By Troy Richardson

Why Vermont is the only place for me.

After growing up in a small town on the Vermont / New Hampshire border, heading to Boston for about 17 years and then Baltimore for 4 years, I decided it was time to slow down and get out of city life.  When the entire country was open to me as a possibility, I chose to return to Vermont – something I never thought that I would be doing.  When the time came for this decision, it was a pretty easy one.  I knew I wanted to be closer to my Father and Sister, who still live in the town I grew up in.  I also knew that I wanted to be close to some bigger cities, so I could escape the rural life if I felt the desire!

I chose Bennington, Vermont with is picturesque Main Street and great neighborhoods like mine where I’m minutes from downtown, but when I’m home I feel like I am in the middle of the woods, completely surrounded by trees, but know that my good friend and neighbor is no more than a couple minutes walk away.

I’ve been here almost 5 years now, and I am still finding great reasons to love living in Vermont.  It’s always amazing to me when I’m out of money at the Dry Cleaners that I can still walk out with my cleaning and the owner says, “Just pay next time you’re in.”  This never happened to me in Boston or Baltimore.  There is a lot to be said about living in a small town, where everyone knows you, and looks out for you.  When I go away on a trip, there’s never a shortage of friends to keep an eye on the house, or feed the cat.  Real estate is different here too.  We don’t see the huge spikes in prices and activity that some areas do, so when there’s a market correction, our prices don’t fall as hard.  In fact, we still seem to be selling properties relatively close to asking price these days.

Overall, Vermont is an incredible place to live, and I don’t think that I ever want to live anywhere else – except maybe a Caribbean Island to get away from the snow once in a while.

Troy Richardson is Broker/Owner of Maple Leaf Realty.

RE/MAX Maple Leaf Realty
203 Northside Drive, Bennington, VT 05201
Office: 802-447-3210
Cell: 802-379-5571
troy@troyrichardson.com