development facilities.

Jeff Carr, the state economist, said he thinks more people started moving to northern New England after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

“People have been moving from southern New England and other parts of the country where there are larger population centers,” he said Tuesday. He added that housing prices still are relatively low in Vermont and neighboring states.

Many Realtors said they had noticed a lot of retirees buying or renting in Vermont lately. “A lot of new owners are from Florida or the warmer climates who want to come to Vermont for the cooler weather in the summertime,” said Ruth Grondin, who owns a real estate company in Quechee.

Bob Hill, executive vice president of the Vermont Association of Realtors, moved to Vermont in December from Waynesville, N.C. He was following his wife, who had moved to Vermont for a job in the Burlington area. “We like winter,” Hill said.

Alaska ranked second in the Allied survey, with 68.3 percent of moving trips inbound, the moving company said. It was followed by Montana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Rhode Island and Oregon with a tie score, and Maine.

Illinois came in first among Allied’s “outbound” states, with more than 60 percent of its moving families leaving, said Allied. Oklahoma, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Connecticut, South Dakota, and Utah followed.

Many young people still leave Vermont to find work elsewhere, said Ken Horseman, a spokesman for the Department of Economic Development.

“But we know a lot of the same young people who leave to get their first job or what have you come back here to raise families,” Horseman said. “It’s a peaceful and beautiful place, a great place to raise families.”