[arctichomesteader]

Originally Posted by Alaskapat528

I had never heard that one so I googled it; wow, very, very strange and creepy. Hmmm..maybe there is a door there where one crosses over into another time era. Have you ever been near that area arctic?

About 10 years ago I worked with a woman who was moving to Bennington; I think her husband was from there. Last I heard from her some years ago she really liked the town.

Yeah I've been all over the Glastenbury wilderness area, hunting and trapping. Even before I heard about this stuff I got some very strange feelings, like something was constantly watching me...pretty strange feeling. I've gotten that feeling many times elsewhere when an animal (the potentially dangerous sort like bears, coyotes, moose, etc.) or person is nearby in the woods, but never constantly, non-stop that way...you can't pay me to spend the night camping there either. Even the Natives avoided the place before Whites came.

The town itself isn't too bad for towns/cities of that size, but I'm not a city person...

[Wingfoot]

As someone who lived there, I'd say its too close to NYS Capitol area to really have ever developed much personalty of its own, some posh areas as some rich folks will pay thru the nose for a VT address.

But much of it is rather scruffy with nevertheless high real estate prices. A high cost, low wage area ,the most unfriendly, snobbish, place I've ever lived, and I've lived from coast to coast.

[Sherylcatmom]

Originally Posted by Wingfoot

But much of it is rather scruffy with nevertheless high real estate prices. A high cost, low wage area ,the most unfriendly, snobbish, place I've ever lived, and I've lived from coast to coast.

Interesting. My experience has been different but I haven't lived in Bennington. For work, I spent quite a bit of time there in 2008 & 2009. I worked with the college, four faith communities, and in a few neighborhoods. The people were as wonderful as everywhere else in Vermont: Welcoming, kind, and friendly.

It was such a lovely experience that my husband and I reviewed real estate prices just for the heck of it (we're not moving anytime soon but were curious). Housing prices were lower than almost anywhere else we've looked in Vermont.

[Wingfoot]

Originally Posted by Sherylcatmom

Interesting. My experience has been different but I haven't lived in Bennington. For work, I spent quite a bit of time there in 2008 & 2009. I worked with the college, four faith communities, and in a few neighborhoods. The people were as wonderful as everywhere else in Vermont: Welcoming, kind, and friendly.

It was such a lovely experience that my husband and I reviewed real estate prices just for the heck of it (we're not moving anytime soon but were curious). Housing prices were lower than almost anywhere else we've looked in Vermont.

And twice as high as New York towns 10 miles away that are more like what Vermont was in my youth in the 40's than any place in VT is today !

[lz1982]

My brother went to Bennington College and was involved with some social work there. He was surprised to find that the town had a fairly high child poverty rate (23%, I think) and some drug problems as well. I always found the town charming to visit, but it may be one of those "quaint" places with issues underneath the surface.

[Egyptianprincess]

Vermont is beautiful. The people are incredibly open-minded and nice. I loved Bennington. I lived about 45 mins from there near Brattleboro.

I don't know if you guys that live there have heard about it but I had a friend who grew up there and said that there is a big foot legend there for about the last 20 years. (This was in 2004-2006 when i lived there). I little interesting fact I thought I'd share.

There was a lot of artsy type stuff in the city and the architecture seems to be older and very quaint like many places in Vermont like Wilmington, VT.

[arctichomesteader]

Originally Posted by Egyptianprincess

Vermont is beautiful. The people are incredibly open-minded and nice. I loved Bennington. I lived about 45 mins from there near Brattleboro.

I don't know if you guys that live there have heard about it but I had a friend who grew up there and said that there is a big foot legend there for about the last 20 years. (This was in 2004-2006 when i lived there). I little interesting fact I thought I'd share.

There was a lot of artsy type stuff in the city and the architecture seems to be older and very quaint like many places in Vermont like Wilmington, VT.

Older than 20 years. Supposedly a stagecoach in the late 1800's was attacked and knocked over by it during a storm that washed the road out and stranded them. The early White settlers went out in hunting parties after it and sometimes got shots at it but never got it, whatever it was they were seeing (an ancestor of mine was in one of the groups). The Natives had seen it before that.

[Niandra]

Originally Posted by lz1982

My brother went to Bennington College and was involved with some social work there. He was surprised to find that the town had a fairly high child poverty rate (23%, I think) and some drug problems as well. I always found the town charming to visit, but it may be one of those "quaint" places with issues underneath the surface.

I go there! The college is its own insular community and there's not much interaction between the town and students. I don't want to knock the town but it seems to be struggling. The town has a really high teen pregnancy rate and HS dropout rate. There's not much work or opportunity for advancement it seems from the locals I've spoken to. Rather...depressing. I would hardly describe it as "snobbish" though. Not in the least. That just seems like the rest of New England...generally not very friendly.

There are some nice, affordable restaurants. North Bennington is a great place to walk around (there's not much to do though) to get exercise during the warmer months. I go to Hannaford's and Price Chopper for grocery shopping. There's also Spice 'n' Nice for specialty foods.

Nearby towns are nice to visit. Brattleboro is nice for a day trip and feels much more like a college town than Bennington does. Manchester is very "yuppie"-ish, lots of Manhattan people on vacation I guess? There's a ski resort and outlets and the independent Northshire Bookstore, which merits a visit. The Williams College museum has an interesting (albeit small) collection. It's not too far from Albany if you really want to go to a mall or catch a bus to Montreal or New York. I don't think I'd recommend commuting, especially in the winter months. I prefer to make a day trip to Northampton and Amherst to shop though. It's also about 3 1/2 hours from Montreal and 3 hours from Boston.

There's not really much in the way of gainful employment outside of low wage automotive and manufacturing jobs. A friend of mine moved to town while his girlfriend was finishing college and could only find work at the battery factory. It's sad, but I don't think I'll miss it too much after graduation.

[toy-cop1965]

Im an NYC-er who got to live in Troy Ny for a year while studying in 2001/02...i really loved it cos the highlight of my week every sunday was my foliage tour. From Troy, route 7 to Benington, then south to Williamstown, Mass, then directly back to Troy through the mountains. I did it every week and can safely say i never got tired of it. I used to regularly joke that that the best thing about Troy was the road to Benington...as for Benington itself, i cant speak with any authority. There was a Friendly's, and i used to fill up with (comparitively) cheap gas opposite. Its worth mentioning Williamstown Mass and worth visiting too. Its a university town with huge stone buildings with enormous, sweeping grounds. I believe the actor, Christopher Reed, got his start there. If you're looking for a place to stay there's a family run motel run by a swedish couple, who used to work for a scandinavian cruise line. One of the locals sent us there after we asked someone at random...they offer free coffee and muffins for breakfast. The owner scarfs them down like they're going out of fashion, so better bring them back to your room...

[LowboyTZ]

[quote]

Originally Posted by Flashback

Someone told me that Bennington has the worlds smallest Walmart. True????

They have the world's smallest EVERYTHING in Bennington. Mini-Walmart, Home Depot "Light", even the dollar stores have stuff for 50 cents....