Vermont DUers: Help Me Convince My Wife to Move to Burlington

[Allenberg]

I have a good chance at a job opportunity in Burlington. The pay is pretty good, and from what I've researched, it's quite the place for progressive minded people who like lakes and don't mind cold and snow. She says there's nothing to do there, and its probably boring. I say that's bollocks.

[gWbush is Mabus]

1. get her into phish

[LisaM]

2. From where? I mean, if you live in Paris, France or something

she's probably right.

[Allenberg]

3. We're both from Pittsburgh

but we live in rural northern Japan. The epitome of boring.

[Jokerman]

4. Sorry, can't help you.

I spent a year in Charlotte, just outside of Burlington. I'm not a cold weather or small-town person so I was out of place.

Burlington is a progressive city and had a pretty good local music scene when I was there but I was young and single and looking for a larger city with more opportunities.

[Redstone]

5. What does she mean, nothing to do?

Burlington is only ONE HOUR from Montreal; if she can't find enough to do THERE, she's way too hyperactive.

I mean, come on...Pittsburgh is a damn fine city, but when ther'es an opportunity to live in a quiet place but still be able to run up to a world-class city like Montreal whenever you want to, there's no comparison.

Redstone

[Kathy in Cambridge]

7. Burlington's great-proximity to Montreal and fabulous skiing

[Allenberg]

8. Exactly. That's what I'm trying to tell her.

It's in reasonable proximity to Montreal, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and it doesn't take long, at least IMO, to drive to Pittsburgh to see family.

[KurtNYC]

6. A right sized city

Small but not super small. I stopped through Burlington on the way south from Montreal. Middle of summer, classic small town but vibrant and modern. Kids selling puppies from a box in the town square. Patrick Leahy out socializing. Side walk dining. Ben & Jerry's, Lake Champlain. Awesome.

[skygazer]

9. The beauty of Vermont is its rural nature

Burlington is a small city that feels like a small town in a lot of ways. People who find a slower paced, more rural life boring don't belong there. No offense meant to you or your wife but as a native Vermonter, it's frustrating to me when I see people who visit now and then and are captivated with the beauty move to the state from Long Island or Connecticut and immediately try to turn it into something like Long Island or Connecticut. They want the roads all paved and streetlights put up and cable access and big supermarkets and malls and Costcos and every other thing that is antitheticaL to what they fell in love with in the first place. Vermont is a state that bases most of its real income on tourism and tourism depends on the quaintness and rural peace and beauty of the state staying that way.

Sorry, don't mean to go off on a rant. All I'm saying is that if she's the sort of person who needs a fast-paced, invigorating atmosphere, Vermont may not be the place.

[Allenberg]

10. That's the issue.

I'm fine with slow-paced. I spent summers in backwoods North Carolina, a town of 15,000, and I loved it. I'm fine with cold and snow, and I appreciate good nature. As long as there are places for her to go and do things, like music, shopping, and whatnot, I think she'll be fine.