[iamhadley]

We would like to relocate our family from Las Vegas to beautiful vermont. We have never been there but have looked at pictures and maps. We like Bennington, brattleboro and burlington. Woodstock also looks great. We need some help and opinions. We have teenagers so good highschools and social scene is important. We would like a beautiful quaint town with nice people and personality. We work on line so work is not a factor. Thank you in advance for your thoughts!

[quickdraw]

Originally Posted by iamhadley

We would like to relocate our family from Las Vegas to beautiful vermont. We have never been there but have looked at pictures and maps. We like Bennington, brattleboro and burlington. Woodstock also looks great. We need some help and opinions. We have teenagers so good highschools and social scene is important. We would like a beautiful quaint town with nice people and personality. We work on line so work is not a factor. Thank you in advance for your thoughts!

How about Montpelier? It's pretty quaint.They have a very good rated high school. As a matter of fact they were rated in the top 5 in the country for a few days until a scoring error was found. Middlebury is quaint too, I imagine the schools must be decent since the offspring of Middlebury College professors attend them. Burlington is a very cool artsy little city but there are no quaint towns in the area. Brattleboro is cool in a funky way. Quaint? Not sure. Can't speak for Bennington. Woodstock quaint for sure but don't know about their schools.

[vter]

Is it possible to come an visit to see what towns you would feel comfortable in? There is no way of knowing unless you visit. Quickdraw gave you a good rundown. Bennington is nice town - not overly quint. Kinda "normal". Woodstock is EXTREMELY quaint-it's a tourist town.
Come and visit if you can!

[flu189]

If work is not a factor and your income is sufficient my suggestion would be to come visit and spend a few weeks in each locale as many folks don't have the option for such opportunity. All the places mentioned have positive and negative attributes depending on personal situations. If time is not an issue it might very well be advisable to schedule trips here other than when the weather is nice and comfy. You will not escape the wrath of winter and mud season along with other potential irritants any where in Vermont, but by spending some time visiting you may find certain places to be a better fit for those times of the year.

[iamhadley]

Thank you all! good advice. I really would like to narrow it down to a few good places to visit. If we have a good idea before we get there, it will make things much simpler with the kids. I hadn't thought about montpelier, will research further. My hiusband likes to fish, do these places come lakes and streams. Some people on the forun have scared me with the haarsh winters, and unfriendly people. How about humidity in the summer?

[flu189]

Vermont weather runs through the entire spectrum. Yes, there is quite a bit of humid weather, but on the other hand we seldom get the extreme muggy 90 degree plus days. This year has been pretty wet, it is raining right now and feels like it has been for the last month and a half. Again, if you have doubts about climate, especially colder weather, then visit first and try to spend some time here during the season which concerns you the most. Despite what many consider a pretty mediocre summer thus far, we actually have had pretty good temps, being that we have hardly had any heating degree days compared to the normal average and we also are below average for cooling degree days.

[Alt Dach]

Bennington has a working class "feel" to it -Brattleboro a 70's hippy kind of feel
and Burlington a more upscale and more expensive area.
Bennington schools aren't much,Burlingtons are better-dont know about Brattleboro.

[iamhadley]

bennington and brattleboro are sounding less desirable....we have considered woodstock but the population really isn't there. Can someone suggest a place that is safe, quaint, and not as big as burlington but larger than woodstock. What about St. Johnsbury?

[skytrekker]

Middlebury is a great choice-

Brattleboro is actually an interesting town- I would not call it 70s hippie- but more bohemian- with a fair amount of sophistication. The arts are well represented, with several museums and theater groups, and there are some excellent restaurants, coffee cafes , wine & martini bars, breweries etc- the shopping is not too shabby with one of the best Food co-ops in the northeast.

The Main street is very pleasant-The mountains rise up dramatically around the town-giving it quite an interesting otherworldly look- plus access to the Pioneer Valley in Massachusetts is not far away.

[Alt Dach]

IMHO St. johnsbury is the most "real town' in VT -less touristy and MUCH less expensive than Woodstock or Middlebury which are more gentrified.
Depends on how much money u have-Middlebury is nice but expensive.
Woodstock area was once(still?) owned by the Rockerfellers if that gives u a clue.