[Sherylcatmom]

Originally Posted by TiredofMiami

I just used Rutland i guess as a refrence point to what major city in Vt i would like to be near.

Thanks for clarifying. :-) Rutland is a city, but calling it "major" might be stretching it. To my mind, Burlington (in Chittenden County) is the city as far as Vermont is concerned.

Rutland City (in Rutland County) has people funneling in from surrounding towns for services and shopping. We usually don't need to leave Rutland to do/get whatever we need. But there's still waaaayyyy more (of everything) in the Burlington/Chittenden County area.

[TiredofMiami]

Thanks for the tip on ACT 250. Read up on it and i can see what you mean. No im not planning on building anything of sort like that, but i would like to maybe buy a little mom and pop store, or a little cafe, nothing big that's gonna require me to be a slave to it like i am down here. I wanna be able to focus on my family, having a simple life. Like i had posted before, im not trying to be the flatlander that comes in thinks he can change things.. i just want to live peacefully and get along with everyone as much as possible.

[NYLIER]

Chittenden is a nice area outside of the Rutland City. Shrewsbury and Proctor are worth looking into. Wallingford isn't bad either.

[TiredofMiami]

Are there any internet cafes up around that area. Just a curiosity a place where one can go sit down grab a bite to eat, have some fresh coffe, get online, maybe a pool table, some tvs to watch the games, nothing big or rowdy

[Sherylcatmom]

Originally Posted by TiredofMiami

Are there any internet cafes up around that area. Just a curiosity a place where one can go sit down grab a bite to eat, have some fresh coffe, get online, maybe a pool table, some tvs to watch the games, nothing big or rowdy

In Burlington, yes. Folks here who spend more time in that area than I do can offer suggestions.

In Rutland, several places have free WiFi. My favorite for food, coffee, juice bar, & WiFi is the Back Home Again Cafe.

Pool table? I think that would be the bars. TVs with sports? Again, bars, sports bars. and some of the chain restaurants, I'd guess.

[TiredofMiami]

Looked at the Back Home Again website and definitely putting it on my places to visit when i come up. Its very hard to find places like that that down here.

[Sherylcatmom]

Originally Posted by TiredofMiami

Looked at the Back Home Again website and definitely putting it on my places to visit when i come up. Its very hard to find places like that that down here.

It's hard to find a place like that anywhere! Not too many towns have a communal cult running a restaurant/store/hostel. I think they also have cafes in Ithaca, NY and somewhere near Boston. My husband and I are at that cafe so much that they know us well. It's a very homey place indeed and the food is always good. And what a coffee/juice bar!

Remember, though, Back Home Again in downtown Rutland. That's 90 minutes from downtown Burlington. (Or two solid hours, if you hit traffic and get stopped at 3 constructions sites on Route 7, as I did on my way to a meeting there last week.)

[mustmove]

Originally Posted by TiredofMiami

Thanks for the tip on ACT 250. Read up on it and i can see what you mean. No im not planning on building anything of sort like that, but i would like to maybe buy a little mom and pop store, or a little cafe, nothing big that's gonna require me to be a slave to it like i am down here. I wanna be able to focus on my family, having a simple life. Like i had posted before, im not trying to be the flatlander that comes in thinks he can change things.. i just want to live peacefully and get along with everyone as much as possible.

It would be good for VT if someone could build something big and successful. Beware the small stores there was a 'historic' general store in I think Shrewsbury. Been out of business for awhile. Anyway some historical society was given the building restored it and an adjacent house with nonprofit $$$(probably tax $ but I don't know) couple of hundred thousand and they were looking for someone to take ownership and run it as a store. For free. Whoever got it(might be still available) got to live there and run a store and keep the profits. They were having a hard time finding someone. Maybe just lazy VTers or maybe everyone has been there and done that or seen it close enough. Most places don't seem to have the critical mass to support coffee shops there are some but I don't think it is easy. Strange thing too is coffee shops often charge for wifi access which seems to be a country thing. Heck I went into a bar one night and was charged a cover because there was entertainment that night. The entertainment was karoake. That's the country for ya.

[TiredofMiami]

Is the economy that bad that government is giving buildings for free? Maybe they're charging to make up for the loss of revenue due to the way the economy is at the moment. Don't get me wrong i don't think its right but then again one doesn't know the financial situation of the establishments. Or was the cafe a "internet cafe"?

[Sherylcatmom]

Originally Posted by mustmove

Anyway some historical society was given the building restored it and an adjacent house with nonprofit $$$(probably tax $ but I don't know) couple of hundred thousand and they were looking for someone to take ownership and run it as a store. For free. Whoever got it(might be still available) got to live there and run a store and keep the profits. They were having a hard time finding someone.

Shrewsbury is pretty remote even from Rutland. Here's the article about the general store available free. It's from February so I don't know if the offer is still around. The Preservation Trust of Vermont had "custody" of the property and they were the ones making the offer.