I’m taking my mom on a short ski trip to sugarbush in February. I was wondering if anyone had advice on where to stay near the mountain? Preferably somewhere with a cute downtown that has some shops and restaurants or scenic views we can explore. I love Stowe and see it’s about an hour away, but I was wondering if there are any towns slightly closer that would be worth a visit. TIA!

Hello!

Northern neighbour here.

I am looking to visit early October 2025. Was supposed to come this past October but unfortunately my dad passed away so I had to cancel. And if he knew I cancelled because of him he’d be pissed.

So I am determined to make it happen this year.

Initially we were only coming for a couple of days but I’m now looking at about a week, so looking for more ideas of places and things to do.

One of the main reasons we chose Vermont is because of how dog friendly we’ve heard it is and we want to bring our big boy with us.

And yes, yes I know, leaf peepers. I promise that’s not the only reason we’re coming in October, though I would be lying if I said it wasn’t a factor. He’s not a blazing heat, summertime dog and I’d prefer not to be hauling a dog around in the dead of summer in a car anyway.

So, since I will be booking accommodations early 2025 (last year I had to book in Feb to get dog friendly accommodation!) I’m looking for suggestions now :)

So, places to visit, if you have any dog friendly accommodations you are familiar with and can recommend.

We are coming from Ottawa, through Qc, looking to go through the Lake Willoughby area first and then make our way back towards the Woodstock/ Burlington area.

Open to any and all suggestions. For us and the dog.

Picture of Bruno for tax

I promise he’s very well behaved and we are very responsible dog owners

Moving from out of state to Burlington, VT? We did the same and the idea of signing a lease for an apartment sight-unseen scared us a bit. We ended up renting from Redstone and really liked our experience. There is currently a unit available in the old north end building above Sangha Yoga Studio. In the summer, you have full roof access and they even offer sunset yoga. Walking distance to tons of restaurants and grocery stores. Pets welcome! AC in unit! New fixtures! Extremely quiet peaceful building.

I am not sure if this post will help anyone but hope it does. Moving to a new city can be daunting and there are a lot of slumlords in Burlington but we really enjoyed all of the perks of living at this location. (Especially being across from Jakes Market and Taco Gordo :)

https://www.237northwinooskivt.com/floorplans/maiden-lane-1-bed-14

Hello! Moving to Waterbury as a healthcare worker. In my 30s and looking to make friends! Any suggestions? Or things to know?! Beginner ski clubs? Thinking of joining the functional fitness center there. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Okay so I know I'll need snow tires for my car, but what about everything else. What kind of shoes should I get? Boots of some variety for sure, but what should I wear day-to-day? Same goes for clothes to layer up. Should I buy specific leggings, shirts, etc. ? Any particular kinds of gloves, hats? Thanks in advance!

I'm semi retired and just moved to South Burlington from the northern part of the state. I'm looking for people who also like to ski blue groomers and might want some company. I'm a 51 married male and my wife doesn't like to ski. I don't care about people's age, gender or marital status.

An ideal day for me is to arrive at the slopes at rope drop, ski some blues for a few hours and then head back home before lunch. The most convenient option for me is Sugarbush but I also have a limited number of days at Stowe and Killington.

Thinking of moving to Vermont from rural IL. What culture shock should we be aware of? We’re very big fans of Bernie and tend to be quite liberal family of 4 where both parents work in healthcare as a pharmacist and nurse.

Aside from looking for better schools our hobbies include board gaming, crochet, geocaching, biking, and 3D printing / makerspace.

I'm planning a trip with my elderly parents in the spring. Besides Stowe and Woodstock, where would you recommend visiting with proximity to bakeries, lots of bookstores, (dog-friendly?) restaurants, shopping, and some easy hiking? Thanks!

Edit: Thanks for the recommendations, everyone! We'll be there for a week so we'll have to make a couple of stops!

Hi!!! I’m looking for any ideas for spots or places that could be good for scenic, fun, pretty, cool pictures with my boyfriend!!! Ive been living here for almost 2 years but still am unfamiliar with spots like this!! TIA :)

Located in Barton, VT. Plenty of parking and space to call home. Conveniently located in the heart of the NEK, one flat mile to the interstate I-91easy to get to Saint John'sbury, Newport, I-93 through New Hampshire. Asking $2500 gross rent if your resource consumtion is not above normal residential usages (electric, water and sewer, and trash). Other wise pay as you go prorata share of utilities,we all have to pay to play.. discretely located in Barton Village, a shortwalk into town,s f you will find the majority of needed services there,grocery, mail, library , churches, 24 hour gas and mini-mart. Two golf courses, art club, a rod and reel club and shooting range nearby. Along with Crystal lake and lake Willloby a short drive out of town. Must like and respect large dogs.

EDIT: I reserved a transportation service to pick me up, just to be safe. Thank you everyone for your input!

Hi Vermont people!

I'll be visiting your lovely state for the first time in January of this upcoming year for a bachelorette party. Problem is, my flight gets in around midnight in the middle of January, and I've got to get from Burlington to Stowe. I'm from the Carolinas so...little to no snow driving experience, although my husband is from Illinois and has spoken to me of what to watch out for.

I'm a super anxious passenger, so I'm really torn between setting up a taxi service to pick me up and take me up there in the middle of the night or renting a car myself and braving it while going slow. Any advice from folks? Is this doable? I've got experience driving in deep sand if that helps at all??

Thanks in advance for any advice :)

Guess I’m not actually new to Vermont exactly, I was born there and family moved away. My girlfriend and I have both spent a lot of our life going to Vermont since we live about an hour away.

My girlfriend and I both very much want to financially plan to buy a house in Vermont in the next…. Ugh, let’s say 10 years, if we’re lucky.

I know we need to save for the downpayment and have good credit, and I also know taxes are high here.

I also know I may not even live long enough to achieve my dreams. I’m 29 but my health isn’t good and while most of my friends have already bought houses and settled down to have kids, I only just started my life after a long stretch of opiate addiction. Can’t help but feel like I missed my chance. And maybe I did.

To those of you who managed to afford to move here, what location did you settle in? How do you finance it, and is it worth it to you?

I know the Burlington area is popular but I lived there briefly when I was younger and am not a huge fan, no offense to anyone.

I also want to look at what jobs are most in demand in Vermont and how this might change in the next 10 years.

I’m aware of the flooding, my girlfriend and I have gone up and helped some local places with the aftermath. The areas we spend a lot of time in are mostly way too expensive for us to realistically ever live unfortunately. Girlfriend has spent a lot of time in sugarbush and killington due to family skiing stuff and yeah, we know better than to try and afford those areas.

The reason I’m posting is because lately the urge to save for a home has been strong. My girlfriend and I have been helping her friend renovate an old 1880s house for almost 2 years and it went from untouched for 20 years to livable. It’s made us want to do that for ourselves, since we are capable. But even a fixer upper is still so hard to afford.

I’m at the point where I’m considering a career change and so is she. I recently left security to try a desk job which is what my girlfriend has but now she’s saying she wished she learned a trade. I say learning a trade wouldn’t pay any better.

Frankly I just feel hopeless, especially with the recent election, I feel like everyone’s flocking to Vermont and is going to buy up all the houses and there won’t be any available for people like me, and if they are there they’ll be too expensive. Maybe I just need to let this dream go. I’m just trying not to be too fatalistic because that mindset isn’t good for me.

I guess I just need to figure out how to gather my thoughts and make a game plan… or give up. Any advice for someone in my position?

Ugh I feel like a kid trying to talk to the adults. This sucks. Sorry.

When we relocated to Vermont, it was nearly impossible to find temporary housing to stay at while we went about buying a house and moving here.

We live in a small house (1200 sq ft) in the capital area. Currently we have an empty bedroom that will be hosting a relative starting in the spring, so THIS IS NOT A PERMANENT HOUSING OPPORTUNITY.

Also we have very little storage space so you pretty much only have the bedroom for space.

If you are a professional who is relocating and only need temporary digs, we will rent the bedroom for $600 for a month, but you only have until April to find a permanent place.

Hey! I’ve looked at past posts about this same topic, followed some bands on instagram and whatnot. But I’d like to more directly connect with people before I visit. I’m spending a month in Milton and I’ll also be spending a lot of time in Burlington, which seems to have some good venues. I’m an anxious person and I don’t want to spend my entire visit cooped up. Music is so important to me, and my current city has a great hardcore music scene. So I’d love to have some shows to look forward to and maybe some people to go with! Worth mentioning I am 25yrs old and nonbinary. Thank you!!

What’s the best area to settle down in for an avid hiker? Close proximity and density are priority!

What do you have to say about the area around derby?

My husband and I are considering moving from Washington state to Vermont. He could move there with his current company, but would be based out of Montpelier. I’m seeing pretty high crime rates there so wondering if that’s a good option for our potential home.

What would be the best town to live in that’s still a doable commute to work in Montpelier? Or is Montpelier actually a decent place to live?

We’re in our late 20s, won’t ever have kids, have animals, and are both vegetarian. We ideally want to live on at least a little bit of land (we live on a couple acres with chickens now). We like to go into the big city (Seattle lol) occasionally for the opera, Broadway, etc. but we’re mostly pretty low key. We keep our shopping and dining to our small local downtown area here and currently live 30 minutes away from, like, everything, which we’re fine with! We mostly get some wine and go thrifting or something chill in our nearest town and that’s enough for us.

(Side note: we have the VA loan for a house but are only eligible for about a $450k loan)

Relatively new to VT (10 years), but only recently moved from Burlington to central VT. Now I’m in a house with lots of open land, but surrounded by forest. Needless to say I have a ton of leaves on the property. What do rural VTers do to manage all the leaves?

Which library around has the best kids areas and events? In or around Orleans County or within like 45 of it!

Hello all! My partner (35F) and I (30F) are looking to move to Vermont in August! We are looking at Essex or Essex junction as of right now but we are still open to change and aren’t set in stone on that being where we will move. I was hoping for any insight! Is that a good area to live? We liked it because it was a small town but still close to Burlington. What’s everyone’s thoughts on living in Vermont? We currently live in Florida and we are not big fans (especially the politics)

So anyway, looking for everything and anything anyone has to say about Vermont! Load me up! Thank yooooou!!

Thinking of moving and wanted to know how the commute to Montpelier is? Working at the med center

Hi folks, thanks in advance for any insight.

We're looking at moving to VT from a small town in north Wyoming, so up front quite familiar with rural life, winter, mountains etc. We're moving with good jobs, no kids but on the roadmap for us.

We've spent a lot of time living in the North Country in NY years back, but haven't spent much in VT outside of skiing Mad River and Killington. Mapping it mentally, it seems like a bit like Montana in several ways. On that note, we're familiar with house/land pricing jumping in New England, but it's worse out here.

Gist of why we're moving is locking in a base standard of living on the right side of fires, water issues and so on in a good outdoorsy, rural/semi-rural area we can maybe raise kids in. Not opposed to living in a town as well.

What we're looking for is as follows, and any insight into towns that fit this is much appreciated!

- General regions we're looking: NEK, Green Mountains (vaguely Woodstock, Waitsfield, Middlebury areas)

- General tone (I'm tracking rural life, but...): any sort of community arts scene, bookstores, bakeries, local food/SMBs, 60 mins or less prox to downhill/nordic, hiking gardening/farm food scene, etc. We're leftist Army vets if it matters, would prefer a non-MAGA in your face area but comfortable with all types of neighbors and we live in Wyoming as it is. Zero desire to live in big militia/skinhead areas (not sure if that's a theme out east?). Elementary schools of some kind are good to know about - private, good public, Montesorri/semi-alternative. Towns we'd be interestd to have as local hubs are in the direction of Asheville NC, Missoula/Livingston MT, Lander WY, Ashland OR, Saranac Lake NY, if that helps. No interest in living in/around Burlington.

- Quite keen on understanding where fentanyl+ issues overlap with rural life, and what towns/areas to avoid in that regard.

- Specifically - Richford, Montgomery, Craftsbury, Newport? Any hot takes? Same deal around Waitsfield?

Thanks!

Edit - ton of help, thanks group. If you see WY plates in the NEK next 6 months, prob is us! Although there are least... dozens... of us traveling out of the state at any one time.

We gonna stay in Burlington for 3days and want to know or suggestion a place if which area around this time is best to go for photos/ scenic near Burlington please. Also what restaurant is good to visit.

Thank you

I currently live in South Burlington (been in VT since 2022) but am planning to move soon and really have to find somewhere more affordable. We found a great place in East Fairfield, but I realized I don’t know much about VT outside of a few select places (partner is a Vermonter but grew up in Chittenden and recently moved back).

Especially after the election, I’m very mindful about safety. I’m a black woman and my partner is a white trans woman. We generally keep to ourselves regardless (happy to live and let live whenever possible) but would like to try to stay out of places where overt hostility might be an issue as I’ve heard that can be a thing in some places around VT. For any queer people or people of color who know some stuff about VT (or anyone for that matter) is East Fairfield a reasonably safe place to move given our demographics?

If you aren’t planning to provide helpful insight, just feel free to block me and keep it pushing.

Bonus: are there any places to completely avoid as we keep looking for housing? We’re mostly looking at places within an hour drive of Burlington.

Looking to potentially move from Maryland to somewhere in New England in the next two or three years and I am looking for advice, recommendations, similar experiences, reality checks, etc.

My partner and I are both LGBT, and we would be moving with our roommate (we are all in our late twenties). We currently own a place in MD that we would sell.

Both my partner and I have lived in MD our whole lives, and we have been thinking about getting away from the fast-paced environment here, looking for somewhere slower with hopefully a lower cost of living.

We have family up in Vermont which is what led us to start looking into moving. Specifically around Burlington and Brattleboro, and I am not sure of the differences between the areas.

I am aware that is may be a grass is greener situation, but my brain is itching for a change and it has latched on to this idea of moving to the New England area.

Thinking about weathering the Trump presidency in Vermont and fleeing from Texas. What’s life like as a gay or person of color in Burlington?

Edit: Because this post blew up. I appreciate the diverse range of opinions. First, let me state that this is not something that's come up on a whim. I've been actively searching for jobs in more liberal areas since last year. Vermont is one of the options I have. Second, I am well aware of the cost of living. I would not move somewhere if I could not support myself and I am going as someone who is freshly finished residency looking to establish myself as an MD. Thanks again to everyone who welcome me and I'm sorry you think this was some sort of spam for those who took offense. I realize now I should have added this context to start with.

Renting in brownington to see if we like it before moving down this way permanently. What are some pros and cons from people who have lived in or around

I’ll only have two days in Burlington but willing to drive elsewhere for fun stuff! Planning on visiting Stowe I think but otherwise completely open.

Love the outdoors and good food so let me know! This will be my 50th state so excited to celebrate!

Hey all! I’m considering a move to VT or ME, and I’m curious if there’s any aviation industry there? I’m an airplane mechanic, and I see Burlington has an airport, but searching for this is giving me some obscure results. TIA for any info!