What to Expect if You’re Moving to Vermont

Most people associate Vermont with cheese, Ben and Jerry’s ice cream and hippies. They’re not wrong, but there’s much more to the Green Mountain State, making it an appealing place to call home. With numerous apartment complexes and quaint old homes to choose from, you can get your feet wet, figuratively speaking, by renting before deciding to buy a house. And you get a chance to sample all that Vermont has to offer, from hiking and skiing to music, beer and wine festivals.

Up, up and away
“How would you like to fly in my beautiful balloon…
The world is a nicer place, in my beautiful balloon…”
If it’s July, you can actually hold hands and chase your dreams across the sky. That’s the time for the Stowe Hot Air Balloon Festival, when scores of brightly colored hot air balloons fill the sky, against a breathtaking backdrop of the Green Mountains. Live music, craft beer, and a wine garden make it a quintessentially Vermont experience.

There are plenty of other outdoors activities as well, including hiking, camping, bicycling, skiing and other winter sports, and of course boating and sailing. In fact, Vermont is or should be as famous for its outdoors activities as its fresh food.
What’s to eat
Vermont means dairy farms, which means that there’s plenty of cheese and other farm fresh products in easy reach. In fact the availability of so much good, fresh food has created a locavore, farm to table movement in the state, with many highly rated restaurants. These offer local meats and vegetables served up by award winning chefs, and even seafood from the New England coast.
Farms are also a fun destination, and many offer B and B accommodations. For residents, there are CSA or community share farms where they can pay a monthly fee for farm fresh vegetables. Some farms will accept labor instead of cash in exchange for vegetables. That’s a great way to spend time out of doors and get up close to nature. For kids, it’s a good way to learn about food, where it comes from, and why we should value what the earth gives us.

Finding a place to live
Finding the home of your dreams can take while, and many people choose to live in apartment complexes while looking. Apartment rentals are a good way to get to know a place, figure out the neighborhood, the schools, and the commute. This being Vermont, there are also plenty of pet friendly apartment complexes. In the U.S. as a whole, a significant section of the population are pet owners. According to the American Pet Products Association, around 44% of all households have a dog and 35% have a cat. And many households have more than one pet, including both dogs and cats.
Burlington, on the shores of Lake Champlain, is a lively northern city with a young population. The median age of residents is just 26 years, and the rental market reflects the needs of this demographic. Nationwide, millennials are the generation most likely to rent rather than buy a home. As of 2016, almost two thirds or 65% of all young adults were renting. Apartments for rent for this generation also tend to be smaller, like one bedroom or studio apartments.

Vermont and especially Burlington are an attractive choice for many people looking for a place to settle down. For younger people who may want a chance to look around before buying a home, renting an apartment is a good way to get to know a place. Many apartment complexes are pet friendly and have smaller apartments suitable for millennials.