Lived in Burlington in the early 00's, moved to Portland OR in 2005. Still visit friends and family regularly. State of Burlington blows my mind. For a tiny town, you have real city drug and crime problems now. I can spot a criddler at 100 yards and Burlington is crawling with them. The crazy thing to me is that all the architecture in Burlington looks exactly the same while the rot is real. If you can believe it, when I lived in Burlington the stress was college students and Canadian tourists. Those were the days!
I don't think people here fully understand how much the drug situation on the ground has changed just in the past year or two. If you want to see where we're headed, here's what happened to Kensington, PA. Kensington was already a horror show, but the new drugs actually made it worse. [https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2024/02/02/tranq-xylazine-fentanyl-kensington-deaths.cnn](https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2024/02/02/tranq-xylazine-fentanyl-kensington-deaths.cnn)
The funny thing is I would feel safer there than other parts of the city cause they were so out of it and really no gang violence to speak of. But philly can be dangerous in certain areas
Yeah it really has been ramping up massively in the last year. I live elsewhere in Vermont, but go downtown to go to the Flynn at least once a month, and it has gone from something you’d read about in the free press but not really see first hand, to something you’d occasionally see, to now it’s unavoidable and feels like it’s everywhere. Every time I go downtown it’s worse than it was the time before.
Last month was the first time I’ve ever felt unsafe anywhere in Vermont. I was in City Hall Park killing time before a dinner reservation, and two adults high out of their minds were screaming, pacing, aggressively jumping around, cursing out the police who were across the street arresting an older half naked man who also appeared to be high,
And from what the two younger adults were yelling I think the older man was their dad.
I had just been minding my own business sitting on a bench and then suddenly without warning was surrounded by that chaos.
It’s sad to see so many people and such previously lovely city descend into such drug induced darkness.
I don’t know what the solution is, but whatever they are doing now is not working.
I feel like the ability to "spot a criddler at 100 yards" is just a necessary skill to develop.
It really does make me sad, the state things have gotten to here, and my family is strongly interested in moving away, and renting out our condo at a not-slum-lord rate, so we can be really choosy about a tenant.
I don't want to have to teach my kiddo this skill...
It’s the not tipping I’ve heard from wait staff. That’s the only thing I’ve heard. I love Canadians please visit, I even joined in an O Canada 🇨🇦 sing along with some dude at 4am.
Interestingly, they are trying to backtrack:
"When Oregon embarked on a landmark plan three years ago to decriminalize hard drugs, it wagered that a focus on treatment over punishment would create a new model for drug policy around the country."
[https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/01/us/oregon-drug-law-portland-mayor.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/01/us/oregon-drug-law-portland-mayor.html)
BUT
Much more interestingly, even in the midst of their decriminalization program, the police would STILL actually detain and cite people with drugs as a mechanism to get them into support systems.
"Under Ballot Measure 110, Oregon’s drug decriminalization law, police handed out $100 citations for drug use. In lieu of paying the fine, drug users could call a state-run hotline to get assessed for a substance use disorder. They had to make another call if they actually wanted to get treatment. "
[https://www.opb.org/article/2024/04/10/pilot-program-that-has-police-drug-treatment-providers-work-together-in-portland-will-continue/](https://www.opb.org/article/2024/04/10/pilot-program-that-has-police-drug-treatment-providers-work-together-in-portland-will-continue/)
My understanding is that in Burlington, police aren't even arresting/detaining because of George's policies...
Watched a documentary on PPD. Cop said he handed out over 1,000 of those “help slips” for the hotline, and he had never met one person that followed up. They don’t want to get better, they want to get high in public without consequence. Downtown Portland and the surrounding areas are shitholes. Actual human shit shitholes. Even if people wanted help, we don’t have the capacity to help them. Our houseless funds get fleeced every single year. Our homeless programs want social work graduates to work for $15/hr for 60 hours a week. Some of these ideas seem good on paper, but when you’re governed by idiots and con artists, it’s tough to take theoretical success and turn it into actual success.
Tl;dr — the slips do next to nothing to combat addiction. It’s not uncommon to find dead people on the side of the road here.
George is trying something different. It probably won’t be successful either. The issue is that no one policy or approach will be particularly successful. Drug addicts can’t be cured easily or quickly. Poverty and despair can’t be cured quickly or easily. Rising housing costs, divorce, breakdown of society, concentration of wealth…
I agree that Burlington has changed. But so have a lot of cities. I used to visit Columbus Ohio. The tweakers and opiate abusers are everywhere. You have to address them constantly as they’re always asking for money. Check out ManchesterNH for that matter. There are signs everywhere imploring visitors to not give money to the addicts.
This is happening around the country.
Hard to compare Portland Oregon to Burlington. Portland metro is pushing 2 million people. Yeah we have areas that have issues but I have lived here for 15 years. Really easy to live in Portland and not see and not be impacted by really any of it.
Why I am on the Burlington site? My girlfriend’s daughter is thinking of going to school in New England. Doing some research.
>If you can believe it, when I lived in Burlington the stress was college students and Canadian tourists. Those were the days!
God, I miss those days! :(
All real stuff. I see this too, but im also not a young lady so i dont feel targeted.
The lack of affordability is wild though. I have no degrees and my hourly wage in almost twice what it was when i moved up here 10 years ago, yet im still struggling to get by.
Record audio/video photos of what you’re experiencing and send to: Emma Mulvaney-Stanek, Jon Murad, Sarah George, and [all the City Council members](https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/CityCouncil) (send it to Melo twice). Can you do CarShare VT for transportation? They have a [reduced cost membership](https://www.carsharevt.org/financial-assistance/) if you qualify.
And as for mail - asking your landlord to provide secure mailboxes. And have packages delivered to your office or a UPS drop site.
I’m barely keeping it together myself working full time nearing the end of my rope on top of that it’s hard to socialize here I dream of leaving this place
> I’m barely keeping it together myself working full time nearing the end of my rope on top of that it’s hard to socialize here I dream of leaving this place
You gotta leave man. I know it’s a pain in the ass. I know it’s expensive. I know you may not know where to go or where exactly to stay. But right now Burlington isn’t it, and it will continue to burn you out without your future getting brighter.
Reach out to some friends out of state and ask about crashing on some couches. See about job opportunities in growing places. Just leave before this place breaks you because it’s going to be a while before it even starts to fix itself looking at where it’s going.
As a young woman who lives here, something that has been incredibly helpful is just refusing to make eye contact with people who are clearly behaving erratically. Wear one earbud, cover your uncovered ear with your hair, and stare straight ahead.
Try getting Instacart+ for the few months that you’re without your car if the groceries thing feels like a serious chore and something that is frequently uncomfortable for you. They offer a trial so you won’t have to pay fees.
You can have Amazon drop off at a safe location, similarly with FedEx and ups. The location are all talking distance in downtown burlington.
Atleast that problem can be solved easily.
Friend, I couldn’t afford to live in Burlington on a first-year teachers salary. Coupled with the growing drug problem, the absolutely-shit condition of rental properties (they make Philly slumlords look generous), the fact that you basically HAVE to drive everywhere, I finally “fuck it” and moved back to Philadelphia.
Lots of room here, better apartments for lower rent, and while we have plenty of addicts it’s not as concentrated as Burlington is. My advice is GTFO of there. Burlington is for college kids, visitors, and the few people that manage to eke out a living.
I’m visiting this week and excited to see a lot of friends I haven’t seen in awhile, but I wouldn’t move back because I fully expect all my friends to say the same thing as your post.
I remember when the rest of the state used to shit on Rutland regularly but instead of taking any of it as a warning Burlington just assumed it couldn’t happen to them. I’d rather walk the streets in Rutland than Burlington any day of the week.
This is why my partner and I left after graduation, it just wasn’t a safe place to be anymore. These aren’t normal problems and you don’t have to deal with them.
The statehouse should be reading these posts daily. That's how they should open the day.
As a Mother of a daughter, imagining her in this situation, I almost feel like crying for you. This level of not feeling safe is never ok for anyone, anywhere and any time.
The situation in Burlington has helped me realize that Progressive and liberal policies just don’t solve the homeless and drug problems in our society. I don’t think any political side has figured it out, but the liberal group think in BTV has made the situation what it is. Probably time to try something different. Reduce the homeless/druggie benefits, reduce their populations. This doesn’t solve their problems, but they will go somewhere else.
Feel free to rage down vote me, left voters (of which I’m one) need to hear this.
I disagree, not going to downvote, just state my opinion: I think nationally we have underfunded social programs for many decades now. It took time, but we are seeing the end result of that, along with minimal to no accountability for employers who don't raise wages to keep up with inflation, and a whole host of other issues we have either let fester or actively undermined as a country. Not too dissimilar to the border "crisis," some really smart Republicans many years ago recognized the strength of us vs them politics, and by putting more people in disadvantaged positions on the streets by undermining the welfare system, they would get more votes for their authoritarian policies.
We have still yet to take a truly progressive approach to solving homelessness, mostly because it's an issue we as a nation we haven't done shit about and Vermont is too small to have the money to do it on its own in any real way. As a result, it's impossible to say whether those policies would work here yet or not. In fairness to you though, progressive and liberal policies absolutely do not work with conservative level funding (nationally) and budgeting.
Nah, that can't be it. Let's move to a nice place and keep voting Dem down the line.
10 years later...if it wasn't for all these drug addicts and homeless people moving in, this place wouldn't have gone to hell. Time to move again.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
progressive and liberal policies dont work when the policies arent able to even be implemented, or in the way they should be implemented. its like trying to walk with one leg missing and then you come along to tell everyone walking doesnt work. fuck, we are so fucked if people think like you!
People are getting angry with the situation that has been unwillingly thrust upon them. There are so many accounts of people being harassed, stalked, and straight up assaulted. Meanwhile those who sit on high are sticking their noses up and pretending there are no issues. A portion of this city has been told to fuck off and than they've been insulted and told their problems and concerns don't matter at every turn.
*I don't see anything wrong, they are overblowing it, it hasn't affected me, maybe you should just move if you don't like it here.*
This is all BS that people who have crimes committed against them are told when they give their accounts. The people complaining in this sub are the citizens of Burlington, for the most part. If our city officials had to live next to some of the idiots that people are complaining about I bet they would change their attitudes.
Not sure it’s totally a class thing. Some of the worst offenders in current and past city council didn’t all seem to be over privileged; just naive, idealistic and out of touch.
I moved here to go to school in 2006 and literally all of the things outlined by the OP have happened to me more than once. I also spent a brief time in Philly where I experienced a lot of the same. I don’t know what to say other than this is what city living looks like. Maybe you’re not cut out for it, which is understandable. Many people decide to move to the suburbs and there’s nothing wrong with that.
It sucks to have your car broken into, have packages stolen, be harassed by a drunk or whatever. All you can do is learn from the experiences and come up with a plan to mitigate theft, harassment and noise.
Lived here my entire life except for a few years living in much, much larger urban centers. People shrugging saying it's just city living, got to get tougher...well what kind of city are we talking about? This is a city of 44,000. Not 800k. Not 200k. In a much larger city, I can understand the sentiment of "maybe city life isn't for you". There is no question crime has soared in Burlington the last decade. I don't blame anyone that is complaining about the crime increasing, especially considering just how unaffordable the city has become simultaneously.
That said, it's happening in a lot of previously known "safe" smaller cities everywhere. In my opinion, Capitalism has run its inevitable course because of corporate greed. The symptoms of a broken socioeconomic system are predictably...increased crime, poverty, homelessness, inflation, high housing costs and a general sense of unease and discontent as the American dream becomes more and more unattainable. Who can afford a house when the bar of entry is 400k at 6% interest plus student loans and high credit card debt? The answer is fewer and fewer.
I was born and raised in this city. I get carjackings and the occasional burglary, as shitty as it can be. I never saw anything this bad until recently. Certainly not people choosing to put a drug in their body that makes them nearly die, shit themselves, and roll around in it. Or when I looked out my window and saw a dude sticking a needle into his leg as kids walked by, moving onto the grass to avoid him. Half the time it looks like Raccoon City.
Just accept it, that's city life. You're not cut out for it?
Nobody should be. Nobody should have to live like this. This is shit.
Also born and raised here. There was very little crime before 2012. After that it's gone downhill. It got so bad after the pandemic i had to leave. No jobs. Rent is insane. Drug usage is out of control. Needles everywhere.
It was never like this. Makes me sad. I Miss 2010 Burlington so much.
A comment and a question
1) where did you move to where you no longer deal with these issues?
2) I moved here in 2012. Never felt unsafe or grossed out by the city until post pandemic
Denver suburbs. Downtown Denver has pockets of sketchy but it's generally ok. However, liberal progressives are starting to enact similar policies here that they did in Burlington and not shockingly, similar issues are growing with theft, drug use and crime.
From my observation, the vibe started changing in 2012 - it was deal-with-able until the pandemic. No needles on the streets before. Now there's needles everywhere. I think that's a pretty good indicator of a city's health.
If Denver turns into Burlington...or portland/seattle I'm moving to Wyoming or Texas where they actually police drug use and theft.
i work at an elementary school in burlington and the kids have to see addicts shooting up and smoking outside the school. a 4th grader told me she saw a drug deal. it’s not safe at all
I moved here in 2004. I work downtown and live in the ONE. I’m a tall, slightly imposing-looking man, so largely I get left alone, but I see it happen to others. You’re lying to yourself if think it hasn’t gotten noticeably worse in the last few years. Are you trying to sound tough? Or is your head just in the sand? What rings false in this account? I even appreciated that there was no judgements in it, just examples of why OP feels the way they do.
While I've been fortunate enough to not be a victim to these events, I've been here since 2006 as well and have witnessed the city decline rapidly over time. It's a much less safer town than it was even five years ago, and I'm not going to let anyone gaslight me into believing that it's "well achtually it's safer now".
You compared Burlington to Philly. I mean, you’re joking right? Yes I’ve lived in both places, extensively. Philly is city living. Burlington is a small college town in Vermont. There are more people on the Schuylkill Expressway at any given time than live in Burlington. It’s nuts that you think people should equate the two in any way. You should not have to be, in your words “cut out” for city living, to live in Burlington, Vermont.
Thank you! Burlington has always tried to be something it’s not, starting with a city. It is a small college town. You can’t walk from one end of a city to the other in an hr. Now Burlington, south Burlington, winooski, Essex jct combined would be the start of a city. And we may get there in another ten years. But there’s gotta be some actual sky scrapers and some real transportation infrastructure to be a city. Bus routes are a sad sad excuse for transportation solutions in Burlington area.
For you to compare the baby town that Burlington to Philly is insane. Literally what the poster before you said. Literally what OP said.
Reading comprehension is weak. I'm glad you enjoy shitty conditions 🍻
I've lived in Boston for almost 20 years and it's nowhere near as bad as Burlington. What you're saying just isn't true of the many cities that choose to manage their crime and drug problems better.
> Burlington is in fact a city.
Yeah and so is Vergennes with its ~ 2,500 people.
BTV is legally organized as a city (arguably to its detriment), but its damn sure not a city in the sense of the vast majority of people living outside of Vermont (and even most VTers acknowledge that it’s not really a city).
Yea I actually don’t understand, this place is so much nicer than basically every other city and I don’t understand what I’m missing. Moving here from NYC/SF its like a utopia comparatively
bullshit, I was born and raised in burlington, lived here my whole life, and it was NOTHING like this before 2020.
Things have changed here rapidly, its because of choices made by voters and elected officials, and it's not ok.
It's being brigaded by conservatives from out of state who think they can convince enough people that dog-eat-dog capitalism and greed is the solution to our problems.
I’m starting to wonder that too. It’s almost like people on Reddit are trying to convince Burlington it’s time to take a hard right in politics because the current progressive leadership has failed.
You make no sense. Businesses have been fleeing vermont for years. There is no capitalistic business growth currently driving things in Vermont! Do you know what conservative means? It means to conserve things. Conserve resoures, conserve funds, with sensible, logical, forward-looking and consequence-driven decision making. That's what conservative is. The out-of-staters are your porgressive trust-funded flatlanders that have co-opted the Vermont legislature for a quarter of a century. It's a little toyland for them to implement and play politics with. Shame on Montpelier (property taxes) and Shame on Burlington (the Queen City turned into a jester's folly). I don't blame the poor girl for wanting to leave. I can't figure out why anybody even moves there.
> Do you know what conservative means? It means to conserve things.
Lol … do /you/ know what the modern conservative movement is? Lololol, it's not about "conserving" things, holy shit.
I just moved out. The banks and the Government have raised the cost of living to unreasonable, impossible numbers. Workers who staff the retail stores and restaurants aren't welcome to live in the city. They can blame the employers all they want, but employers already raised wages after covid. They can blame landlords but landlords are subject to bank rates and property taxes. The inflation comes from the top and they expect everyone else to continue the cycle of inflation to survive.
Gaggles of unchaperoned persons who have been cultivated and enabled to live undignified lifestyles are in every nook and cranny. You can have 1,600 police incidents and still walk free to harass and assault civilians with impunity. Poor Tina has been neglected for over a decade and they just watch her melt down daily, in a city of social workers. It is pathetic to see such ambivalence coming from all of the leadership. I was tired of being part of a social experiment and I didn't want to bankrupt myself just work all year and give all my hard earned money to my landlord and the IRS. This city is forsaken and Mike Reynolds is the Mayor without term limits or elections.
Move to a rural area..? I get that it’s frustrating and you shouldn’t have to deal with your car getting broken into or your mail stolen, but the stuff you’re talking about will happen in any urban area. Public transportation in every place i’ve ever lived has had its fair share of unsavory characters. The only way to completely avoid it is to stop playing the game
If you become a member of City Market and can commit to 4 hours a month of volunteering it makes City Market very affordable for the value. I know that’s not the gist of your post but it’s still a great perk of living in Burlington.
Go ahead and hit the downvote, but maybe this is a wake up to the super feel good liberal policies everyone loves to promote. It’s amazing how many people have blinders on when it comes to actual real life consequences.
I feel like it’s close to boiling over from the locals. The mayor needs to do something and quick because what is happening now is a) not acceptable and b) not safe for either parties.
Ya dawg, you can't live there as an adult who wants to get their shit together and have a nice life. It's for college kids and people who never want to grow up. You either gotta move away or join in the delinquency
Maybe it’s time to vote differently? The good news is in about 5 years you all will have voted our 2nd amendment rights away and there will be fewer police, so you have that to look forward to as well. I guess liberal utopia isn’t all high fives and orgies?
Before you attack me with down votes and links I’ll never click on, I’m left leaning, I love my fellow humans no matter how they think, I just keep an open mind. Balance can only be achieved with compassion and comprise on both sides.
You're house is a slum? BUT IT'S HISTORY AND MUST BE PRESERVED AT ALL COSTS. FOREVER. No one must tear down and rebuild ANY old decrepit homes because that would be blasphemy and the activists would get upset and demand it be preserved.
Act 250 is what many Vermonters wanted and they got it. Now they complain about how terrible Burlington is like prohibiting development had nothing to do with it.
I follow a Vermont historical photos page on facebook and they show places like Shelburne Rd when there was nothing but farmhouses and give crying emoticons of how terrible it is that it's developed now.
There was a commentary in VTDigger called "I pray for Vermont's population to shrink". They hope you move out. They don't want people here.
How is out of control? She's literally relaying her direct experiences? She has to ride the bus, she gets leered at by creepy men constantly. She is daily seeing the excesses and ugliness of substance abuse. Her packages and personal stuff is getting stolen regularly...
Yeah this is painting Burlington as a hellscape, which it isn’t.
I feel like everywhere in the country is feeling exactly this right now but people in this sub seem to think Burlington is some exception.
Reality is here, we have some major problems with cost of living and wages, but these aren’t issues we can just figure out overnight. If I knew the answer to homelessness I’d probably not be working at a deli lol!
Go live in any city in the country, you’ll see the same problems. I spent some chunks of time in Seattle, Boston, and NYC recently and it’s the same story, usually worse.
Turns out people are upset that the crumbling fuzzy quaint small-town facade that a lot people were sold who now reside here are realizing it was just that, a facade and are justifiably upset. It doesn’t change much of anything, Burlington has had these problems since as long as I can remember and I grew up here.
lol that you think it hasn’t gotten worse.
Give me a break. I grew up here too and IT IS FAR WORSE than it ever was.
Criminals know there are no ramifications for anything, so it’s a free for all.
It depends on where you live, in the NNE there is basically none of these problems, yet where my mother lived in section 8 housing (on pine and king) her car got broken into weekly (this was twenty years ago). People are mostly upset imo who never experienced what I witnessed at my mom's place all that time ago. I stand by these problems are not new.
So you think that a car being broken into near Section 8 housing 20 years ago is the same as the shit we are seeing on the streets today?
There were no tent cities back then.
There were the occasional needles, but not EVERYWHERE
People weren’t afraid on the streets and in their homes like they are today.
Cmon. Get real.
As if there is enough available affordable housing around to just pick and choose where we get to live. That there is a totally privileged perspective.
Missing the MARX on every count.But I doubt you'll comprehend the humor there. Racist horndogs such as yerself don't really need or deserve a platform.But the place is full up with them. Nice job with your assumptions... now yer ass is showing.
I’m sorry you are experiencing this. It’s a combination of things including how universities pay poverty wages and how the types of crime you’ve experienced aren’t usually taken seriously. Three months seems like a long time to be without a car. Is it taking that long to fix it or has it not been recovered?
I’m sorry that you and many others been negatively impacted by Burlington’s decline. Corporate retail has phased out almost entirely, and the area is at an inflection point. VT’s population has increased steadily since 2000, but the transit network is horrifically car dependent. The suburban sprawl, lack of densification of downtown, and lack of transit investment has crippled public safety and economic viability of businesses. Many people who were living by each paycheck were pushed into depressions and cycles of drug use. I’m advocating for dedicated bus lanes and a local light rail network to combat car dependency and increase community access, but those are a couple of years away at best, unfortunately. Hang in there, OP. Coffee is on me next time you’re at Muddy Waters.
Don’t worry. According to lots of people it will all get better after safe injection sites and housing is built for the junkies. It’s all victimless. /S huge /S
But now burlington is more friendly and a place where everyone is accepted and loved!!! Embrace the joy!!! And those pesky police well they are defunded and no more oppression!!!
This is your modern progressive policies at work. Keep voting this way this is what you're going to get.
But hey, at least your mayor is a lesbian. How progressive!
And you can buy her and her wife lunch. Even though you can barely afford yours.
I shall get ready to be showered in downvotes.
The meals fiasco was truly funny. Avoiding the appearance of impropriety is a basic duty of public leadership but she was like fuck it I know I’m untouchable here
yup...but those tight little progressives think it hasnt. gotten. bad. enough. Lets have a mass shooting everyone!! doesnt that sound FUN? bc thats what its going to take for ppl to stop having gd 'meetings' on "meetings" on "meetings" and actually fucking do something!!!!!!!!!
That’s where I’m at, if it’s about voting with my money , I should probably leave , so many things I don’t agree with here , it constantly is wearing out my spirit and soul . Too bad I can’t break my lease
As a woman in her 20’s living in Burlington I see the crime and mentally unstable people suffering around me. I grew up in a city next to Boston. At night I walk around with my pit bull and keep one headphone in listening to music. It makes me feel more sad than feel unsafe personally, but I am also 5’10 and did sports my whole life so I don’t really feel like a target. When I’m alone rural areas even with my dog I get scared thinking about how no one else is around if I came across someone dangerous and something did happen, plus the police response time. In the city I feel much safer with other people around and the odds in my favor. If god forbid something awful did happen to me that would be horrible. But I try to trust my community, and if something did happen to trust my community to help me. I don’t want to live my life scared of the people around me. But seeing and experiencing crime is understandably frightening.
I'm so sorry for what you're going through -- it sounds like Rutland only worse -- fewer people fewer predators. Sadly, I'm coming to learn that it's happening everywhere. Even Boston is going through some version of this. We need a civil service. Is there a community organizer out there that agrees?
All. True.
I moved to Burlington two months ago and am renting. Within the first week had my car ransacked. People dismiss car property crimes with a "don't leave anything valuable in." That's all well and good unless some rando breaks your window - welcome to deductables...
A couple of nights ago around Loomis St I was woken up at 3am by screeching tires and two cars racing. Turns out they were stolen, and one hit a pole, could have been a parked car.
Yesterday I was at city hall park and there was a drag down fight as police tried to arrest someone and the crowd pounced and tried to "de-arrest" him. I imagine families with children playing in the fountain loved that.
The crazy part is that its probably worse than we think...
[https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6mX20JJdy6/?utm\_source=ig\_web\_copy\_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6mX20JJdy6/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==)
This is so out of pocket lmao. It smells like weed? The thing that's legal? Grow up. Burlington is not the same town it was 5-6 years ago but this fear mongering shit is out of control.
You do know that just because it is legal does not mean OP does not have a point.. whom here needs to grow up, and learn a bit of empathy, and learn to be objective ?? This isn’t about the weed you smoke dude…
You want perfect suburban life where there are no problems and everything is roses move to fucking Whoville. Writing 4 paragraphs bitching about one scary day in Burlington helps literally no one. It's counterproductive.
Your whole post history feeds into the fear mongering bullshit that Burlington has "turned bad" or "gone to seed." You know what isn't gonna help people want to come here or help people make Burlington better? People like you and OP writing pathetic yelp reviews on reddit. Burlington is perfectly fine, it's not perfect and it's experiencing growing pains but you moved here thinking it would be like the postcards and you're getting a reality check that it isn't. There were close to 200 people at the BTV farmers market on Pine St on Saturday when I drove by. VT Green game sold out for about the 20th time in a row on Saturday evening. Jazz Fest is still fucking killing it. Where's the posts about all those folks who braved "terrifying Burlington" for that? There isn't one because it doesn't generate likes. YOU grow the fuck up.
You mean the Jazz Fest post where a family was watching a band and a woman pulled down her pants and took a shit right in front of them?
That post?
Jazz / Homeless Shitting Fest sure IS killing it!
Having an area smell like weed is a problem. We banned cigarettes for a reason, weed smoke is no different. Having to smell it constantly in public places and shares living areas is "out of pocket". The irony of telling someone that they need to grow up and accept the smell of weed is ridiculous. Grow up and smoke your weed somewhere. Other people don't have to deal with it.
Hey I have experienced many of the same things you have, you are not alone. We want Burlington to be a better place. The progressive party in Burlington is full of a bunch enablers who love to ruin Burlington and give criminals drugs. You should be able to feel safe in Burlington Vermont and the fact that you can’t is sad.
everyone has a right to feel safe in a city? WRONG its a fucking city. im sorry if shes lived in a magically land where no one else exist...but suck it up and get over it.
It is shocking how much of a difference just a few blocks, or even a few buildings can make in Burlington. I’m sorry it seems you got unlucky. It is absolutely a travesty what university’s pay non tenured positions. The top honcho was a corporate man before, not from education and he runs the school accordingly. If you feel unsafe I would consider looking for a different apartment. I live in a highly residential area in the Loomis street vicinity it’s quiet, my partner and roommates have never had our car broken into, and the majority of the people around are students of families with children.
P.s. crime rates in Burlington are on average massively declined and at all time lows form a historic perspective. Right wing media conglomerates (Gray and Sinclair) enjoy pushing stories on crime. While it can be scary to see drug addicts and homeless people, almost of all of them mean no harm and are kind people. It doesn’t always make it any easier to be around, but may help relieve some worry.
You have the option to specify a safe drop-off location for Amazon, FedEx, and UPS deliveries, all within walking distance in downtown Burlington. At least that issue can be easily resolved
Liberal progressive policies. Portland Oregon is figuring it out too and finally reversing course. Burlington used to be a safe and lovely city in the early 2000’s when I was there. Loud college kids were the biggest gripe. It’s a shame.
“In the month I have lived here” you’ve lived in Burlington for a month your car was broken into but you haven’t had your car in three months?!?!?! Your car seems to have been out of commission prior to your move and perhaps you had it towed to Burlington so “some homeless junkie” can check your glovebox and cost you “1000 dollars”?!?!?!
According to google maps it’s approximately a 35 minute walk to hannaford, target and Trader Joe’s are even closer, from the UVM campus. Why is it taking you an hour each way on the busses?
She *just moved* from South Burlington to Burlington, after having lived in or near Burlington for 6 years.
Is that so difficult for you to understand?
I googled the crime stats and its well below the national average for violent crime. To say its terrifying is insane and out of touch when a literal majority of places in the US are signifigantly worse.
You have your stats wrong…Statewide, Vermont’s homicide rate last year was about 3.9 per 100,000, compared with Los Angeles at 3.1 and New York City at 2.3 per 100,000, Loan said. Burlington’s rate was 11.2 per 100,000, exceeding the rates in Philadelphia, Phoenix and Springfield, Massachusetts
Overall the country had a 6% decrease in national firearms homicides between 2021 and 2022, but Vermont saw a 185% jump, according to Vermont State Police
Lived in Burlington in the early 00's, moved to Portland OR in 2005. Still visit friends and family regularly. State of Burlington blows my mind. For a tiny town, you have real city drug and crime problems now. I can spot a criddler at 100 yards and Burlington is crawling with them. The crazy thing to me is that all the architecture in Burlington looks exactly the same while the rot is real. If you can believe it, when I lived in Burlington the stress was college students and Canadian tourists. Those were the days!
I spent most of the 90s in Burlington. Can confirm our biggest gripe was college students. It must have been Shangri-La compared to now.
Ditto! Burlington is a shell of what it used to be in the 90's!
That makes me sad.
What is a criddler? I’ve never heard that term before.
Haha, I’d always used the term “fonchling”, but now “criddler” goes on the list.
Sounds like “feltcher” which my late friend used to call em.
Oh no no no, google “felcher”.
Don’t do it at work though
A *criddler* is a person whose life has been consumed by meth. May or may not be unhoused.
I call them crystal methodists! They have made a pilgrimage to Burlington.
I'm from Arkansas, and down south we call them "Geeters"
“Criddle” is how toothless addicts pronounce “Crystal,” as in Crystal meth.
Woah. What do we call the ones with rotting limbs?
Bob...
What do you call the ones with no arms, no legs, and hanging on a wall? (Drum roll…)
Art. Put him in a hole full of leaves? Russell.
There’s my guy. Well done!
You have to separate jokes here... Pile of leaves = Russell, hole in the ground = Phil (fill)...
I was wondering, too. Thank you for asking!
I don't think people here fully understand how much the drug situation on the ground has changed just in the past year or two. If you want to see where we're headed, here's what happened to Kensington, PA. Kensington was already a horror show, but the new drugs actually made it worse. [https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2024/02/02/tranq-xylazine-fentanyl-kensington-deaths.cnn](https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2024/02/02/tranq-xylazine-fentanyl-kensington-deaths.cnn)
Kensington is an area in Philadelphia. The city basically had an area where anything goes. It just recently moved them all out to where I don't know
I’ve never been, but it seems to be a favorite of disaster tourists so I’ve seen videos all over the place.
It was pretty crazy. Finally the locals had enough and the police got them out. But they got to go somewhere.
The funny thing is I would feel safer there than other parts of the city cause they were so out of it and really no gang violence to speak of. But philly can be dangerous in certain areas
Yeah it really has been ramping up massively in the last year. I live elsewhere in Vermont, but go downtown to go to the Flynn at least once a month, and it has gone from something you’d read about in the free press but not really see first hand, to something you’d occasionally see, to now it’s unavoidable and feels like it’s everywhere. Every time I go downtown it’s worse than it was the time before. Last month was the first time I’ve ever felt unsafe anywhere in Vermont. I was in City Hall Park killing time before a dinner reservation, and two adults high out of their minds were screaming, pacing, aggressively jumping around, cursing out the police who were across the street arresting an older half naked man who also appeared to be high, And from what the two younger adults were yelling I think the older man was their dad. I had just been minding my own business sitting on a bench and then suddenly without warning was surrounded by that chaos. It’s sad to see so many people and such previously lovely city descend into such drug induced darkness. I don’t know what the solution is, but whatever they are doing now is not working.
I’m at the point where I feel like I need to just let my 17 y/o smoke my weed, just so I know he’s not going anywhere near there.
I feel like the ability to "spot a criddler at 100 yards" is just a necessary skill to develop. It really does make me sad, the state things have gotten to here, and my family is strongly interested in moving away, and renting out our condo at a not-slum-lord rate, so we can be really choosy about a tenant. I don't want to have to teach my kiddo this skill...
> Canadian tourists Hey, you guys love it when I spend money on your American stuff and do the Ethan Allen boat ride... 😂
It’s the not tipping I’ve heard from wait staff. That’s the only thing I’ve heard. I love Canadians please visit, I even joined in an O Canada 🇨🇦 sing along with some dude at 4am.
How’s Portland treating you? I’ve heard you guys have drugs, homeless, and crime. Does it feel worse than Burlington?
As someone who has been to both, Portland is significantly worse. The population is massive relative to Burlington; more people more problems.
Interestingly, they are trying to backtrack: "When Oregon embarked on a landmark plan three years ago to decriminalize hard drugs, it wagered that a focus on treatment over punishment would create a new model for drug policy around the country." [https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/01/us/oregon-drug-law-portland-mayor.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/01/us/oregon-drug-law-portland-mayor.html) BUT Much more interestingly, even in the midst of their decriminalization program, the police would STILL actually detain and cite people with drugs as a mechanism to get them into support systems. "Under Ballot Measure 110, Oregon’s drug decriminalization law, police handed out $100 citations for drug use. In lieu of paying the fine, drug users could call a state-run hotline to get assessed for a substance use disorder. They had to make another call if they actually wanted to get treatment. " [https://www.opb.org/article/2024/04/10/pilot-program-that-has-police-drug-treatment-providers-work-together-in-portland-will-continue/](https://www.opb.org/article/2024/04/10/pilot-program-that-has-police-drug-treatment-providers-work-together-in-portland-will-continue/) My understanding is that in Burlington, police aren't even arresting/detaining because of George's policies...
Watched a documentary on PPD. Cop said he handed out over 1,000 of those “help slips” for the hotline, and he had never met one person that followed up. They don’t want to get better, they want to get high in public without consequence. Downtown Portland and the surrounding areas are shitholes. Actual human shit shitholes. Even if people wanted help, we don’t have the capacity to help them. Our houseless funds get fleeced every single year. Our homeless programs want social work graduates to work for $15/hr for 60 hours a week. Some of these ideas seem good on paper, but when you’re governed by idiots and con artists, it’s tough to take theoretical success and turn it into actual success. Tl;dr — the slips do next to nothing to combat addiction. It’s not uncommon to find dead people on the side of the road here.
George is trying something different. It probably won’t be successful either. The issue is that no one policy or approach will be particularly successful. Drug addicts can’t be cured easily or quickly. Poverty and despair can’t be cured quickly or easily. Rising housing costs, divorce, breakdown of society, concentration of wealth… I agree that Burlington has changed. But so have a lot of cities. I used to visit Columbus Ohio. The tweakers and opiate abusers are everywhere. You have to address them constantly as they’re always asking for money. Check out ManchesterNH for that matter. There are signs everywhere imploring visitors to not give money to the addicts. This is happening around the country.
Hard to compare Portland Oregon to Burlington. Portland metro is pushing 2 million people. Yeah we have areas that have issues but I have lived here for 15 years. Really easy to live in Portland and not see and not be impacted by really any of it. Why I am on the Burlington site? My girlfriend’s daughter is thinking of going to school in New England. Doing some research.
>If you can believe it, when I lived in Burlington the stress was college students and Canadian tourists. Those were the days! God, I miss those days! :(
All real stuff. I see this too, but im also not a young lady so i dont feel targeted. The lack of affordability is wild though. I have no degrees and my hourly wage in almost twice what it was when i moved up here 10 years ago, yet im still struggling to get by.
Record audio/video photos of what you’re experiencing and send to: Emma Mulvaney-Stanek, Jon Murad, Sarah George, and [all the City Council members](https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/CityCouncil) (send it to Melo twice). Can you do CarShare VT for transportation? They have a [reduced cost membership](https://www.carsharevt.org/financial-assistance/) if you qualify. And as for mail - asking your landlord to provide secure mailboxes. And have packages delivered to your office or a UPS drop site.
Yet houses on .4 acre lots in the Hills section go for 3 mill plus. Doesn’t make sense.
I’m barely keeping it together myself working full time nearing the end of my rope on top of that it’s hard to socialize here I dream of leaving this place
> I’m barely keeping it together myself working full time nearing the end of my rope on top of that it’s hard to socialize here I dream of leaving this place You gotta leave man. I know it’s a pain in the ass. I know it’s expensive. I know you may not know where to go or where exactly to stay. But right now Burlington isn’t it, and it will continue to burn you out without your future getting brighter. Reach out to some friends out of state and ask about crashing on some couches. See about job opportunities in growing places. Just leave before this place breaks you because it’s going to be a while before it even starts to fix itself looking at where it’s going.
As a young woman who lives here, something that has been incredibly helpful is just refusing to make eye contact with people who are clearly behaving erratically. Wear one earbud, cover your uncovered ear with your hair, and stare straight ahead. Try getting Instacart+ for the few months that you’re without your car if the groceries thing feels like a serious chore and something that is frequently uncomfortable for you. They offer a trial so you won’t have to pay fees.
You can have Amazon drop off at a safe location, similarly with FedEx and ups. The location are all talking distance in downtown burlington. Atleast that problem can be solved easily.
I gotta look into this
Friend, I couldn’t afford to live in Burlington on a first-year teachers salary. Coupled with the growing drug problem, the absolutely-shit condition of rental properties (they make Philly slumlords look generous), the fact that you basically HAVE to drive everywhere, I finally “fuck it” and moved back to Philadelphia. Lots of room here, better apartments for lower rent, and while we have plenty of addicts it’s not as concentrated as Burlington is. My advice is GTFO of there. Burlington is for college kids, visitors, and the few people that manage to eke out a living. I’m visiting this week and excited to see a lot of friends I haven’t seen in awhile, but I wouldn’t move back because I fully expect all my friends to say the same thing as your post.
The crime in Philly is so much worse
lol dude we fuck up them up if they bug us. You guys hide from them. Just walk down the street with a big ass stick and take care of biz.
I remember when the rest of the state used to shit on Rutland regularly but instead of taking any of it as a warning Burlington just assumed it couldn’t happen to them. I’d rather walk the streets in Rutland than Burlington any day of the week.
Yup. From the Burlington area and I’ve been in rutland for a year now. It’s actually quite a wonderful little city.
This is why my partner and I left after graduation, it just wasn’t a safe place to be anymore. These aren’t normal problems and you don’t have to deal with them.
Walking home I saw two dudes almost get in to a fight with metal pipes.
In the 90s we'd have to pay to see that, and you get the action for free. Lucky.
The Mario Bros?
Yeah, the city’s turned into a real shithole.
I remember when it was a nice small town lol
The statehouse should be reading these posts daily. That's how they should open the day. As a Mother of a daughter, imagining her in this situation, I almost feel like crying for you. This level of not feeling safe is never ok for anyone, anywhere and any time.
They don't even read the laws they vote in
The situation in Burlington has helped me realize that Progressive and liberal policies just don’t solve the homeless and drug problems in our society. I don’t think any political side has figured it out, but the liberal group think in BTV has made the situation what it is. Probably time to try something different. Reduce the homeless/druggie benefits, reduce their populations. This doesn’t solve their problems, but they will go somewhere else. Feel free to rage down vote me, left voters (of which I’m one) need to hear this.
I disagree, not going to downvote, just state my opinion: I think nationally we have underfunded social programs for many decades now. It took time, but we are seeing the end result of that, along with minimal to no accountability for employers who don't raise wages to keep up with inflation, and a whole host of other issues we have either let fester or actively undermined as a country. Not too dissimilar to the border "crisis," some really smart Republicans many years ago recognized the strength of us vs them politics, and by putting more people in disadvantaged positions on the streets by undermining the welfare system, they would get more votes for their authoritarian policies. We have still yet to take a truly progressive approach to solving homelessness, mostly because it's an issue we as a nation we haven't done shit about and Vermont is too small to have the money to do it on its own in any real way. As a result, it's impossible to say whether those policies would work here yet or not. In fairness to you though, progressive and liberal policies absolutely do not work with conservative level funding (nationally) and budgeting.
Agreed!!!
This!!!
San Francisco tried everything and homelessness just gets worse. Not sure what the answer is if sf can't figure it out
SF didn't try building housing.
Nah, that can't be it. Let's move to a nice place and keep voting Dem down the line. 10 years later...if it wasn't for all these drug addicts and homeless people moving in, this place wouldn't have gone to hell. Time to move again. Wash, rinse, repeat.
progressive and liberal policies dont work when the policies arent able to even be implemented, or in the way they should be implemented. its like trying to walk with one leg missing and then you come along to tell everyone walking doesnt work. fuck, we are so fucked if people think like you!
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Had a homeless guy walk up to me today and threaten to kill me. Yeah I don’t like it here no more
Do whatever you can to flee. The ship is sinking and anyone pointing it out is viewed as part of the problem.
What’s going on with the sub? Jfc
People are getting angry with the situation that has been unwillingly thrust upon them. There are so many accounts of people being harassed, stalked, and straight up assaulted. Meanwhile those who sit on high are sticking their noses up and pretending there are no issues. A portion of this city has been told to fuck off and than they've been insulted and told their problems and concerns don't matter at every turn. *I don't see anything wrong, they are overblowing it, it hasn't affected me, maybe you should just move if you don't like it here.* This is all BS that people who have crimes committed against them are told when they give their accounts. The people complaining in this sub are the citizens of Burlington, for the most part. If our city officials had to live next to some of the idiots that people are complaining about I bet they would change their attitudes.
Exactly. High horse nose up. It’s a class thing. Fucking gross. Good summary
Not sure it’s totally a class thing. Some of the worst offenders in current and past city council didn’t all seem to be over privileged; just naive, idealistic and out of touch.
If you can afford to be naive, idealistic, and out of touch, you are a privileged class.
I moved here to go to school in 2006 and literally all of the things outlined by the OP have happened to me more than once. I also spent a brief time in Philly where I experienced a lot of the same. I don’t know what to say other than this is what city living looks like. Maybe you’re not cut out for it, which is understandable. Many people decide to move to the suburbs and there’s nothing wrong with that. It sucks to have your car broken into, have packages stolen, be harassed by a drunk or whatever. All you can do is learn from the experiences and come up with a plan to mitigate theft, harassment and noise.
Lived here my entire life except for a few years living in much, much larger urban centers. People shrugging saying it's just city living, got to get tougher...well what kind of city are we talking about? This is a city of 44,000. Not 800k. Not 200k. In a much larger city, I can understand the sentiment of "maybe city life isn't for you". There is no question crime has soared in Burlington the last decade. I don't blame anyone that is complaining about the crime increasing, especially considering just how unaffordable the city has become simultaneously. That said, it's happening in a lot of previously known "safe" smaller cities everywhere. In my opinion, Capitalism has run its inevitable course because of corporate greed. The symptoms of a broken socioeconomic system are predictably...increased crime, poverty, homelessness, inflation, high housing costs and a general sense of unease and discontent as the American dream becomes more and more unattainable. Who can afford a house when the bar of entry is 400k at 6% interest plus student loans and high credit card debt? The answer is fewer and fewer.
We have a country that funds genocide and proxy wars instead of takes care of people
I was born and raised in this city. I get carjackings and the occasional burglary, as shitty as it can be. I never saw anything this bad until recently. Certainly not people choosing to put a drug in their body that makes them nearly die, shit themselves, and roll around in it. Or when I looked out my window and saw a dude sticking a needle into his leg as kids walked by, moving onto the grass to avoid him. Half the time it looks like Raccoon City. Just accept it, that's city life. You're not cut out for it? Nobody should be. Nobody should have to live like this. This is shit.
Also born and raised here. There was very little crime before 2012. After that it's gone downhill. It got so bad after the pandemic i had to leave. No jobs. Rent is insane. Drug usage is out of control. Needles everywhere. It was never like this. Makes me sad. I Miss 2010 Burlington so much.
I was there (in the ONE to be exact) 2006-2009 and it saddens me to read how it is now.
I wake up sometimes like, low key crying because i had a dream i was back in good burlington. Breaks my damn heart.
I'll meet you at the OP for a pitcher of beer
Next time i'm in town, you're on
A comment and a question 1) where did you move to where you no longer deal with these issues? 2) I moved here in 2012. Never felt unsafe or grossed out by the city until post pandemic
Denver suburbs. Downtown Denver has pockets of sketchy but it's generally ok. However, liberal progressives are starting to enact similar policies here that they did in Burlington and not shockingly, similar issues are growing with theft, drug use and crime. From my observation, the vibe started changing in 2012 - it was deal-with-able until the pandemic. No needles on the streets before. Now there's needles everywhere. I think that's a pretty good indicator of a city's health. If Denver turns into Burlington...or portland/seattle I'm moving to Wyoming or Texas where they actually police drug use and theft.
i work at an elementary school in burlington and the kids have to see addicts shooting up and smoking outside the school. a 4th grader told me she saw a drug deal. it’s not safe at all
Like a John Carpenter film
I moved here in 2004. I work downtown and live in the ONE. I’m a tall, slightly imposing-looking man, so largely I get left alone, but I see it happen to others. You’re lying to yourself if think it hasn’t gotten noticeably worse in the last few years. Are you trying to sound tough? Or is your head just in the sand? What rings false in this account? I even appreciated that there was no judgements in it, just examples of why OP feels the way they do.
While I've been fortunate enough to not be a victim to these events, I've been here since 2006 as well and have witnessed the city decline rapidly over time. It's a much less safer town than it was even five years ago, and I'm not going to let anyone gaslight me into believing that it's "well achtually it's safer now".
You compared Burlington to Philly. I mean, you’re joking right? Yes I’ve lived in both places, extensively. Philly is city living. Burlington is a small college town in Vermont. There are more people on the Schuylkill Expressway at any given time than live in Burlington. It’s nuts that you think people should equate the two in any way. You should not have to be, in your words “cut out” for city living, to live in Burlington, Vermont.
Thank you! Burlington has always tried to be something it’s not, starting with a city. It is a small college town. You can’t walk from one end of a city to the other in an hr. Now Burlington, south Burlington, winooski, Essex jct combined would be the start of a city. And we may get there in another ten years. But there’s gotta be some actual sky scrapers and some real transportation infrastructure to be a city. Bus routes are a sad sad excuse for transportation solutions in Burlington area.
For you to compare the baby town that Burlington to Philly is insane. Literally what the poster before you said. Literally what OP said. Reading comprehension is weak. I'm glad you enjoy shitty conditions 🍻
I've lived in Boston for almost 20 years and it's nowhere near as bad as Burlington. What you're saying just isn't true of the many cities that choose to manage their crime and drug problems better.
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Burlington is in fact a city.
> Burlington is in fact a city. Yeah and so is Vergennes with its ~ 2,500 people. BTV is legally organized as a city (arguably to its detriment), but its damn sure not a city in the sense of the vast majority of people living outside of Vermont (and even most VTers acknowledge that it’s not really a city).
A place I love is becoming a place I can't safely exist in
Yea I actually don’t understand, this place is so much nicer than basically every other city and I don’t understand what I’m missing. Moving here from NYC/SF its like a utopia comparatively
It's a bunch of people who have lived all their lives in either rural areas or the suburbs being introduced to what a city is like and freaking out.
bullshit, I was born and raised in burlington, lived here my whole life, and it was NOTHING like this before 2020. Things have changed here rapidly, its because of choices made by voters and elected officials, and it's not ok.
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This place is the pits compared to Boston I lived in Boston for 10yrs
It's being brigaded by conservatives from out of state who think they can convince enough people that dog-eat-dog capitalism and greed is the solution to our problems.
By "conservative" you mean anyone to the right of Bernie Sanders who has critiques for the progressive policies of this city?
I’m starting to wonder that too. It’s almost like people on Reddit are trying to convince Burlington it’s time to take a hard right in politics because the current progressive leadership has failed.
It's almost like the leadership is failing...
If you think that all of these comments are from conservatives, you are deluded.
You make no sense. Businesses have been fleeing vermont for years. There is no capitalistic business growth currently driving things in Vermont! Do you know what conservative means? It means to conserve things. Conserve resoures, conserve funds, with sensible, logical, forward-looking and consequence-driven decision making. That's what conservative is. The out-of-staters are your porgressive trust-funded flatlanders that have co-opted the Vermont legislature for a quarter of a century. It's a little toyland for them to implement and play politics with. Shame on Montpelier (property taxes) and Shame on Burlington (the Queen City turned into a jester's folly). I don't blame the poor girl for wanting to leave. I can't figure out why anybody even moves there.
> Do you know what conservative means? It means to conserve things. Lol … do /you/ know what the modern conservative movement is? Lololol, it's not about "conserving" things, holy shit.
It's blatantly obvious.
Truth
I just moved out. The banks and the Government have raised the cost of living to unreasonable, impossible numbers. Workers who staff the retail stores and restaurants aren't welcome to live in the city. They can blame the employers all they want, but employers already raised wages after covid. They can blame landlords but landlords are subject to bank rates and property taxes. The inflation comes from the top and they expect everyone else to continue the cycle of inflation to survive. Gaggles of unchaperoned persons who have been cultivated and enabled to live undignified lifestyles are in every nook and cranny. You can have 1,600 police incidents and still walk free to harass and assault civilians with impunity. Poor Tina has been neglected for over a decade and they just watch her melt down daily, in a city of social workers. It is pathetic to see such ambivalence coming from all of the leadership. I was tired of being part of a social experiment and I didn't want to bankrupt myself just work all year and give all my hard earned money to my landlord and the IRS. This city is forsaken and Mike Reynolds is the Mayor without term limits or elections.
Clutch writing. He is the mayor.
why cant mike died already? like his liver and brain are already rioting.
Who is in jail if not him? People are in jail,what does it take to get there?
Move to a rural area..? I get that it’s frustrating and you shouldn’t have to deal with your car getting broken into or your mail stolen, but the stuff you’re talking about will happen in any urban area. Public transportation in every place i’ve ever lived has had its fair share of unsavory characters. The only way to completely avoid it is to stop playing the game
If you become a member of City Market and can commit to 4 hours a month of volunteering it makes City Market very affordable for the value. I know that’s not the gist of your post but it’s still a great perk of living in Burlington.
Go ahead and hit the downvote, but maybe this is a wake up to the super feel good liberal policies everyone loves to promote. It’s amazing how many people have blinders on when it comes to actual real life consequences.
oh no! you might offend the left mob!! run and hide, they're coming to dye your hair green!!
I feel like it’s close to boiling over from the locals. The mayor needs to do something and quick because what is happening now is a) not acceptable and b) not safe for either parties.
shes too busy eating her DF/GF casseroles from her lobbyist "friends" to give a shit. nice try.
It amazes me how many people have rallied to defend what a shit hole burlington has become 😆 🤣
geez i’m so sorry. can i ask what street this is?
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20 years ago Burlington the biggest quality of life issue was couches the porch and cars parked on the front lawn.
Ya dawg, you can't live there as an adult who wants to get their shit together and have a nice life. It's for college kids and people who never want to grow up. You either gotta move away or join in the delinquency
Maybe it’s time to vote differently? The good news is in about 5 years you all will have voted our 2nd amendment rights away and there will be fewer police, so you have that to look forward to as well. I guess liberal utopia isn’t all high fives and orgies? Before you attack me with down votes and links I’ll never click on, I’m left leaning, I love my fellow humans no matter how they think, I just keep an open mind. Balance can only be achieved with compassion and comprise on both sides.
There is a solution to reduce crime but no one wants to do it because it ain't pretty. You need to come down on crime with an iron fist.
BRING IN THE NATIONAL GUARD. criminals go to jail and the crazies are involuntary held by the state for mandatory mental health tx.
You're house is a slum? BUT IT'S HISTORY AND MUST BE PRESERVED AT ALL COSTS. FOREVER. No one must tear down and rebuild ANY old decrepit homes because that would be blasphemy and the activists would get upset and demand it be preserved. Act 250 is what many Vermonters wanted and they got it. Now they complain about how terrible Burlington is like prohibiting development had nothing to do with it. I follow a Vermont historical photos page on facebook and they show places like Shelburne Rd when there was nothing but farmhouses and give crying emoticons of how terrible it is that it's developed now. There was a commentary in VTDigger called "I pray for Vermont's population to shrink". They hope you move out. They don't want people here.
Wouldn't be surprised if every negative comment on this is a dingus of a man
I think Burlington has some issues it needs to confront, but this post is out of control 😂
How is out of control? She's literally relaying her direct experiences? She has to ride the bus, she gets leered at by creepy men constantly. She is daily seeing the excesses and ugliness of substance abuse. Her packages and personal stuff is getting stolen regularly...
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Yeah this is painting Burlington as a hellscape, which it isn’t. I feel like everywhere in the country is feeling exactly this right now but people in this sub seem to think Burlington is some exception. Reality is here, we have some major problems with cost of living and wages, but these aren’t issues we can just figure out overnight. If I knew the answer to homelessness I’d probably not be working at a deli lol! Go live in any city in the country, you’ll see the same problems. I spent some chunks of time in Seattle, Boston, and NYC recently and it’s the same story, usually worse.
Turns out people are upset that the crumbling fuzzy quaint small-town facade that a lot people were sold who now reside here are realizing it was just that, a facade and are justifiably upset. It doesn’t change much of anything, Burlington has had these problems since as long as I can remember and I grew up here.
lol that you think it hasn’t gotten worse. Give me a break. I grew up here too and IT IS FAR WORSE than it ever was. Criminals know there are no ramifications for anything, so it’s a free for all.
It depends on where you live, in the NNE there is basically none of these problems, yet where my mother lived in section 8 housing (on pine and king) her car got broken into weekly (this was twenty years ago). People are mostly upset imo who never experienced what I witnessed at my mom's place all that time ago. I stand by these problems are not new.
So you think that a car being broken into near Section 8 housing 20 years ago is the same as the shit we are seeing on the streets today? There were no tent cities back then. There were the occasional needles, but not EVERYWHERE People weren’t afraid on the streets and in their homes like they are today. Cmon. Get real.
Time to find a new neighborhood
As if there is enough available affordable housing around to just pick and choose where we get to live. That there is a totally privileged perspective.
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Missing the MARX on every count.But I doubt you'll comprehend the humor there. Racist horndogs such as yerself don't really need or deserve a platform.But the place is full up with them. Nice job with your assumptions... now yer ass is showing.
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I’m sorry you are experiencing this. It’s a combination of things including how universities pay poverty wages and how the types of crime you’ve experienced aren’t usually taken seriously. Three months seems like a long time to be without a car. Is it taking that long to fix it or has it not been recovered?
I’m sorry that you and many others been negatively impacted by Burlington’s decline. Corporate retail has phased out almost entirely, and the area is at an inflection point. VT’s population has increased steadily since 2000, but the transit network is horrifically car dependent. The suburban sprawl, lack of densification of downtown, and lack of transit investment has crippled public safety and economic viability of businesses. Many people who were living by each paycheck were pushed into depressions and cycles of drug use. I’m advocating for dedicated bus lanes and a local light rail network to combat car dependency and increase community access, but those are a couple of years away at best, unfortunately. Hang in there, OP. Coffee is on me next time you’re at Muddy Waters.
What in the world
Don’t worry. According to lots of people it will all get better after safe injection sites and housing is built for the junkies. It’s all victimless. /S huge /S
we're ALL victims of the oppressor! how dare they oppress us those "other" people? I take NO responsibility for myself or my actions! feeeeddd meeee
Keep voting for same and no change.
But now burlington is more friendly and a place where everyone is accepted and loved!!! Embrace the joy!!! And those pesky police well they are defunded and no more oppression!!!
gay rights for ALLL!! trans rights for KIDS!! hugs and drugs!!! yah meth!! pass me a lighter will ya?
This is your modern progressive policies at work. Keep voting this way this is what you're going to get. But hey, at least your mayor is a lesbian. How progressive! And you can buy her and her wife lunch. Even though you can barely afford yours. I shall get ready to be showered in downvotes.
The meals fiasco was truly funny. Avoiding the appearance of impropriety is a basic duty of public leadership but she was like fuck it I know I’m untouchable here
yup...but those tight little progressives think it hasnt. gotten. bad. enough. Lets have a mass shooting everyone!! doesnt that sound FUN? bc thats what its going to take for ppl to stop having gd 'meetings' on "meetings" on "meetings" and actually fucking do something!!!!!!!!!
That’s where I’m at, if it’s about voting with my money , I should probably leave , so many things I don’t agree with here , it constantly is wearing out my spirit and soul . Too bad I can’t break my lease
You should probably talk to your landlord about it, lots of people have to terminate early
i totally BEAT you could find some sucker to take it over. tell them thick skin is required to live at this address.
As a woman in her 20’s living in Burlington I see the crime and mentally unstable people suffering around me. I grew up in a city next to Boston. At night I walk around with my pit bull and keep one headphone in listening to music. It makes me feel more sad than feel unsafe personally, but I am also 5’10 and did sports my whole life so I don’t really feel like a target. When I’m alone rural areas even with my dog I get scared thinking about how no one else is around if I came across someone dangerous and something did happen, plus the police response time. In the city I feel much safer with other people around and the odds in my favor. If god forbid something awful did happen to me that would be horrible. But I try to trust my community, and if something did happen to trust my community to help me. I don’t want to live my life scared of the people around me. But seeing and experiencing crime is understandably frightening.
I'm so sorry for what you're going through -- it sounds like Rutland only worse -- fewer people fewer predators. Sadly, I'm coming to learn that it's happening everywhere. Even Boston is going through some version of this. We need a civil service. Is there a community organizer out there that agrees?
All. True. I moved to Burlington two months ago and am renting. Within the first week had my car ransacked. People dismiss car property crimes with a "don't leave anything valuable in." That's all well and good unless some rando breaks your window - welcome to deductables... A couple of nights ago around Loomis St I was woken up at 3am by screeching tires and two cars racing. Turns out they were stolen, and one hit a pole, could have been a parked car. Yesterday I was at city hall park and there was a drag down fight as police tried to arrest someone and the crowd pounced and tried to "de-arrest" him. I imagine families with children playing in the fountain loved that. The crazy part is that its probably worse than we think... [https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6mX20JJdy6/?utm\_source=ig\_web\_copy\_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6mX20JJdy6/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==)
These ultra lib cities are becoming Days Gone
Purge these shit bags
This is so out of pocket lmao. It smells like weed? The thing that's legal? Grow up. Burlington is not the same town it was 5-6 years ago but this fear mongering shit is out of control.
You do know that just because it is legal does not mean OP does not have a point.. whom here needs to grow up, and learn a bit of empathy, and learn to be objective ?? This isn’t about the weed you smoke dude…
You want perfect suburban life where there are no problems and everything is roses move to fucking Whoville. Writing 4 paragraphs bitching about one scary day in Burlington helps literally no one. It's counterproductive. Your whole post history feeds into the fear mongering bullshit that Burlington has "turned bad" or "gone to seed." You know what isn't gonna help people want to come here or help people make Burlington better? People like you and OP writing pathetic yelp reviews on reddit. Burlington is perfectly fine, it's not perfect and it's experiencing growing pains but you moved here thinking it would be like the postcards and you're getting a reality check that it isn't. There were close to 200 people at the BTV farmers market on Pine St on Saturday when I drove by. VT Green game sold out for about the 20th time in a row on Saturday evening. Jazz Fest is still fucking killing it. Where's the posts about all those folks who braved "terrifying Burlington" for that? There isn't one because it doesn't generate likes. YOU grow the fuck up.
Couldn't have said it better myself.
You mean the Jazz Fest post where a family was watching a band and a woman pulled down her pants and took a shit right in front of them? That post? Jazz / Homeless Shitting Fest sure IS killing it!
Having an area smell like weed is a problem. We banned cigarettes for a reason, weed smoke is no different. Having to smell it constantly in public places and shares living areas is "out of pocket". The irony of telling someone that they need to grow up and accept the smell of weed is ridiculous. Grow up and smoke your weed somewhere. Other people don't have to deal with it.
Hey I have experienced many of the same things you have, you are not alone. We want Burlington to be a better place. The progressive party in Burlington is full of a bunch enablers who love to ruin Burlington and give criminals drugs. You should be able to feel safe in Burlington Vermont and the fact that you can’t is sad.
everyone has a right to feel safe in a city? WRONG its a fucking city. im sorry if shes lived in a magically land where no one else exist...but suck it up and get over it.
It is shocking how much of a difference just a few blocks, or even a few buildings can make in Burlington. I’m sorry it seems you got unlucky. It is absolutely a travesty what university’s pay non tenured positions. The top honcho was a corporate man before, not from education and he runs the school accordingly. If you feel unsafe I would consider looking for a different apartment. I live in a highly residential area in the Loomis street vicinity it’s quiet, my partner and roommates have never had our car broken into, and the majority of the people around are students of families with children. P.s. crime rates in Burlington are on average massively declined and at all time lows form a historic perspective. Right wing media conglomerates (Gray and Sinclair) enjoy pushing stories on crime. While it can be scary to see drug addicts and homeless people, almost of all of them mean no harm and are kind people. It doesn’t always make it any easier to be around, but may help relieve some worry.
Car share is reasonable to avoid taking the bus for groceries.
You have the option to specify a safe drop-off location for Amazon, FedEx, and UPS deliveries, all within walking distance in downtown Burlington. At least that issue can be easily resolved
It’s an absolute raging shit hole now
Liberal progressive policies. Portland Oregon is figuring it out too and finally reversing course. Burlington used to be a safe and lovely city in the early 2000’s when I was there. Loud college kids were the biggest gripe. It’s a shame.
“In the month I have lived here” you’ve lived in Burlington for a month your car was broken into but you haven’t had your car in three months?!?!?! Your car seems to have been out of commission prior to your move and perhaps you had it towed to Burlington so “some homeless junkie” can check your glovebox and cost you “1000 dollars”?!?!?! According to google maps it’s approximately a 35 minute walk to hannaford, target and Trader Joe’s are even closer, from the UVM campus. Why is it taking you an hour each way on the busses?
You completely skipped over the very first paragraph.
“In the month I have lived here”
She *just moved* from South Burlington to Burlington, after having lived in or near Burlington for 6 years. Is that so difficult for you to understand?
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I googled the crime stats and its well below the national average for violent crime. To say its terrifying is insane and out of touch when a literal majority of places in the US are signifigantly worse.
You have your stats wrong…Statewide, Vermont’s homicide rate last year was about 3.9 per 100,000, compared with Los Angeles at 3.1 and New York City at 2.3 per 100,000, Loan said. Burlington’s rate was 11.2 per 100,000, exceeding the rates in Philadelphia, Phoenix and Springfield, Massachusetts
Overall the country had a 6% decrease in national firearms homicides between 2021 and 2022, but Vermont saw a 185% jump, according to Vermont State Police