[EverywhereVT]

My opinion is Colchester.

[arctichomesteader]

I wish the posted signs would be outlawed, they're as ugly as any billboard, when you see them every 8 feet...

[kclayton830]

Vermont gets in your blood, i have visited since 1995 and have wanted to live there ever since. Personaly im in love with manchester center,but all of vermont is great, if you go there with money. To live in a charming place is expensive, but maybe thats what keeps it charming, if not it might look like gattlinburg TN.

[Flashback]

Originally Posted by kclayton830

Vermont gets in your blood, i have visited since 1995 and have wanted to live there ever since. Personaly im in love with manchester center,but all of vermont is great, if you go there with money. To live in a charming place is expensive, but maybe thats what keeps it charming, if not it might look like gattlinburg TN.

We love Manchester Center too....and Malfunction Jct will be getting fixed with a roundabout by the end of 2012.

[MRoldan70]

Hey everyone .. its 1/2012 and im looking to move to vermont by the summer. my hubz wants bennington because its close to other states .. i just want to make sure we move to a nice area. I have an elementary school daughter and i just want to make the correct decision. What areas in bennington should i avoid if any? any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[flatlander1128]

Hello MRoldan,
A new job is taking me out of the Bennington area. I live in a rural area where the people generally don't care much for outsiders but that has been discussed in this thread all too much. There is excellent access to the surrounding areas (Albany, NY / Berkshires..) Feel free to email for more descriptive answers to your questions.

[Samuel1982]

Originally Posted by quickdraw

I know how you feel. Not because of the weather, but because Vermont offered what I felt was missing in my life. My wife and I lived in the Chicago area, we lived in a small town that eventually joined with the Chicago suburbs when everyone moved west. Our once peaceful town was now congested and a stream of traffic. We couldn't even open our windows in the summer because of the traffic noise. When I'd cut the part of grass in front of our house near the street, I was buzzed by tractor trailers.
When we took our anual trip to visit my parents in upstate NY we'd always include Vermont. We loved it, it seemed so peaceful and green. We talked about moving here for more than ten years. Finally when my dad died, we decided to make the big move. In short we love it. I've never been happier anywhere.

But it's not perfect. First of all, it's expensive. Not New York or Boston expensive, but it's more expensive than most rural areas. Why? Because there are a ton of people like you who want to escape from metropolitan areas for a variety of reasons and live here. When you move to Vermont, go on vacations, and tell people where you live, you'll notice people just light up and say how much they love Vermont. They'll tell you how lucky you are. Burlington in particular is a hot town all of a sudden. Listed in a lot of polls, as hippest, greenest, best outdoorsy place to live etc.

But there are two Vermonts. The areas with born and bred Vermonters and the areas with transplants. A stated, my wife and I love Vermont, so do all of our friends. Only thing is, none of our friends are from Vermont. They're all transplants from Boston, NY, Washington. They've all come here to get away from things and they have. And they love it. If you choose to live in the Burlington,Brattleboro, or area near Dartmouth University in NH, these are the people you'll run into. It's a happy vibe. Unfortunately its a fairly expensive vibe too, as these areas are expensive to live in. Particularly Burlington and Dartmouth area.

Other parts of Vermont are cheaper but not as chipper. The areas with true Vermonters. They've lived in the beautiful area their whole lives so they take it somewhat for granted. They've seen the cost of living go way up, in part due to out of staters. They haven't escaped things like traffic, congestion, or crime like the transplants, so they're not as giddy to be here. It seems like whenever I have someone over to work on my furnace, septic, electric etc,. they tell me they want to move out of Vermont. These are the people you'll be with if you choose to move to a smaller more remote area.

After living in VT, the Burlington area, Brattleboro, Dartmouth area, and maybe Bennington would be the only places that interest me. However, my situation is a lot different than yours. I had to move within a few hours of Albany, NY to be near my mother. If I was you, I might look at other areas that would be less expensive, less freezing (6 degrees this morning) and also beautiful. For someone looking to escape the FL heat I'd consider the areas near Chatanooga TN, Ashville, NC, and the highly iunderrated Charlottesville, VA area.

Bottom line is, you have to get up here for a week or two and look around for yourself. Check out the housing prices and general vibe of the area.
We'd love to have you up here, but there are other nice options too.

I can't speak about job availability for your husband's line of work, but here's a link for the hospital in Burlington.

[url=http://www.fahc.org/]Fletcher Allen Health Care | Academic Medical Center in Burlington, Vermont | Home[/url]

And here's a link for the hospital across the Vermont line in New Hampshire that is always advertising for health care professionals.

[url=http://www.dhmc.org/]DHMC[/url]

Good luck

i moved from bennington to texas 16yrs ago. My wife and i are moving back to Vt and i couldn't be happier!!! Now as far as the post you just read, i will have to disagree with some of his info. True Vermonters love where they live and if wasnt so they would leave. I think you should look into Manchester. Its a beautiful town and complete with all the shops and things eople look for in a city. Its also close to everything i.e ma,ny, nh,cn and all within an hour and a half not to mention Montreal!!! Good luck

[SALS]

My family and I are also considering a move to Vermont. I grew up in the midwest and also lived in colorado for 5 years. We are now in Connecticut(the last 12 years) and I still don't like it! The fast pace and rudeness are more than I can take. I have only visited Vermont a few times, but the people that I met were very friendly, and I also felt peaceful while I was there. My 2 girls are 8 and 10. Good schools are a VERY high priority.
My wife travels a lot so we would need to be somewhat close to an airport(maybe within an hour drive).
I am a stay at home dad and would love to find a small hobby farm with at least 10 acres, maybe start an organic greenhouse, and have some animals. Any comments and/or advice would be greatly appreciated!

[hopefulvter]

What are the average rents in Burlington and surrounding areas? Are there apartments to rent? Is it a pet- friendly city?

We live in Ohio and the avg rent is 1200 a month for a decent place- no utilities included.

Burlington seems like the perfect place for us and my husband's job has a branch in Burlington. Are there small quaint towns nearby where we could rent a 2 bedroom that accepts pets? He would have a job waiting, but I am a disabled vet.

[68vette]

Originally Posted by hopefulvter

What are the average rents in Burlington and surrounding areas? Are there apartments to rent? Is it a pet- friendly city?

We live in Ohio and the avg rent is 1200 a month for a decent place- no utilities included.

Burlington seems like the perfect place for us and my husband's job has a branch in Burlington. Are there small quaint towns nearby where we could rent a 2 bedroom that accepts pets? He would have a job waiting, but I am a disabled vet.

Rents on average in this area are close to what you are paying for a nice place. The big problem will be finding a place that accepts pets. Because of how the rental laws in Burlington are structured to protect the tenant, landlords are not usually accepting of pets. Winooski is 5 minutes away and has different rental laws. The problem is rents for a nice place (Winooski has some rough areas) can be just as expensive or more expensive and they will also charge monthly rent for pets. Keen's Crossing last I knew was charging $50/pet/month. Chittenden County is a developed county in Vermont. If you are looking for a quaint town outside of Burlington, you are going to have to look outside of Chittenden County or at least 20-30 minutes outside of the city. It would depend on what you consider quaint. My idea of quaint is a village setting such as the town of Randolph. The majority of the towns outside of Burlington are typical American suburban neighborhoods. I live in Colchester which is just a few minutes outside of Burlington. While I like the town, it is typical suburbia. There are some rural areas that are quaint (don't get me wrong) within 15 minutes of Burlington, but those areas don't typically offer rentals.
If you want to live in Burlington, it will be more difficult during the school year. The city does not have enough housing units for area residents. The problem is compounded by the areas collages and university students who live off campus. The majority of what is available this time of year are expensive apartments or complete dumps. There are always possibilities of finding a very nice place for a reasonable price, but then you have the problem finding a place that will accept pets.