Colchester, Vermont

Moving to Burlington! Where are good places to live, and what are the best cell phone companies there? Yay VT!

A couple things if you're planning on moving up here, especially if you're coming from an urban environment or have never lived in the country:

• If you plan on living in the country be prepared to live on a dirt road. Nothing to be concerned with but they can get a tad hairy during "Mud Season" when they melt. You want to focus your attention on Chittenden County, that's where Burlington is and also there's Essex, Williston and Colchester. These are pretty good sized small towns that have decent Internet service and good neighborhoods and form a sort of suburban ring around Burlington.

• Richmond, Hinesburg, Huntington, Underhill, are all smallish country towns that are growing and have their share of scenic places to live. Beware the natives, though. Leave whatever pre-conceived notions you have about rural folk at the door and you should be fine. Generally it takes around five-ten years of living in one of these towns before you truly are accepted. Don't force it, be cool and don't judge. If you are a family the quickest way "in" is through the school and its associated kids sports. I live in Westford, great small town, good people and far enough from town to be affordable.

• The old saying "You can't get there from here" applies. Don't be fooled. Once you get out of town it is a loooooong drive to get anywhere. Lonely roads, no "straight shot" into town. Beware the danger of moving so far out that getting into town is a pain, during the winter this can lead to some serious isolation.

I work for a real estate magazine up here. I know plenty of realtors and could give you a name or two of some realtors.

Oh, one last thing: If you're young live in Burlington (within walking distance to downtown). If you're older and have a family, live in one of the outlying communities like Westford or Richmond. The schools are better. Burlington schools can be rough.

**Moving to Burlington! Where are good places to live. **

I wanted to add something that no one has said - have you any idea what property taxes are like?

Vermont is AFAIK the worst state in the union for property taxes. Just because you see a house for $200k that is $1300/mo, that doesn't mean you're going to pay $1300/mo.

http://www.vermontinvestments.com/vt-property-taxes.php

You could be paying $300, $400, even $500 more a month in taxes on top of your mortgage. Make sure you budget that in there.

Also, I can't speak to all of the areas of the islands, but many people we know (including our neighbour) don't have internet access available to them. Isle la Motte and Hero can be awesome places and Isle la Motte just lowered their property taxes a bit, but if there's no internet you are screwed. The islands are awesome. There's some sketchy people here and there, but for the most part they are very private and you have the run of the place.

**My girlfriend is considering continuing her education at UVM as a psych grad student. If she goes that route, we'll obviously need to live somewhere near-ish the UVM campus, but aren't opposed to a bit of a commute if living in a surrounding area can save us some money on housing.

While buying is an option, I feel like we would be more in the market for a renting, specifically a house as I'm tired of having people live literally on top of me. That brings me to a few questions I have about starting to look for a place out that way:

What are some "suburbs" in the Burlington area that I might want to start looking at with rental homes in mind?

Even though I think we'd prefer a house, apartments aren't out of the question, so what are some good apartment complexes in those "suburbs"?

What are some good rental home resources for the area? VT's Craigslist is a little lackluster, lol.

Due to the nature of being a student in today's world, a good high speed internet connection is a must, and I've read that in VT the internet can be hit-or-miss - are there any locales in that general area that are better or worse in that regard?

Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for any help!**

I would maybe check out Williston, Colchester, or South Burlington for housing. There isn’t a typical “suburban” area (or at least what I imagine suburbia is) around here. Williston might have high taxes, but it’s had a lot of development of apartments in the past years. South Burlington would be the town to check out for rental housing I think, based on what some of my friends have said in the past. Williston rental homes are slim pickings. Good luck and safe travels!

**Places to live in Vermont. **