Sunset on Lake Champlain

Sunset on Lake Champlain

My son, Sam, took these beautiful sunset photos of Lake Champlain this past weekend. He is a student at Burlington Senior High School, and in the coming weeks he will be guest-blogging about teen life in Burlington, Vermont, activities & volunteer work available for youth & young adults in the Burlington area, and what a great place Burlington is to live as a teenager!

Even in the rain, Burlington's Church Street Marketplace is beautiful

Burlington Vermont makes it to the ultimate bucket list: Forbes.com’s America’s Prettiest Towns. Judged on natural beauty (think Lake Champlain and Camels Hump) and unique identity (think UVM, Ben & Jerry’s and Jim Jeffords), Burlington takes the cake with a generous helping of both.

According to Sarah Tuff Dunn (co-author of 101 Best Outdoor Towns) in her interview with Forbes, “Burlington has it all”. Beauty and uniqueness all centered on the pedestrian mall, the  Church Street Marketplace.

Burlington has a great Walkable Score

Once the supreme place for high school kids in convertibles to “see and be seen”, Church Street was converted into a beautiful pedestrian marketplace more than 27 years ago. The combination of historic buildings and penultimate boutique shopping changed not only the landscape, but the perception of Burlington.

Vermont’s biggest City became a place where families and friends could enjoy themselves outdoors and walk to everything they need. As “Walkability” becomes part of the home-buying consciousness, this pedestrian friendliness is part of the attraction of downtown Burlington real estate.

Many a Vermonter's favorite flower, the crocus is often the first to bravely poke through the snow

At a Burlington grocery store yesterday I noticed green buds springing up in the store’s landscaping. It made me wonder if Shelburne homes on lake Champlain will see buds earlier or later than Burlington Homes.

I wont have time to check before this post, but I’ll bet that these Shelburne properties with good southern exposure will be the first to see the crocuses.

It’s the time of year in Vermont when we avidly seek signs of spring. Vermont Public Radio even has a series called Signs of Spring. These signs include everything from maple sugaring to the return of the red-winged black birds to the sight of a guy standing in a snow bank practicing his fly fishing casts.

Shelburne home on Simmons Drive - MLS 2913062	Shelburne home on Harbor Road - MLS 21001399
The MLS property description gives these highlights: Custom built Shelburne home, Country setting with privacy, great eastern and southern exposure for great natural light. Perfect family home with large mudroom (ah, yes mud season!), first floor laundry, room over garage and walk-out lower level ready to be finished.	Property highlights: Complete southern exposure, 4 levels of living space on Shelburne Bay, first level open floor plan, slate patio with large hot tub. Green Mountain views, Shelburne Bay views, private dock, private beach, and  575 ft. of waterfront.

This image from Sports Illustrated captures a terrific Burlington event

We all know that Burlington Vermont is famous for exquisite lakefront real estate with Adirondack views and incredible sunsets. But this fall, Sports Illustrated has given Burlington a new claim to fame: the site of the most ridiculous competition, the Burlington Vermont Giant Pumpkin Regatta.

Yes, it is a boat race, but each boat is a carved and decorated giant pumpkin, raced like a kayak. The Giant Pumpkin Regatta & Festival is a benefit for a youth leadership program for area high school students run by Linking Learning to Life and the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce

Burlington VT Real Estate - Dramatic Apartment near Lake Champlain

This Burlington apartment might get a great view of this terrific spectacle in Burlington Harbor on Lake Champlain (it’s walking distance to the Harbor, anyway).

If the beauty of autumn on Lake Champlain is not enough to convince you to move to Vermont, Children’s Heath Magazine has just published another great reason to buy Burlington real estate. Burlington was just voted the best place in the United States to raise a family.

The magazine conducted a statistical analysis of cities around the country researching the factors that are most important to parents: safety, education, economics, housing, and health. Burlington is number one for many reasons; among them are graduation rates, per-pupil spending, and percentage of population with advanced degrees.

From the Children’s Health article: “Its population is also exceptionally healthy,” says Stephen Perrine, Men`s Health Editor at Large and Children’s Health Editor. “Burlington has the fewest fast-food restaurants per capita so it’s no surprise that the city has less obesity than anywhere else in the country.”

These Burlington Victorians are both within walking distance to great schools:

58 Bayview Street, Burlington, VT

57 North Winooski Avenue, Burlington.