Tell me about Middlebury, VT

[MarcusBrody]

I just found out that I have an interview for a job in Middlebury. I've never been there, but it's always sounded nice to me. In fact, when I searched this forum, I found this responding a post about dream jobs with the OP citing one at Middlebury:

One of my friends is a professor there [at Middlebury]. Teaching basically the same things I do at a school without a Snow Bowl. And the bastard doesn't even ski. Life just isn't fair sometimes...

So what's it like to live there these days? Along with myself, it would be wife (who already has a remote job) and 8 year old son. We previously lived in Western Mass (where my wife grew up until middle school), but have currently lived in a small town outside of Las Vegas since 2020, so it would be a bit of an adjustment, especially for my son.

Immediate obvious advantages without knowing much about the town:
1. The air isn't in danger of spontaneously catching fire in the summer.
2. Better schools
3. Driving distance to family
4. More progressive politics - I love our town, but it's pretty Trump-y and we're not
5. Snowbowl is 20-25 minutes away, whereas our closest ski hill here (Lee Canyon) is a hour further.

Disadvantages:
1. Very cold in the winter and very little sun overall. Might be hard to lose the sunshine once we've been used to it.
2. Higher cost of living, particularly home costs as houses are both more expensive and we bought our current one when interest rates were low
3, Much further from a major international airport
4. Less diverse - my South Asian wife already thinks our town is really white, but it has nothing on Middlebury. The college community might provide more diversity though.

So tell me about Middlebury and what I might want to consider about potentially movin

[MyNameIsAugustWest]

Dude, take the job. Middlebury is probably the best place in VT to live. Yes, it's pretty white but as you noted, the college does bring some diversity. Winters are cold and dark. But this summer was spectacular.

The airport thing is a tough one. Montreal would be almost 3 hours. About the same to Boston with no traffic - which is never.

Progressive? Indeed. My ultra-conservative uncles (in the 1960s) used to call it Moscow College.

Would be great to see you guys back at Magic. Snow Bowl is now on Indy so I'd definitely come ski with you a coupla times a year.

[m2711c]

Amtrak ethan allen express stops in Middlebury. Take that to Moynihan train hall, transfer to Long Island railroad, Get off at Jamaica station and then the AirTran to JFK. Doesn’t get any easier than that. No driving or parking fees at all.

[dan_pdx]

I spent a summer studying Japanese at Middlebury college a looong time ago. Pleasant, decent area for running, hiking and gravel biking. I didn't have a car at the time, so didn't have much opportunity to see anything more than a few miles away The one big downside is the town is pretty much surrounded by dairy farms so almost whatever direction the wind comes from, you smell cow shit. There might be about 30° out of 360 that are safe. It's better than a feedlot or a pig farm, but not ideal, you should visit before the freeze to see how you feel about it

[Mazderati]

Before the freeze, and before the breeze, apparently.

[dan_pdx]

Before the freeze, and before the breeze, apparently.

Yeah, at one point a native Vermonter told me all the silos I was seeing were full of liquid cow shit, which is apparently sprayed on fields as fertilizer. Don't know for sure if that's true, but it smelled like it could be true.

On the plus side, the convenience store near campus sold factory seconds from Ben and Jerry's. Sometimes they would write stuff off as factory seconds because there were too _many_toppings/fillings -- pretty great for a college kid with a bottomless pit for a stomach

[MarcusBrody]

Dude, take the job. Middlebury is probably the best place in VT to live. Yes, it's pretty white but as you noted, the college does bring some diversity. Winters are cold and dark. But this summer was spectacular.

The airport thing is a tough one. Montreal would be almost 3 hours. About the same to Boston with no traffic - which is never.

Progressive? Indeed. My ultra-conservative uncles (in the 1960s) used to call it Moscow College.

Would be great to see you guys back at Magic. Snow Bowl is now on Indy so I'd definitely come ski with you a coupla times a year.

Well they haven't offered me the job yet, just told me that I'm a finalist. Based on time slots for in person interviews, I assume there are two others. The process from application to final round interview was really fast though (by academic hiring standards at least), so I figured I better start doing my research just in case. I would definitely love to be back within easy driving distance of Magic. I just imagined that I'd appear in the woods someday Gandalf-style to declare that I'd returned at the turn of the tide. I haven't yet figured out how to get that strong backlighting though.

My wife grew up in Amherst, so liberal college towns are her jam. i suspect she'd be fine in Middlebury if she could avoid freezing to death.

[MarcusBrody]

Amtrak ethan allen express stops in Middlebury. Take that to Moynihan train hall, transfer to Long Island railroad, Get off at Jamaica station and then the AirTran to JFK. Doesn’t get any easier than that. No driving or parking fees at all.

That's really good to know. Thanks! I was also wondering how just connecting out of Burlington would be. They strangely don't seem to connect to either of the big nearby airports (Boston or Toronto). Too close to have a market I guess.

[MarcusBrody]

Yeah, at one point a native Vermonter told me all the silos I was seeing were full of liquid cow shit, which is apparently sprayed on fields as fertilizer. Don't know for sure if that's true, but it smelled like it could be true.

On the plus side, the convenience store near campus sold factory seconds from Ben and Jerry's. Sometimes they would write stuff off as factory seconds because there were too _many_toppings/fillings -- pretty great for a college kid with a bottomless pit for a stomach

I'm originally from rural PA. They were spraying liquid manure on the field next door to where I grew up this week apparently. I'm very familiar with that particular odor. ha

[Flounder]

I worked in Middlebury for a few years after college. Town was too sleepy for me in my twenty’s so I commuted down from the Burlington area. Granted this was thirty years ago but if you’re looking for any sort of night life or a wide variety of restaurants you’re out of luck. Theres stuff there, but not a lot.

[Peruvian]

Middlebury is a very small town but the college helps keep some interesting restaurants and sometimes some arts in town.

Besides MSB, MRV is only 40 minutes away, and SB is an hour if you don’t mind the App Gap in winter.

BTV is 45-50 minutes away. Direct flights to DC and cities in FLA are avail and lots of connections through NYC. Being such a small airport things like parking, the TSA and other bottlenecks at large airports are not an issue so it actually nice to fly in and out of. For direct flights to France we drive to MTL.

There is lots of good road and gravel riding around. In town MTB trails are pretty limited but some good riding around Mooselamoo is available very close by.

Get your 8 yo in the XC ski program in the area and he will have quick friends. Frost Mountain Nordic is a great program.

[riser4]

If you buy a house, be sure to smell, taste, and test the water first if it has a well. Lots of sulfur water in the old inland sea sediments.

[MarcusBrody]

Middlebury is a very small town but the college helps keep some interesting restaurants and sometimes some arts in town.

Besides MSB, MRV is only 40 minutes away, and SB is an hour if you don’t mind the App Gap in winter.

BTV is 45-50 minutes away. Direct flights to DC and cities in FLA are avail and lots of connections through NYC. Being such a small airport things like parking, the TSA and other bottlenecks at large airports are not an issue so it actually nice to fly in and out of. For direct flights to France we drive to MTL.

There is lots of good road and gravel riding around. In town MTB trails are pretty limited but some good riding around Mooselamoo is available very close by.

Get your 8 yo in the XC ski program in the area and he will have quick friends. Frost Mountain Nordic is a great program.

I'm not really a nightlife guy, but some decent restaurants would be nice. The skiing options nearby did look pretty good. I've enjoyed skiing Lee Canyon, Brian Head, and Snowbowl the last few years, but they are 1.5 or 3.5 hours away. Doable, but not quite. Even Jay Peak didn't look too far as a hedge against climate change.

I did really like flying out of Hartford when I lived in CT/MA. I imagine Burlington could be similar.

I'm more of a mountain biker than a road/gravel guy, but maybe as I get older. One thing I would really miss if I left where I'm at now is the in town riding. It's rocky, but pretty awesome.

The XC program is another great thing to know about. Another thing I would miss is that we do have a very good friend group here, especially my wife and son. I mean, I like our friends too, I'm just a less socially-focused person so my life isn't as impacted by changes in that area.

[riser4]

Amtrak ethan allen express stops in Middlebury. Take that to Moynihan train hall, transfer to Long Island railroad, Get off at Jamaica station and then the AirTran to JFK. Doesn’t get any easier than that. No driving or parking fees at all.

How hard is it to connect from the Amtrak stop in Albany to the Albany airport? Southwest flies out of Albany, if that's your preferred poison.

[MyNameIsAugustWest]

How hard is it to connect from the Amtrak stop in Albany to the Albany airport? Southwest flies out of Albany, if that's your preferred poison.

Not easy. The train station is actually in Rennselaer (I can never remember how to spell that town and I was too dumb to go to RPI). It's east of the river and the airport is west. You can bus it or Uber it but the bus option is hit or miss. It takes 15-20 minutes to get between the 2 in your own car on a good day.

[riser4]

I'm not really a nightlife guy, but some decent restaurants would be nice. The skiing options nearby did look pretty good. I've enjoyed skiing Lee Canyon, Brian Head, and Snowbowl the last few years, but they are 1.5 or 3.5 hours away. Doable, but not quite. Even Jay Peak didn't look too far as a hedge against climate change.

I did really like flying out of Hartford when I lived in CT/MA. I imagine Burlington could be similar.

I'm more of a mountain biker than a road/gravel guy, but maybe as I get older. One thing I would really miss if I left where I'm at now is the in town riding. It's rocky, but pretty awesome.

The XC program is another great thing to know about. Another thing I would miss is that we do have a very good friend group here, especially my wife and son. I mean, I like our friends too, I'm just a less socially-focused person so my life isn't as impacted by changes in that area.

Middlebury has a summer swim league program at the town pool if your spawn does that. Not sure if there's a winter program, my kids only did the summer one (for Saint Albans).

[Peruvian]

;[emoji[emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]][emoji640][emoji639]][emoji637][emoji640][emoji637][emoji[emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]][emoji640][emoji640]][emoji637][emoji637]]How hard is it to connect from the Amtrak stop in Albany to the Albany airport? Southwest flies out of Albany, if that's your preferred poison.

Vermont Translines runs a bus from Middlebury to Albany Airport and from Midd to BTV. It’s only twice a day though.

[Peruvian]

I'm not really a nightlife guy, but some decent restaurants would be nice. The skiing options nearby did look pretty good. I've enjoyed skiing Lee Canyon, Brian Head, and Snowbowl the last few years, but they are 1.5 or 3.5 hours away. Doable, but not quite. Even Jay Peak didn't look too far as a hedge against climate change.

I did really like flying out of Hartford when I lived in CT/MA. I imagine Burlington could be similar.

I'm more of a mountain biker than a road/gravel guy, but maybe as I get older. One thing I would really miss if I left where I'm at now is the in town riding. It's rocky, but pretty awesome.

The XC program is another great thing to know about. Another thing I would miss is that we do have a very good friend group here, especially my wife and son. I mean, I like our friends too, I'm just a less socially-focused person so my life isn't as impacted by changes in that area.

Killington has the longest season in the east and is an hour from Midd.

BTV is much smaller than BDL so it's even easier to fly out of.

Battel Woods and Chapman Hill are in Middlebury, so it's not like there are no MTB options. Rikert has MTB 20 minutes way (I'm unfamiliar with it though) and Chandler Ridge/Leicester Hollow loop near Silver Lake is highly recommended.

With a kid in the local elementary school, you will meet other parents and make friends quickly.

[MyNameIsAugustWest]

The skiing options nearby did look pretty good. I've enjoyed skiing Lee Canyon, Brian Head, and Snowbowl the last few years, but they are 1.5 or 3.5 hours away. Doable, but not quite. Even Jay Peak didn't look too far as a hedge against climate change.

To paraphrase a well-worn Vermonter-ism, if I was going to Jay Peak, I wouldn't start in Middlebury....

A good friend of mine from HS went to Middlebury and his go-to was MRG. He's still a shareholder there even though he lives outside Philly nowadays.

[Vt-Freeheel]

Ya just need to think about where you rest your head at night, in town or a 5 10 or 15 minute radius. This could put you closer to bush or K for skiing possibly driving over 125 to get there.
In addition to the above mentioned Chandler Ridge riding which is close, Midd is 40 minutes to great riding in Rochester or 50 to Slate Valley.

[gravitylover]

There's also miles of really nice trail a few minutes south off Rt30 along Lake Bomoseen. I've thought a few times when I'm there that I could be happy living in Middlebury.

[Danno]

Middlebury has to be a dream job for many a college professor. It is a small sleepy town, but it's gorgeous, mountains and streams and lakes (and cows, LDO). Burlington isn't far away for a touch of culture. Montreal even farther for a dose of culture. Close-ish to east-coast-big-city, but definitely not too close.

[Bottleman]

Middlebury College brat here who has lived and worked in the immediate area since graduating in 1992. Lots to do around Midd and any fears about cold Winters are misguided in that we are only 300 feet above sea level and our weather most closely resembles that of Hartford, CT. I'd make the argument that Amherst, MA is colder and snowier than Midd. As for the liquid shit, yes, that's exactly what it is but you deal with it for "maybe" one week out of the year. It's far from a routine annoyance. Burlington International is very convenient, especially if you are willing to make a stop at one of the major hubs on the way to your final destination. Albany airport is just 2 hours away and there are a couple of park and stay hotels in close proximity. Manchester, NH is roughly a 2 1/2 hour drive. There's train service to NYC right in the middle of town these days if you have an itch to rub elbows with the city folk. We have a couple of friends who are realtors - let me know if you'd like their names. The current crop of college students adds lots of diversity to what is otherwise a pretty pasty white local community. My wife and I skied almost exclusively at the Snow Bowl for many years (after spending the 90s and early 2000s at MRG) and it can be a wonderful place with lots of chances to find fresh snow, if it snows. Snowmaking and grooming have been an issue at the Bowl the last few years so we are currently skiing Killington and Pico. There's a new management team in place at the MCSB however and if they can get back to the product we enjoyed previously, we'll happily buy Bowl passes again. Feel free to ask more questions or look for contacts - there are lots of friendly folks in Addison County who would be happy to help.

[Peruvian]

Middlebury College brat here who has lived and worked in the immediate area since graduating in 1992. Lots to do around Midd and any fears about cold Winters are misguided in that we are only 300 feet above sea level and our weather most closely resembles that of Hartford, CT. I'd make the argument that Amherst, MA is colder and snowier than Midd. As for the liquid shit, yes, that's exactly what it is but you deal with it for "maybe" one week out of the year. It's far from a routine annoyance. Burlington International is very convenient, especially if you are willing to make a stop at one of the major hubs on the way to your final destination. Albany airport is just 2 hours away and there are a couple of park and stay hotels in close proximity. Manchester, NH is roughly a 2 1/2 hour drive. There's train service to NYC right in the middle of town these days if you have an itch to rub elbows with the city folk. We have a couple of friends who are realtors - let me know if you'd like their names. The current crop of college students adds lots of diversity to what is otherwise a pretty pasty white local community. My wife and I skied almost exclusively at the Snow Bowl for many years (after spending the 90s and early 2000s at MRG) and it can be a wonderful place with lots of chances to find fresh snow, if it snows. Snowmaking and grooming have been an issue at the Bowl the last few years so we are currently skiing Killington and Pico. There's a new management team in place at the MCSB however and if they can get back to the product we enjoyed previously, we'll happily buy Bowl passes again. Feel free to ask more questions or look for contacts - there are lots of friendly folks in Addison County who would be happy to help.

This guy is talking out of his ass. Put him on ignore.

[Bottleman]

This guy is talking out of his ass. Put him on ignore.

Nobody likes a telemarketer, guy.