Good places to live in Vermont?

[joy_ful]

Hey all...we're strongly considering relocating from NC to VT, most likely this year. We were up in VT for a few days in mid-Feb, but we were only able to look around a bit because of job interviews and such.

Where are some nice places to live in VT? Any places to avoid?

Thanks in advance for your input! :D

[ramlita]

If you want to be very rural, well, take your pick! :)

Some nice areas for finding AP-minded folks are: Brattleboro (mid-size town) and Putney (small)

Burlington is, of course, our most city- like, with a good mix of people, plus the extra culture that UVM supports.

I like Randolph, for some reason. It has a nice feel to it, though it is quite small. Vermont Technical College is there.
Ditto for Middlebury. (different college there :)

St. Johnsbury has a good feel, too, if a little isolated.

Woodstock is pretty, if a little richy-rich, as with Manchester.
(Of the two, I think of Manchester as having a little more culture)
Norwich is in the same category-it's especially close to lots of cool things.

I live in Springfield, where I have lots of family. Population 9,000 or so, it's a mid-size town by Vermont standards. There's a wonderful cafe downtown that makes up for the days when I'm sick of feeling isolated-in-the-cold. I host a little Breastfeeding Support Playgroup, and it's a wonderful group of moms n kids. It also has a co-op, but Vermont in general is pretty co-op rich.
We also have pretty good coverage with homebirth midwives, if that's your thing...

Oh! I should mention Bellows Falls, too. It's a very cute small town, with a very active arts community. I love the old brick buildings.

The only town I can think of that I'd avoid would be Rutland. It's having some big-city type troubles we don't see so much in the rest of Vermont. And avoid the hospital there, if you're pregnant.

At this point I feel like I should have some kind of disclaimer: This is one person's opinion!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Feel free to ask any specific questions. I grew up in Vermont, and never planned on settling here, but traveled enough to come to appreciate all this area has to offer.

[joy_ful]

Thanks so much for your input! It's so nice to have a native opinion. Interesting what you said about Rutland...care to elaborate at all? We stayed there while interviewing, but we weren't there long, so couldn't really get a 'feel' for the city. I currently live in Charlotte, NC where crime is pretty prevalent, as well as traffic issues, and other issues that larger cities face (Although I feel like I need to add the disclaimer that we are not native southerners..so we're not afraid of the snow :) )

Curious also about the hospital....if not Rutland, then where, Burlington? I had a high risk pregnancy the first time around, so not too sure what's going to happen with any future pregnancies....and I'm not comfortable with the home birth situation given my history.

Not that I'm sold on Rutland at all...I have just found that when asking about Vermont, nobody seems to mention Rutland at all, so naturally I'm curious as to why...

I'm kind of in the middle as far as my "AP-ness" goes..not totally crunchy, but definately not mainstream.

Anything else you'd like to share...I'm all ears! :)

[behr]

Hi joy-ful and ramlah,
I was so hoping someone would answer to this thread (thank you ramlah!!) and I'm hoping for more as well.
We're a family of 4 and will be travelling through VT in May to see if we want to make the big move over the ocean once again. So we need as much info as possible beforehand to prepare our route of travel.
We also need to be close to a larger hospital since hd is a nurse and wants to get an advanced degree so we're looking for similar things, joy-ful?!
AmyD has been very helpful in answering my questions before.

[suzannamama]

Hello-

I thought I'd add my two cents about places in Vermont.
My husband and I both grew up in VT and have lived in various places in the state.

We now live in Orwell, on Lake Champlain, 40 minutes from Rutland and 30 minutes from Middlebury. We only go to Rutland about once every 6 weeks ( for big nox sotre shopping) and Middlebury 1-2 times per week. Rutland is hard to navigate, lots of strip development. It does however have a great farmers market in the summer and a struggling food coop that we wish we liked more.

Middlebury is a classic VT small town and a college town, Wonderful food coop and small farmers market.

We too have heard bad things about Rutland Hospital and were turned away ourselves when I wanted to have a quick blood pressure check during pregnancy because I mentioned my CN midwife from another hospital.

I was a high risk pregnancy and delivered our son at Alice Peck Day Hospital over the border in Lebanon NH, I can't say enough great things about that hospital, small--4-5 birthing rooms and very nursing friendly. We were living in South Royalton at the time, a very nice town with a new coop and farmers market and Vermont Law School, we have good friends who farm there.

Anyhow thought I could add a bit, especially in terms of Rutland, don't rule it out, it just gets a lot of negative press.

Suzanna

[Achelois72]

I thought I'd reply too:

Originally posted by suzannamama
We now live in Orwell, on Lake Champlain, 40 minutes from Rutland and 30 minutes from Middlebury. We only go to Rutland about once every 6 weeks ( for big nox sotre shopping) and Middlebury 1-2 times per week. Rutland is hard to navigate, lots of strip development. It does however have a great farmers market in the summer and a struggling food coop that we wish we liked more.


Hi Suzanna,
I grew up in Benson and my parents still live there; my Mom works in Middlebury. :D

Joy_ful,
I agree with what everyone else has written. I lived in Rutland County forever and lived in Rutland for a few years. It's...OK, I guess. It just has a run down feel to it. I've also heard bad things about the hospital there. Not my favorite Vermont town.

Middlebury is lovely. I love the food co-op there.

What I've experienced of Brattleboro is good. It's small but has a crunchy bent that I like.

I don't know if I'd recommend Bennington. I went to college there and that's the last place I lived in VT. I left in 2001. It seems cramped and unattractive unless you can afford to live in Old Bennington. And it just didn't seem all that accepting. There isn't a great mix of people IMO, despite there being two colleges there. Maybe I just had bad luck with the people there...not sure.

I have young friends who live in the Royalton area that Suzanna mentions (one goes to law school there!) and they love it.

Burlington has so many things to do and a nice feel to it.

If I were to move back to Vermont I'd live in a small town that's within an hours drive to Burlington or Middlebury. OK, in between. My brothers live in Vergennes which is South of Burlington and commute to IBM in Essex. They seem to like it, but it's hard to get specifics why.

Anyway, best of luck! Vermont's a great state. Maybe I can convince DH to move there after we finish our degrees and our stint in Nevada with his parents! :D

:love :love :love
Susan

[suzannamama]

Hi Susan-

We moved to Orwell in 2001 as we found affordable beautiful land. We wanted to start a small organic farm, land was important to us. Its definetly a bit of a drive to get places, but we appreciate the undeveloped aspect of Owell and Benson! Its great to hear about people with area connections!

I grew up in So. Vermont and went to high school in Bennington. Its not the first place I would move, its just about the only large community in Vt without a food coop. Which may indicate something about its politics? My parents live in the next town north, I was just in Bennington last week. There is a good arts community there, especially in North Bennington and at Bennington College. I think lots of people gravitate towards Albany and Troy NY from Bennington. We do have friends who live there, it seems people can find their niche in places others are less interested in.

We have lots of space here, if those of you who are exploring VT this summer would like a quiet place to camp on a small homestead on Lake Champlain, drop me a note!

Suzanna

[flowers]

Hello, thought I would join in since my husband and his parents and I are looking to move to a decent peice of land in VT to practice the permaculture organic farming skills we have been honing for the past few years. Right now we are in NH and I am 17 weeks pregnant. We are planning on making a few weekend trips up this summer and if it is not trouble we might take you up on that camping offer Suzanna! Thanks everyone for the advice and plase keep it coming.

hillary

[monica-u]

I am so glad I found this discussion. My family (husband and son-5, daughter- 14 mos) is moving to Vermont this summer and have pretty much settled on Montpelier. We have visited there a few times and have found it very family friendly with lots of community things we appreciate like a food co-op, music and dance activities, and a great coffee house. Does anyone have any input on specific surrounding places to look for a house and/or land in? We don't want to be right in town, but not too far out either. We have always lived at least 1/2 hour from town and have found it isolating, esp with young children.

Also, let me know if you agree that Montpelier really is a good place. I hear that the schools are pretty good. Any thoughts?

Monica-u

[ramlita]

Montpelier really has a nice feel.
If I didn't have family down south, here, I think I'd be looking there.
All I can think to add is that I've noticed some real sprawly buildup between Montpelier and Barre. Downtown Barre is a cute place, but the strip between the two towns is getting quite clogged. So if you avoid that stuff, I'm sure everywhere else is lovely.
And there's the added bonus of being close to the State House!
So often, I've wished I lived closer so it was easier to participate up there: show up for hearings, etc., that are announced so close to the event itself.

[Kundalini-Mama]

:wave

I will 2nd, 3rd, and 4th the recommendation not to live in Rutland. It is where we live and it freakin' sucks. :laugh: Honestly, we grew up in Jersey and it is exactly like living there.

The only bonus, and this is huge, is that there is a huge, and I mean huge, crunchy community. I have tons of friends who don't circ, don't vac, home-birth and I don't know anyone who is sending there child to public school. For this reason, when we move into the country (ahhhh), we will be moving outside of Rutland so that I can continue w/all these great friendships I've cultivated over the past 2 yrs.

And someone mentioned the co-op. It is up and coming presently. I've been doing a lot of work w/them and am very pleased. A deli is going to be added--soon, and they are going to be able to get the lot next to them to put some picnic tables in and such. I'm thinking in the next yr or so, it will be unrecognizable from its current state. Its a good co-op, just small compared to Vermont standards. There is always the health food store less than 100ft from the co-op and the Price Chopper about 500 ft from the hfs which has a HUGE organic section (brand new).

In terms of hospitals, our MW only transfers there if it is a life and death emergency. I birthed my first son at Bennington hospital and Gifford hospital in Randolph is also doable. If you are high-risk pregnancy though, you might want Gifford, b/c if your child needs NICU care, he/she would go to Dartmouth in NH, vs. Albany if you birthed in Bennington. After already having a nightmare stay w/Albany, and after hearing WONDERFUL things about Dartmouth, that is what I would choose.

In terms of other towns, Burlington is built up too, more so than Rutland on the outskirts, but a really neat town. Brattleboro is just freakin' amazing. HUGE HUGE CO-OP, and tons of great book stores.

I wanted to add. I freakin' love Vermont and I never want to leave. It is just a beautiful place. And when hubby and I talk about Rutland, the best thing about it (vs. Jersey) is that w/i 10 min, you are in the middle of country. So you can easily escape.

hth some, feel free to PM me!
Amy

[AmandasMom]

Back when I was young and single, I lived in St. Albans for about a year. I loved it up there. Close to the border, close to Burlington. I just liked the feeling there, the grocery stores having a currency exchange, signs in french and english, things like that. I love Vermont. Employment was tough there, so I eventually had to leave. I miss it sometimes...

[Amydoula]

Hi!
I don't actually live in VT but in NY just over the border from Bennington. I wouldn't say that Bennington is the ideal place to live although it does have some very strong points but IMO it is the best place to birth as far as a low to mid level risk pregnancy is concerned. It is sooo natural, has doulas and midwives, rooming in, no interventions that are unnecessary, very family friendly. I had my son there and loved it. People actually travel from other parts of VT and NY to birth there. I have also heard very negative things about the Rutland hospital, people travel from that area to birth in Bennington. I think as far as places to live I like Brattleborro and Manchester. Old Bennington is really nice too. Also just so you know in Bennington we don't have a local co-op but a traveling co-op. You put your order in out of a catalog once or twice a month and they deliver it to your door, $350 minimum. They are out of NH. We have about 5 families that go in together. Just my two cents!

amy