Any tips on living in/near Brattleboro VT?

[tiny]

Hi all,

The ink isn't on the contract yet, but it seems likely I'm going to moving to the Brattleboro area late this summer. Any tips on living in the area?

My experience of Brattleboro is largely limited to an afternoon or two spent there and of course the little bit of that area of VT that D2R2 runs through (I am planning on going up for the TdH in June).

Being within 20 minutes of the People's Pint has to be a good thing, right?

[echelon_john]

Brattleboro is...interesting. I've spent a fair amount of time there, since it's on the way from where we live (Southwest VT) to Boston/Cambridge, where many of my clients are.

The town itself, as you probably know, is a typical New England mill town that has seen both better and worse days. There are a couple of surprisingly good restaurants, a great pub (McNeils), and some nice locally-owned businesses. There's definitely a local art/music scene, and a great food co-op.

That said, there's a semi-seedy side to Brattleboro, with a fair amount of drug problems, some homelessness, etc. Not anything out of the ordinary, but what I'd consider 'bigger town' issues, right out front and center.

I can't say how it would be living right in town, other than to say that I don't think there's THAT much nightlife/things to do after business hours. That said, depending what you're looking for, there are lots of nice places to live within a +/-20 minute drive of Brattleboro that would be conducive to cycling, have lots of privacy (be really rural, in fact) and preferable to living in the town itself IMO.

Give us some more to go on as far as what you're looking for and I can give you more specifics. Or PM if you like.

Cheers,
JC

PS Check out Putney for sure. Rich cycling history, nice community, beautiful.

[daker13]

I see you're from New England so apologies if I'm pointing out the obvious, but Brattleboro is also pretty close to Amherst/Northampton… bigger towns with great music, food, people, and cultural and intellectual stuff going on, if that's your bag.

[MattTuck]

I remember hearing something a while back about nudity or toplessness being allowed in Brattleboro. Not sure if that is the case still, or matters to you... but it's all I've got.

[sg8357]

From the VT DMV, website.

Permissible vehicles in VT for residents are limited to Pickup trucks
and Subarus, you have 1 year to comply.

[echelon_john]

You might also find that it's favorable to live on the NH side of the river, depending if you're planning to rent or buy a home, since NH doesn't collect personal income tax. All the towns north of Keene offer great access to riding, and there are some nice communities, too, like Westmoreland and Walpole.

I have a good friend who lives just outside Keene (Swanzey) who's also a cyclist, if you want inside info on that area...

Family/No family? Kids/schools a concern? Do you want to live among other people or in the middle of nowhere? How close do you need to be to B-Boro/what kind of commute can you tolerate?

[tiny]

Ha... I'll be sure to let my wife know.

Oddly enough our gut feeling was that Putney would be a top choice in terms of a place to live (she also liked Newfane, we figured we'll probably look in Dummerston and... Guilford? Just for perspective).

I definitely noticed some homeless folks, etc, when we were last in Brattleboro (mostly what I noticed was that for all of the work they went through to make the main drag look nice there are no streetlamps lighting the sidewalks so they end up semi-lit by car traffic which doesn't do much to pretty it up)... and I had noticed that the per capita income levels are quite low, so I figured there was something going on in Brattleboro itself.

Basically, we're from MA (eastern MA, but still), so if all things were equal we'd probably just live somewhere in MA (Leverett looked awesome), but my wife will be working in Brattleboro and we'll be paying VT income tax anyway, so we figured we'll just live in VT so she won't have a long commute. I'm a licensed atty in MA (fairly recently minted, and I've been playing the SAHD role for the most part for the last 2 years) so I'll probably want to be able to pop down to MA without too much trouble - i.e. Bellows Falls and north are probably a little far. Also, we'll probably want to be able to hit "stuff" in MA (TJs/WF/restaurants/etc) and visit people we know in the Happy Valley. I know it'll take adjusting our sense of driving distance a little bit... but we've lived in relatively rural areas before so I imagine we'll live (and hey, no hellish CT traffic).

I'm working on a Subaru for when my Mazda dies.

ETA: don't you pay income tax in the state in which the income was generated? And my wife wants little to no commute. Kid is 2.5, might add another.

[572cv]

My cousin's daughter and husband just built a house in Bboro. They seem pretty happy with the place. Brattleboro has a nice food coop, always a good sign. Its like a lot of decent size towns in Vt, pretty good services and pretty nice folks, generally. Putney is a nice town, home of the West Hill Shop.

Your mazda will do fine :)

Vermont has been perhaps a little more expensive place to live, but a terrific place to raise a family. It is a beautiful part of the world. There is a lot of good riding. And skiing when there's no riding. Happy to have you!

[e-RICHIE]

Hey Tiny we moved up from the Connecticut shoreline five years ago and landed in Franklin County about 10 south of Brattleboro. We're there 2-3 times a month. It's another world compared to the area south of the state line. I don't think of it as the Vermont experience, per se. It's been quite the developed area for at least the last two decades. If that works for you, cool. We also looked at property in Guilford before landing here. I think many of the villages up there (and here, too) are more appealing as places to visit. When you finally sink your feet into one of them, you may realize how remote some services and amenities really are.

[Admiral Ackbar]

not a terrible place to live but there are better places in that area of VT

[avalonracing]

If Amy's Cafe is still in Brattleboro, go there and get the almond horns, cinnamon buns, or hell anything that they bake. That place rocks.

[e-RICHIE]

If Amy's Cafe is still in Brattleboro, go there and get the almond horns, cinnamon buns, or hell anything that they bake. That place rocks.

Yes - we were there this week atmo.

[avalonracing]

Yes - we were there this week atmo.

Nice!
If I lived within 30 miles of that place I would be their best customer.

[tiny]

Hey Tiny we moved up from the Connecticut shoreline five years ago and landed in Franklin County about 10 south of Brattleboro. We're there 2-3 times a month. It's another world compared to the area south of the state line. I don't think of it as the Vermont experience, per se. It's been quite the developed area for at least the last two decades. If that works for you, cool. We also looked at property in Guilford before landing here. I think many of the villages up there (and here, too) are more appealing as places to visit. When you finally sink your feet into one of them, you may realize how remote some services and amenities really are.

TBH I think I'm slightly in denial about this issue atm... but it's totally possible we could move in 2-3 years if we get sick of the remoteness (also we have places to stay in Boston). And hey, my wife agreed I can buy a new bike, a really nice bike (I was somewhat hoping to move to PDX or Denver). That and there are some financial incentives to actually living in VT that I keep forgetting about (student loan repayment, subsidized preschool).


not a terrible place to live but there are better places in that area of VT


Do tell!!!

We're pretty open to any suggestions at this point.

[Admiral Ackbar]

putney is pretty nice, close to NH too (no tax)

i really like it out near Dover too, close proximity to the national forest, state park, conservation area.

I grew up bit further north in Springfield and LOVED it up there, but its gone downhill since the economy went down the crappy, nice country though

[shovelhd]

Brattleboro is not what I'd call remote. It's a nice tiny city. Makes Northampton look big. But not remote.

Lots of great riding in Southern VT and Western MA.

[echelon_john]

I'd look at Putney for sure. The other towns you mentioned—Newfane and Dummerston—are teeny tiny. (Putney's pretty small, too!)

Coming from eastern MA (I grew up there) you'll need to make some pretty big adjustments to any of these places. For me, the biggest issues are lack of quality/diverse groceries (not just whole foods, but small ethnic markets for specific spices, etc, cheese shops, and decent butchers.) That, and the general lack of good dining out options. We're not big shoppers, so the lack of stores/malls isn't an issue, and we do have outlets and some other nice stores near us in Manchester if we need them.

I get to Boston at least once a month for work, and we go to NYC and Montreal pretty regularly, so we definitely get our city fix. It reminds me of what's missing here, but it also reminds me how much I hate traffic, parking hassles, etc.

For riding, this area (and I mean really all of southern vt, southwest NH and north central ma) is truly fantastic. Road, MTB and dirt road.

I guess my advice would be to consider school options first if you'll need them now or down the road; consider whether you want any neighbors or not, and consider whether isolation is going to be difficult for you, especially if you're the one staying home. I work for myself, and, especially during the winter months, it can get pretty quiet. If you do winter sports, that helps, and of course all the usual things like getting involved in the community, etc.

I would also recommend, if possible, to move early in the summer rather than in the fall, if possible, to give you a chance to make some connections and get to know some people during the summer when there's riding, farmer's markets, concerts, etc. so that when people start hunkering down in November you'll be in the loop.

I can't say that we'll live here forever; it's a great place to raise our daughter, and the options for outdoor activities are terrific. But it's also more work, in some ways, than our life was living in cities, because there's always stuff to do like tend gardens, deal with firewood, clear snow, stay on top of house maintenance (which seems more intensive due to the weather), etc.

[Mr. Pink]

If you have an alcohol problem, it will be worse. New Hampshire state stores are about the cheapest place in the northeast to buy spirits.

Oh, and, don't even think of spending much time out in nature from mid May to mid July. The black flies will make you bleed. Road biking can be OK, as long as you keep on moving. Don't stop.

Learn to ski. It will keep you sane half the year.

[Climb01742]

It may sound small, but living in rural areas or small towns the biggest void for me has been food options, both groceries and eating out. I once lived in a cabin outside Woodstock, NY and I swear I started dreaming of Zabar's and John's Pizza in NYC. The simpler your life gets, the bigger role food plays, I think.

[tele]

Being within 20 minutes of the People's Pint has to be a good thing, right?

Dont bypass McNeill's in Brattleboro; the beer is just as good as People's and I love People's!

[AgilisMerlin]

for a time, I lived in Putney and Brattleboro.

westhill shop / when Neal Bevin Charlie and Scott ran it

great area, get ready for a true mud season /

oh, and get ready to climb, lots

[Tom]

Also remember when they say 'no tax' about NH they really mean that you make up in property tax for what you don't pay in income and sales tax. Something to keep in mind depending on your particular situation.

[tiny]

Sounds like I'm in for an interesting experience... not really something other places I've lived (New Orleans, Iowa City) has entirely prepared me for (Cazenovia NY is probably about as close as I've gotten)... I have already considered many of the issues folks raised, particularly feeling isolated in the winter, but thankfully I'm not much of a drinker (hence the growing number of bourbon bottles accumulating in my liquor cabinet) and I love outdoor winter activities. Backcountry skis and some snow shoes and I should be in business. Thankfully we should also have something of a built-in social scene via my wife's work... and one of the guys she'll be working with (at least in the general sense, I'm not sure they're actually working in the same department/whatever) worked at Broadway Bikes sometime in the distant past.

Can't wait to find the prime roads for cycling, we're moving in early to mid July (based on academic medical calendar) so I'm hoping to get accustomed to the hills prior to D2R2.