Planning a vacation to Burlington, VT. (Colchester, Winooski: condo, crime, construction)

[Fiona8484]

Definitely stay downtown, the city is walkable and charming. Also take a ride to Stowe if you have time.

[Riley.]

Originally Posted by Fiona8484

Definitely stay downtown, the city is walkable and charming. Also take a ride to Stowe if you have time.

Stowe is charming. Burlington, not so much (anymore).

[trevor0101]

My family and I are visiting this weekend. Would love more tips from locals. Thank you all!

[Riley.]

Originally Posted by trevor0101

My family and I are visiting this weekend. Would love more tips from locals. Thank you all!

Where are you staying? What do you like to do?

[upstate_proud]

At this point, you might want to bring your flak jacket if you're heading downtown. Best to avoid the city of Burlington until it cleans up its act. It's not the cool, livable city that it once was.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by upstate_proud

At this point, you might want to bring your flak jacket if you're heading downtown. Best to avoid the city of Burlington until it cleans up its act. It's not the cool, livable city that it once was.

Spent several weekends there this past summer/fall. You could have fooled me. In some ways its nicer than it was in the early 90s when I lived there.

[Remy11]

Originally Posted by Riley.

Stowe is charming. Burlington, not so much (anymore).

Riley,
Just out of curiosity, why isn’t it nice anymore? I went to UVM in the late nineties and couldn’t have loved the university and the town of Burlington more. I’ve been up to visit multiple times since graduating in 2000, and it seems to get nicer and nicer. Sure, some of that old-school feel is gone, but I feel as though they’ve done a great job of keeping the charm of yesterday while modernizing it.

Do you currently live there? I haven’t been to visit since 2018, so perhaps it greatly changed in the past 3 years?

[Remy11]

Originally Posted by timberline742

Spent several weekends there this past summer/fall. You could have fooled me. In some ways its nicer than it was in the early 90s when I lived there.

Timberline, I completely agree with you. I was there from 96 to 00 for college, and absolutely loved it. I’ve been back multiple times since graduating and it just keeps getting nicer and nicer, IMHO. Sure, I miss some of the old-school restaurants and bars that were there in the nineties, but I still think it’s a perfect college town. Were there drastic changes we don’t know about?! I often tell people UVM was the best four years of my life and a lot of it had to do with the location.

[Riley.]

Originally Posted by Remy11

Riley,
Just out of curiosity, why isn’t it nice anymore? I went to UVM in the late nineties and couldn’t have loved the university and the town of Burlington more. I’ve been up to visit multiple times since graduating in 2000, and it seems to get nicer and nicer. Sure, some of that old-school feel is gone, but I feel as though they’ve done a great job of keeping the charm of yesterday while modernizing it.

Do you currently live there? I haven’t been to visit since 2018, so perhaps it greatly changed in the past 3 years?

I've lived in Franklin County, VT, for the last 18 years. We are about 25 miles from Burlington. I used to go to B'ton nearly every weekend....out to lunch, to shop, to sit near the waterfront, people watch, etc. I would say that the vibe downtown (and it may be different in residential areas outside B'ton) changed after the George Floyd killing and rise of BLM. Things got heated...not unexpectedly. But there were aggressive 'protests,' somewhat forced painting of BLM on Main Street, the flying of the BLM flag at schools (this coincided with the ongoing effort and success to change the names of certain school names - Rebels, for example) and everything turned into a racial and gender issue. Things turned quite negative as opinions differed and the majority liberals began to vocally support the far left progressive agenda - primary among them IMO being the effort to defund the police, clamor for civil control of the PD (by activists - not quite successful at this point), and ease up on any type of enforcement of any ordinances that kept the city sanefully clean and safe, thereby letting things fall apart a bit.

We've seen an increase in petty crimes, graffiti, garbage strewn about and homeless sitting on sidewalks in the way of visitors trying to enjoy the day in the Queen City and disorderly conduct, fights, and even the occasional shots fired in random places. I personally witness drugs deals going down most of the time when I am passing through. (but I was in law enforcement and tend to 'see' this type of activity). It is no longer the peaceful 'funky' place it once was. Add to that the giant hole in the middle of downtown because the City cannot apparently either negotiate or enforce a contract to rebuild the Church St mall......well, it's just not the same place it used to be, which was my original comment. I'm a little embarassed that this is called our "Queen City." When I have to step over bums who won't move out of the way while sitting on the sidewalk, I'm a bit put off.

I'm sure UVM life is the same.....drinking and drugs, kept on the down low due to some notable incidents, and those darn kids still wear their pajamas and slippers to school And there is still a decent music scene, from what I hear (I live rurally and haven't attended a music event down there in quite some time). Traffic is outrageous during some events. I guess it depends on your demographic and what you are looking for in life.

Come visit and see what you think.

[Remy11]

Originally Posted by Riley.

I've lived in Franklin County, VT, for the last 18 years. We are about 25 miles from Burlington. I used to go to B'ton nearly every weekend....out to lunch, to shop, to sit near the waterfront, people watch, etc. I would say that the vibe downtown (and it may be different in residential areas outside B'ton) changed after the George Floyd killing and rise of BLM. Things got heated...not unexpectedly. But there were aggressive 'protests,' somewhat forced painting of BLM on Main Street, the flying of the BLM flag at schools (this coincided with the ongoing effort and success to change the names of certain school names - Rebels, for example) and everything turned into a racial and gender issue. Things turned quite negative as opinions differed and the majority liberals began to vocally support the far left progressive agenda - primary among them IMO being the effort to defund the police, clamor for civil control of the PD (by activists - not quite successful at this point), and ease up on any type of enforcement of any ordinances that kept the city sanefully clean and safe, thereby letting things fall apart a bit.

We've seen an increase in petty crimes, graffiti, garbage strewn about and homeless sitting on sidewalks in the way of visitors trying to enjoy the day in the Queen City and disorderly conduct, fights, and even the occasional shots fired in random places. I personally witness drugs deals going down most of the time when I am passing through. (but I was in law enforcement and tend to 'see' this type of activity). It is no longer the peaceful 'funky' place it once was. Add to that the giant hole in the middle of downtown because the City cannot apparently either negotiate or enforce a contract to rebuild the Church St mall......well, it's just not the same place it used to be, which was my original comment. I'm a little embarassed that this is called our "Queen City." When I have to step over bums who won't move out of the way while sitting on the sidewalk, I'm a bit put off.

I'm sure UVM life is the same.....drinking and drugs, kept on the down low due to some notable incidents, and those darn kids still wear their pajamas and slippers to school And there is still a decent music scene, from what I hear (I live rurally and haven't attended a music event down there in quite some time). Traffic is outrageous during some events. I guess it depends on your demographic and what you are looking for in life.

Come visit and see what you think.

Thank you for your very informative reply.

WOW! I had zero idea about any of this. What a terrible shame. It definitely doesn't sound like the BT, VT I know and love. I remember hearing about the murder of Michelle Gardner-Quinn (I believe that was her name) in 2006 and I was completely stunned. We just didn't have to worry about stuff like that at the time. Granted, we'd always make sure to walk home from the bars late at night in groups, but inevitably there would be those times you wound up alone in the dark. Again, abduction and murder just wasn't even on our radars up there.

Burlington was such a lovely, special place for me and so many others. The residents and students deserve so much better.

P.S.
What a shame about the mall situation! I think the last time I went up for a visit, the mall had definitely been torn down and there were big signs showing what the developer planned to do with the space (retail/restaurants/condos, the usual). However, it just sits vacant now?

I thought I saw some sort of video on Facebook saying the old Macy's there had turned into the new high school or something, so I assumed all was good with the space and it had been transformed at this point.