[Vt Newbie]

Does anyone have an opinion on Stowe as a place to raise a family?
I know it is expensive but we have been looking in the area south and east towards Montpelier and have ignored Stowe as a possibility. Should we even spend time looking for a home there?

[vter]

Stowe is a nice town but VERY expensive. It's also home to a transient population - LOTS of second homeonewners. You'd deal with lots of tourist traffic there as well.
That said, I like Stowe. I have not heard anything bad about about the schools.
Where would you be working? The commute should be taken into account.

[tkln]

Ditto everything that vter said...it'll take you about 15 minutes to get to 89, and that's in no traffic. Weekends during tourist season (um, winter, summer, fall) it'll take longer...if you live off Mountain Road and get stuck in the ski crawl (coming/going from the mountain) it's miserable. 100 is maintained fairly well in the winter, especially since there are so many cars driving on it.

Stowe schools are supposed to be very good, at least from what I've read/heard.

The other major thing to take into consideration are the taxes in Stowe...they are very high.

[GrnMtnFire]

Check out Waterbury...

[vter]

Stowe's property tax rate is actually LOWER than in my town. The difference? Stowe has extermely high property values - thats why taxes are so high. I'd bet if my house was in Stowe it would be worth double what it is where I live.
Northern VT tax rates-These #s are from 2006: http://www.vermontrealestatetoday.co...vetaxrates.pdf

[tkln]

Yeah, that is definitely true...all I know is, the number goes up every year and it ain't pretty!

I think the resort towns in general get charged more for the education portion of property taxes - since the values are so high they help fund smaller towns, or something like that?? I can't remember...was that Act 68??

[MRVphotog]

The amount of money Stowe spends per student is one of the highest amounts in the state. That combined with the high real estate values is what makes Stowe a "sending town" meaning very high property tax rate on the local part of the property tax. Everyone pays the same tax rate on the state part.

If you earn less than $90,000(I think) than you get a Homestead rebate which can cut your taxes in half. Just got my Homestead Rebate notice last week. Property taxes are just around the corner.

Families do live in resort towns like Stowe, I grew up in a resort town about an hour from Stowe. It's a unique experience. Lots more contact with tourists than your typical place. The crowds in the winter and the summer can drive ya crazy. Alot of familes who work in Stowe live in either Morrisville or Waterbury.

[Vt Newbie]

Thanks to all for your input. We are spending the next 4 days in Stowe to look at houses and trying to get a feel for the area. We are looking from Stowe down to Moretown and over to Middlesex for a home. We want to stay within 40 min to Burlington and 30 min to CVMC if we can.
Does anyone have a favorite restaurant in Stowe? What about breakfast place? What are some places to stay away from?

[Adream]

Originally Posted by Vt Newbie

Thanks to all for your input. We are spending the next 4 days in Stowe to look at houses and trying to get a feel for the area. We are looking from Stowe down to Moretown and over to Middlesex for a home. We want to stay within 40 min to Burlington and 30 min to CVMC if we can.
Does anyone have a favorite restaurant in Stowe? What about breakfast place? What are some places to stay away from?

I don't know if I'm answering this in time for your trip, but here's my .02 anyway.

We have a second home in Stowe which we've owned since 2002. It'll be our 'home base' after our youngest heads off to college next year. We've come to know quite a few people in the area, as well as just chatting here and there - the one thing I consistently hear is that they are very happy with the schools and the sports programs available. There is definitely sticker-shock when looking at Stowe's real estate values and taxes, but ultimately, if you love Stowe you pay the piper. (Which is what we're doing for the forseeable future. Good thing our place is little.)

Just one ~ of our many ~ favorite restaurants is in the "Whip Bar and Grill" in the Green Mountain Inn. We love to order their turkey dinner (all the fixin's just like Thanksgiving) even in the summer!
A really fun place is the *Malt Shop, down the side street behind Green Mtn. Inn. Just like a 1950's malt shop! Adorable!
Also good is *Pie-In-The-Sky (pizza, entrees, soup, salad) and Pie-casso (similar menu, different atmosphere).
A fun place for dinner and a great selection of beer is Mr. Pickwick's Pub right across the street from Pie-In-The-Sky.
We LOVE *HANA, it's a Japanese hibatchi restaurant. So good.
HobKnob has excellent steaks, among other things.
Also good: *Gracie's, Norma's (at Topnotch, excellent but pricey), Harrison's. I hear the Thai restaurant "Red Basil" is good but not great, I haven't been able to go there myself yet.
For fantastic southwestern food, I HIGHLY recommend *The Cactus Cafe. Delicious smoked & grilled ribs!

Cactus Cafe- Stowe, Vermont- menu (http://www.cactuscafestowe.com/menu.htm - broken link)

Just drive up and down Mountain Road and you'll see these places and more.

The Foxfire is very nice, excellent Italian food. It's outside of Stowe center, on the way to Morrisville.

Many excellent breakfast choices can be found in Stowe, *The Dutch Pancake is a popular choice. You will not leave hungry! We like the little restaurant found at the *Golden Eagle resort on Mountain Road. McCarthy's is near the movie theater and where the locals go.

Okay...now I'm hungry.

There are only a couple of places I'm not crazy about. Lots of people like Trattoria La Festa - an Italian restaurant past Topnotch. I think it's just okay, and not as clean as I'd prefer. Great atmosphere though! We used to like The Shed, but DH and DS ate there while on a guys-only ski trip and they said it was not as good as in the past. Tried to eat at Olive's Bistro. We were seated and sat there, ignored, for 15 minutes. Not even a glass of water or a menu. We left, so I don't know how the food is. Maybe we were there on an "off" night...?

Here's a website that's a great resource for resorts, dining, etc.:
Dining in Stowe Vermont - Enjoy Over 45 Award Winning Restaraunts

Anyway, you can see that there are lots of choices, and 99.9% of them good ones! Have a wonderful trip and best of luck house-hunting!

(*Easy to take the kids)

[Vt Newbie]

Thanks Adream.
We did go this past wknd and ate at some of the places you mentioned and agree with you. We are planning more trips in the near future and if things work out we will be there perm come October.