Moving to Burlington (around North Avenue & Main Street area) (Waterbury: sublet, apartments)

[AndWhat]

Hey all,
I may be moving to Burlington very soon working in the public school system there.

Anyone know a great place to live? My rent budget is about $900 and less.

Anything I should know about Burlington?

What's your favorite thing about Burlington?

What's your least favorite thing about Burlington?

Great restaurants and food in Burlington?

Thanks for your help!

[Vermonr]

900 is a good budget, especially since the North End is more affordable. Make sure you visit the apartments you're viewing in person to make sure that they are structurally sound and don't have mold/rodents/other unsightly issues. The North End can be a little rough around the edges, be careful being out alone at night.

Where are you moving from? I'll save you the whole speech about being prepared for cold weather and less sunlight than other places in the nation. My favorite things about Burlington would have to be the beautiful bike trails, community involvement, friendly people, shopping, walkable design, and proximity to other places of interest in VT. I highly recommend Magnolias for brunch, they're great!

My least favorite things about Burlington would be the loud college atmosphere, cost of living, job availability, bold homeless population, and rush hour traffic (which is surprisingly bad).

[68vette]

$900 is not much money for the Burlington area. As a start check out this site for an example of what is out there for the money. Burlington, VT Apartments and Houses for Rent, Local Apartment and Home Rentals, House, Townhome, and Condo Rentals, Vacation Rentals, Roommate and Sublet Classifieds :: If you don't mind having a roommate, that will be plenty for rent and utilities. Many people including professionals rent/own 30-45 minutes outside of Burlington and commute. Chittenden County is crazy expensive. If you feel you need to be in Burlington, you need to find a way to increase your budget.
You can check out the cheap places, if you can still find one (college kids suck up most of the affordable stock), but they tend to be real dumps. They are priced that way for a reason. Some of the more expensive places can be dumps.

[Vermonr]

I do agree that the housing market is tight, but with some searching, especially in the North End, you can find affordable one-person rent for 900. I'm not in the North End, but I'm paying 710 for my single, which is in great condition and quite large for Burlington. I also looked at places in the 600 range when I was searching. The only downside to my place is that I am in a very college-y area, but I'm only a five minute walk to Church Street which is what I wanted.

Rent is considerably cheaper in the North End and there is less competition from college kids. There are a couple issues I take with the North End though, mainly that people tend to be rougher up there and there's a greater likelihood that apartments will be run down than in some other areas. While I've never done the apartment search in that particular area, I'm fairly confident that with some searching the OP will find a single for that price range.

[AndWhat]

Originally Posted by 68vette

Many people including professionals rent/own 30-45 minutes outside of Burlington and commute. Chittenden County is crazy expensive. If you feel you need to be in Burlington, you need to find a way to increase your budget.

I'd like to know more about the places 30-45 minutes away.

Originally Posted by Vermonr

Where are you moving from? I'll save you the whole speech about being prepared for cold weather and less sunlight than other places in the nation. My favorite things about Burlington would have to be the beautiful bike trails, community involvement, friendly people, shopping, walkable design, and proximity to other places of interest in VT. I highly recommend Magnolias for brunch, they're great!

I'm from Florida, but originally a NYCer. I know cold, but I don't know if I know THAT cold, besides having been to Quebec.

[68vette]

I think anyone who finds a place that is decent for under $900 is lucky. One of my stepsons and his girlfriend have been looking for about a month and there is not much out there in that range. One word of caution, they had someone who claimed he and his wife were missionaries. They were looking for a price of $700/month. They had pictures and met them at the apartment. Some of it seemed a little fishy. What made them think twice about the deal was mailing the deposit to a PO box. Later in that afternoon, they stopped by when they noticed people at the apartment. A woman was living there and did not know of this couple. Be careful, there are scam artists everywhere.
Many people I work with at the hospital travel from the St Albans area and locations in between or around Waterbury and in between. Many of these areas are not as affordable as they once were, but they are more affordable than Burlington.

[Sherylcatmom]

Two people I know could have been victims of this kind of scam in Burlington if they'd not been paying attention. Both found the ads for (nonexistent) rentals on Craigslist. Craigslist can be a great place to find housing, but I agree to proceed with caution and check potential landlords as carefully as they'll check you.

Originally Posted by 68vette

One word of caution, they had someone who claimed he and his wife were missionaries. They were looking for a price of $700/month. They had pictures and met them at the apartment. Some of it seemed a little fishy. What made them think twice about the deal was mailing the deposit to a PO box. Later in that afternoon, they stopped by when they noticed people at the apartment. A woman was living there and did not know of this couple. Be careful, there are scam artists everywhere.