[ShyloVT]

Does anyone have any experience to contradict the title of this thread? I love visiting Montpelier and it seems so great, but I know life anywhere gets real, so please, hit me with some reality!

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by ShyloVT

Does anyone have any experience to contradict the title of this thread? I love visiting Montpelier and it seems so great, but I know life anywhere gets real, so please, hit me with some reality!

It is a very small town with a limited number of jobs outside of healthcare, governments, schools, etc. Both Montpelier and Barre have some decent, rundown, and nice areas. Great spot for outdoor recreation with easy access to mountains and trails with Burlington down the road. Oh, having a job lined up is very important as COL and housing costs are high.

[harry chickpea]

Cold, dark in winter because of the valley, no parking. The lack of buildable land near the Winooski makes it a very claustrophobic town. (Sorry, even though it is called a city, a three block downtown does not constitute a city.)

[AmILost]

I loved living in Montpelier.

Traffic can seem like a bit of a free-for-all, but it's all relative.

Yeah, winter is cold, dark, and snowy; spring is dirty. It's like that everywhere up here though.

Housing is particularly expensive in Montpelier with property taxes higher than most other towns in VT. And it can be very hard to find a suitable place for rent at a fair price.

So why did I love living there? I liked having everything I needed within walking distance but still having that small town atmosphere. Decent restaurants, bars, and shops. You start to see a lot of the same faces around town and always run into someone you know when you go out. Cool architecture and unique culture. Surrounded by nature and plenty of outdoor activities to do.

[ShyloVT]

I never even thought about how dark it must get in the winter being in the shade of the hills.
I am in central NY state, so I know about snow and cold. I was there in the fall and the kids playing board games in the bookstore as well as the safe feeling being in a state capital city really impressed me. The architecture is awesome too. Sitting for lunch at the New England Culinary Institute out on the patio really hooked me on the place. That said, I am trying to picture how it would feel to reside there and how it would lose its novelty. I suppose anyplace can get real when you live there.

[naadarien]

Yeah, that rush hour traffic through downtown is the pure essence of evil. I'd sell my first born to avoid it. :-)

Beyond that, nope. It is a pretty neat place.

[Stargazy]

We moved to Montpelier in 1994. Since then, especially in the last 5 years, many businesses have closed. Montpelier has lost 2 drugstores, a hardware store, a grocery store, a bookstore, a news and magazine store, 3-4 clothing stores, a leather goods store, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some others. Just last week it was announced that a long-time sports store and its sister store (an upscale clothing/shoe store) would be closing soon. When we retired here we thought Montpelier had everything we needed, but that's no longer true (at least from the shopping perspective).

[squarpeg]

Stargazy you don't need a town anymore, that is what amazon is for. Start thinking what you will be doing with all the empty storefronts.

[jackmccullough]

OP, you're right. I moved here in 1983 and I still love the place.

Things have changed since I moved here. You can now hear live music every night of the week, there are wider options for dining and clothing, multiple bookstores, live professional theater, and a real sense of community. It's a great place to raise and educate your kids, and I can tell you that my 30-year-old son can't wait to move back.

I just got back from a kickoff party for our next (I hope) mayor, who is just 36, and the age range was probably twenty to eighty.

The cautions about employment and the cost of living are real. It's not Disneyland, it's real life. Still, if you're looking and you can find employment I maintain that it's the best place to live in all of Vermont.

[cgregor]

Nevah be as good as Springfield, if you ask me!