Less farmy, more woodsy? (Burlington, Colchester: home, to live, prices)

[JIer]

Can anyone give us an idea of which towns around Burlington feel more like woods/mountains than farms? For example, Shelburne and Vergennes were both really cute, but seemed a little too flat/open for us (or at least what we saw of them). Is Colchester woodsy? Should we be looking more towards the Stowe direction, like Jericho?

Any thoughts would be much appreciated! Thanks!

[harry chickpea]

Love that description. Never thought of Vergennes as "cute" before.

The easiest thing to do is to look at a topographical map. Anything near the lake on the Vermont side is going to be flat. Jericho/Richmond is where the land starts to get interesting. Colchester, not so much so.

[68vette]

Colchester is a huge town (one of the largest in the state). You can find just about every type of topography here. The same can be said for Essex. The first place that came to mind was Westford, just past Essex and about 30 minutes from Burlington.

[vermonter16]

What about Underhill? I haven't been there in a long time but I remember as a kid that it used to be woodsy. I think Vergennes is super cute as well .

[JIer]

In Google Earth it looks like there's quite a bit of forest in Colchester by Colchester Pond and the Indian Brook Reservoir. Is any of that protected parkland? I don't know how big that area is but it doesn't look like there's a lot of development there.

[68vette]

Originally Posted by JIer

In Google Earth it looks like there's quite a bit of forest in Colchester by Colchester Pond and the Indian Brook Reservoir. Is any of that protected parkland? I don't know how big that area is but it doesn't look like there's a lot of development there.

My son and I fish on Colchester Pond, so I know that area very well. It is a great area. There are even dirt roads in that area (a rare thing for this area of Chittenden County). There is a mix in this area. A few farms, or at least older inactive farms ( much of what you will see is old unused pasture land).
The majority of this area is wooded. The area is much less developed than just about any area this close to Burlington. You go from a very undeveloped area to downtown Burlington in 10-15 minutes. The land around the pond (more like a small lake) is protected land. I'm not sure about the land outside of the pond area, but I think development in this area will be limited. Many of the properties are on very large parcels of land.

[JIer]

Thanks 68vette, that's great to know. I wish we had gone over there when we came to up to visit last month. I just went on Zillow to see what the home prices are like in that area - and it looks like Colchester Pond is in Colchester and Indian Brook is in Essex? That really looks like an area we'd like. The farms are beautiful, but there's something so comforting about trees...

[Dippylou]

I went down to Indian brook for the first time yesterday and yes it is woodsy. I wouldn't wamt to live on that road with all the traffic to the park though. Some nice woodsy side roads heading to Westford if you don't mind being further out from town. There also a whole slew of pretty roads up past Jericho that lead to Richmond and Jonesville. Hilly, woodsy, and I imagine a big pain in the arse in winter.

I live right in the area, and been here since 2004 so not a local. Feel free to message me if you need pics or any help.

[Why_Am_I_Here]

Waterbury....woodsy...hilly...a few farms...

[harry chickpea]

Originally Posted by Why_Am_I_Here

Waterbury....woodsy...hilly...a few farms...

Yeah, like about THREE working ones? There is the Harvey one by the Winooski (actually in Duxbury I think), one on Blush Hill that used to be owned by Keith Wallace, and I don't know if Brian's is considered in Waterbury or not. Expect more woods as land reverts.