[Jo Anne Meginnes]

Curious to see what vermonters think are the best small towns to live in year round in southern vermont. Considerations are: proximity to medical center, reasonable taxes/home prices, good cross section of ages and incomes, decent school system and of course beautiful surroundings. Thanks!

[mustmove]

The whole state is beautiful. Norwich has everything you want except reasonable $$$, might not be Southern enough.

[GypsySoul22]

Originally Posted by mustmove

The whole state is beautiful. Norwich has everything you want except reasonable $$$, might not be Southern enough.

I agree. It's very pretty, clean. Dartmouth right near by. Also Alice Peck Hospital. Howe Library, very good (Vermont libraries here, not so much.)

As far as 'more southern' what about Putney or Brattleboro?

[Jo Anne Meginnes]

Does Brattleboro deserve its "crunchiness" title? Am sure there are a fair amount of liberal thinking people there but does that group dominate everything in the town? A good cross section of opinions and lifestyles is probably the best anywhere, in my humble opinion. Not at all interested in living in a conservative atmosphere either. A good balance is what I'm looking for. Are there any other smaller towns near Brattleboro that would fit what I'm looking for? Thanks for your input on this!

[vter]

Bennington is much less "crunchy" than Brattleboro.
All towns in Vermont are small. How small are you looking for? Bennington has a population of about 15K. Brattleboro a little less.
What about jobs?

[vermontsteno]

Hi Jo Anne,

I recently relocated from southern Vermont, where I spent the last 10 years. I started out in Brattleboro, which is a great artsy town. I ended up in Putney. The taxes in Putney are insane, by the way. I actually found that it was hard to make a living in southern Vermont, which is why I relocated. Also, I am 35 years old and found that there weren't a lot of people my age that were career oriented, as I myself am.

It does have a ton of charm though, and Brattleboro is a good location geographically as far as being closer to bigger cities. There aren't a lot of retail stores in the area, but there are quite a few good places to get what you need across the border in New Hampshire. It definitely has the crunchy feel to me though.

I also like Bennington, which is on the other side of Vermont, next to New York. I've never lived there, but have visited quite often. If you have any other questions about either of these areas, I'd be happy to talk to you about my experiences. My husband grew up in Westminster West, which is 20 minutes outside of Brattleboro, so we still visit down there often.

[arel]

I live in Brattleboro. I like it. I moved here from Brooklyn, New York in 2008.

In Brattleboro you can be in as urban or as rural a location as you want.

The town is artsy, liberal and bohemian. It is also said to be "crunchy". I'm not exactly sure what "crunchy" means, but if it means having a culture of sustainability, fair trade and high quality local food, then, yes, it is crunchy.

And yes, you'll find lots of hippie types here.

There are other, more rural towns near Brattleboro, but usually, going into town means going into Brattleboro.

Brattleboro has three supermarkets, including a fantastic Co-op.

It has a great downtown, and a great sense of community.

You are near Keene, NH, and also near Northampton and other towns of the Pioneer Valley in western Massachusetts. The culture here is really good, but if you want more, you can find it in Northampton, an hour away.

Brattleboro seems focused on NYC, even though Boston is only about half as far away. That may be because a train to and from New York City goes right to downtown Brattleboro.

People complain about the cold in Vermont, but I don't mind Brattleboro winters. They are not, I don't think, nearly as brutal as they are further north. I haven't found them to be much different from winters in New York City, except that there is more snow here. And the summers are wonderful, at least in terms of temperature. Last summer was oppressively humid and rainy much of the time, unfortunately. But we don't have that oppressive humid heat that you get in New York.

The downside? Like in most of Vermont, the costs are high and wages are low. And, although the crime rate is low, compared to New York, I think it is rising. There's lots of drug crime. And lots of impaired driving. If you look at the police blotter in the local paper, and also the headlines, you mostly see petty crime. But there have been some serious crimes as well.

That's about all I can say, as I am not really knowledgeable about Vermont outside of my southeastern corner of it.

Hope this helps.

[arctichomesteader]

Mt. Tabor.

Admittedly though, there isn't much there. I've come across remnants of old farms and homesteads in the National Forest around that area. Cellars, fruit orchards, stone walls, etc. But then I'm more into being in the woods than being in town...

I haven't spent much time there (but have passed through many times) but Wallingford and thereabouts is seemingly rather nice other than route 7 cutting through town. Lots of nicely restored historic houses there. Matthew Lyon once lived there in the 1700's, in fact.

Weston is another nice small town.

But VT is full of small towns...so these are just some off the top of my head...

[OhBeeHave]

Weston is a nice small town, but sometimes it gets packed with tourists due to the VT Country Store and other events taking place at the Playhouse.

I'm partial to Chester (where I'm out of) but taxes can be hit or miss here, too. I can't speak for the schools.

[arctichomesteader]

Yeah, I imagine that could be an issue in Weston, but I'd use the chance to make some money...

I wish I could have met Vrest Orton (who started that store). Reminds me of myself, reading his writings, his secession movement in the 1920's...

Taxes everywhere in VT are hit or miss I think. Overall the NEK where I'm from isn't too bad, but there's some towns that are very high-tax towns scattered around...

The taxes here in central VT are worse than the NEK. I know several people paying $5,000 or thereabouts on taxes on small homes...half the reason is inflated property prices in some popular spots...