[Nelly Nomad]

Greetings, folks! This is my first post on City-Data. What a great community! Given how many times we've moved in the past 20 years, I'm surprised I've never been here before! I'm glad I found you.

We are considering a move to Vermont this summer, so I've been browsing the Vermont forums rather intently over the past several weeks. We have settled on the northern portion of the state, near or around Burlington.

I have a million questions, many of which have been answered already on these forums, so I'll try not to repeat . Two that I haven't really seen yet are as follows:

1) How are the bees and wasps in northern Vermont? Here in Wisconsin, they are super-aggressive. We've lived in several states over these last 20 years and the Wisconsin bees are absolutely the worst I've ever seen. Way too many and far too aggressive (they WILL chase you). I'm actually reluctant to spend much time outside here in Wisconsin because the bees are absolutely wicked and I'm somewhat allergic . That's a shame, since I like to golf. Are there a lot of bees/wasps in Vermont and are they aggressive?

2) I see that there is no flight from Burlington to Boston . Matter of fact, it seems getting to Boston is rather difficult. It's either a 3-4 hour drive or taking a flight to NYC and then back up to Boston. Amtrak, from what I can see, seems to take 8 hours . Since we need to be able to get to the Boston area often, is getting there going to be a source of frustration? Does anyone know if there are any plans to add a flight to/from Boston?

Thanks in advance for any help or answers you can provide!

[mustmove]

Few bees and I haven't seen any aggressive ones. Burlington to Boston ain't great. But Boston is easy from the south east on up through the upper valley. Usual disclaimer - VT is expensive and job oppertunities and pay are lacking.

[vter]

Burlington to Boston is 3.5 hours drive, no traffic. Everyone here just drives it-I do it often myself. You could take a bus, but that takes forever. There was flight service to Boston via Delta up until about a year ago, but it was ridiculously expensive.
Bees? They're around, but don't bother me.

[Nelly Nomad]

Good news about the bees, thank you! It'll be nice to be able to spend time outside again.

Too bad about getting to Boston, however. Travelling for 3-4 hours isn't so bad if you can snooze or read during the trip. Snoozing or reading while driving, however... not so good. Especially not on the part of the highway that threads its way up though the mountains!

Oh well, thanks for the answers!

[vter]

It's a really easy drive, but can get a bit dicey in the winter due to the various elevation changes between Burlington and Concord, NH.

[sugarmama!]

you can always drive to rutland and catch the 45 minute flight to boston. we have done that a few times....very easy and quick. the pilots know the fliers..they're frequent business travelers...and often chat each other up.

[NYLIER]

As for bees and wasps, I think it depends if you are in the city or outskirts of it. I live about an 1 1/2 hours south of Burlington and we have a lot of wasps. They can be a little bit more agressive in the Fall. They are pretty healthy looking (HUGE!!). I wouldn't make that a reason not to move here. They aren't that bad.
I know there is a flight out of Rutland airport to Boston. It was $100.00 last year. Could be more now. You could try Plattsburgh airport. They may have a flight. I would say it takes at least 4 hours to get to Boston.

[Nelly Nomad]

I just looked up Amtrak. I can get a train from Burlington to Springfield (MA) then, I suppose, rent a car for the Springfield to Boston leg of the trip. The sad thing is, the Burlington to Springfield leg of the trip via Amtrak is over 5-1/2 hours!

Driving to Rutland is a possibility, but that seems to only cover maybe 1/3 of the trip. And when I get to Boston, I'd still have to rent a car.

Looks more and more like driving the full route is the best alternative.

[picante]

Hi Nelly,

Like others have said, its a pretty easy drive and probably less hassle when all is said and done at the airports.

Regarding cost of living, like anything its effected by supply and demand. If folks really found it too expensive they'd move somewhere else. They're willing to pay a premium to live in one of the best places in the country.

According to the 2008 study put out by the vt housing conservation board, the medium price for a home in VT is $201,000, up 2% from last year.

Bees aren't a problem, but in certain areas on certain weeks, black flies might carry you away.

[chrismpv]

DONT TAKE THE TRAIN!!! By the time you get to Springfield, MA by train you would have reached Boston by car or bus. There are a lot of bus from Burlington to Boston (greyhound) or Darmouth express from the White River Junction area. BUS is the way to go if you don't want to drive.