Bangor vs Burlington VT

[OutdoorLover]

Originally Posted by mark s.

which is a horror, because there is one great truth in american life: the people most willing to take off their clothes are the last people who should.

seriously. There should be a minimum height-to-weight ratio, along with regulations about shaving your back before losing your shirt.

This is a public safety issue. I shouldn't have to risk my eyes bleeding when i go for a coffee.

*lol*

[ctr88]

I know Burlington pretty well. Personally I would choose Bangor, but that is just my subjective opinion.

Burlington is going to be a wealthier area, more jobs. To me the "immediate" scenery around Burlington is much prettier than Bangor with views of Lake Champlain, Adirondacks, Green Mountains. Has a solid airport. Tons of downhill skiing close. Montreal 1.5 hrs drive. Much bigger then Bangor, 175k people in the greater Burlington metro. Burlington will be more so called "hipster", probably better nightlife and all that if important. All the shopping you need.

***Here are the cons of Burlington for me***
-very far left politically (I am more in the center to lean right, so this is a non starter for me - and VT gets more and more lefty every day - they are driving everyone to the right of Karl Marx out of the state)
-Burlington will have MUCH higher housing costs both rents and house prices. The Burlington area is not far off in price from places like Seattle, Boston, DC, etc... in costs of housing
-VT has a very high overall tax burden
-downtown Burlington is very dominated by having the Univ of VT right there in town, it is heavy student dominated town
-traffic can be pretty bad getting in and out of downtown Burlington
-you are 3 hrs from the ocean

In summary, being much cheaper for housing and not as far left politically are two big benefits for me of Bangor over Burlington.

[Vance Mack]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL7uW4TYqbs

[Phorlan]

I'm going to take the whole year to decide. Thank you for all your input. I'll spend time in the winter in both places in the next 12 months and see.
Yes, I've noticed that about nudist, it's always older white guys in horrible shape who really think the world should see them. Go figure.

[Reflexion]

I love Burlington and live near Bangor. Bangor has Stephen King and a very nice library partially through his contributions. I don't think Bangor is more interesting than Burlington. There isn't anything here that's comparable to Mad River. Belfast is a sweet little town but may be overrated. Another town that size and to me much more interesting is Camden. To live in Maine is either to live by the ocean or near skiing, period. Regardless of where you settle, Maine is a poor state and every town has poverty. Some more extreme than others. Bangor has restaurants and shopping, a growing art community, colleges, a university, large medical center. In my mind, depends on the type of people you want around you.

[LarryLogger]

You should also visit during height of summer tourist season. I've been in Camden's July traffic jams. Granted, they are relatively small but also quite annoying. Camden has one traffic light and traffic through it is: s l o w

[Riley.]

Burlington has changed alot in the last year. Politics is going extreme left, the police have been defunded to a large extent, and there is a fairly large contingent of militant protestors (from the college?) who come out at the drop of a hat. There was an encampment most of the summer in the waterfront park populated by BLM/femmes and some other offshoots that I was not familiar with.

When I moved here in 2003, I LOVED going into B'ton for a day of shopping, walking along the waterfront, having a nosh, etc. Now, I rarely go. There is a giant hole in the middle of the city that in true VT fashion remains an unfinished project. Lots of graffiti and getting a bit of a down-trodden feel. The bus terminal area seems to attract a fringe element. I would come do a drive around before settling on B'ton to make sure it's really an environment you want to live in.
I live 30 miles north and frequent the lovely ski resort town near me - although many VTers consider it a snob town because of the tourists. Well, baby, tourists bring money in and the town offers a lot year round (well, pre-Covid).
Good luck.