Retirement research Vermont - Burlington in particular

[KaizenSoze]

My wife and I are scouting out places to retire. On the list is State College, PA, Blacksburg, VA, basically we are looking for college towns.

Has anyone retired to Vermont? Especially Burlington.

Pros:
Very pretty
Lots of outdoor activities
Politics, yes we are liberals

Cons:
Real winters. I grew up in the south, my wife is from India.
COL. One of the more expensive states. Though we do believe in paying for good government-services

[Manguy888]

I don't have any retirement specific info, but I have cousins in Burlington that I visit a lot and it's a lovely place.

Pros for retirement:
  - It's very dense in the center. Once you're in Burlington you can walk anywhere you want to go
  - Great bus system. My cousin bought an inexpensive house in south Burlington a few miles out of the city but it's very easy to take a bus downtown
  - reasonably friendly to bikes.
  - Lots of free outdoor activities. Every time we visit we go on hikes up mountains, swim in creeks, tour big farms, etc.
  - People seem very friendly and community oriented in my limited experience

Cons: It's frightfully cold in the winter, which could = big heating bills. I live in RI, not a warm place, and even I find it freezing there

Again I don't know the economics of it or whether it's good from a tax perspective, but I love Burlington. Hope my two cents are helpful.

[aetherie]

I grew up in central VT and lived in Burlington for my four years of college. Loved it. While I obviously can't speak to the logistics of retiring there, I can say that it was a great place to live at age 18-22 and I wouldn't hesitate to move back if circumstances allowed.

Things I would add to your list:

Pros:
excellent public transportation (bus system)
great sense of community involvement - not just political involvement but also things like neighborhood clean-up days and potlucks
you get all the pros of living in a (small) city while still being close to lots of wilderness, farmland, and mountains
not to mention Lake Champlain is right there, and there's a fantastic bike path along the waterfront
Montreal is an easy 2-hour drive away

Cons:
depending on where in Burlington you live, your neighbors could be noisy college students - just do your research first

If you have specific questions, please ask!

[KaizenSoze]

Sounds lovely. Very worried about the winters. I know there's the phrase, there is no bad weather, only bad clothing.

Are you mostly house bound during the winter?

[aetherie]

The winters are cold, yes, but there's no reason to be housebound - invest in some seriously warm clothing and go about your business. Burlington Public Works is good about clearing the roads and sidewalks whenever it snows. Many people in Vermont would say winter is their favorite season, because of the skiing!