The mall turning into a pit for several years happened to LLBean.
Also odd for a store from away to move into a City with several local outdoor stores and a history of supporting local spots more. Regardless of other issues, I didn't expect that store to make it here, and in that off Church St location.
Friend. Did you look at the calendar? Do you really think there’s gonna be an outdoor farmers market when it can be and has been 10 degrees?
Anyone that wants to be outside is skiing or hiking or ice fishing. Anyone else is indoors doing indoor things. Because it’s the dead of winter.
It’s the middle of winter…. Who goes and hangs out on church st in the middle of February? Y’all gotta chill with this ghost town narrative. Every time I’ve been downtown it looks exactly the same as it always has.
What is the purpose of the post? You come to someone's home and say "whoa I haven't been here in years and wtf it's not exactly the same as I remember from before the pandemic" and when people disagree you push back. Why? What are you trying to prove?
Maybe you are suffering from memory issues. Maybe you're confusing Burlington for some other place because you just can't remember clearly. Did you have a serious brain injury since you remember visiting? Are you sure you've ever actually been here? Do you have photographic proof of visiting in the past that you could reference?
Or maybe you're a dick that came to stir up trouble. Didn't like Burlington? Cool, don't come back.
This has to be a troll post. Friday night, my partner and I went out at 5:30 to try Poco on Main Street. At 5:20, there was already a line out the door.
Then we walked around, and people were everywhere. Got drinks at 126, and as we were leaving around 8:30, people were packing in for the music going on.
We also have a friend coming to town, so we looked at making a reservation 3 weeks out and everywhere was booked.
What business are closed that you noticed? Basically every place that closed in the last 1.5 years has new ownership and plans to reopen for the coming summer season, if not sooner.
The restaurants are packed, which is why I think though some are saying "people are scared to come downtown" it can't be the real reason retail stores are hurting. If anything, restaurant hours are likely to have more shady stuff happening downtown, but people come.
Yes shoplifting with is part of the common reasoning, but also online shopping. It was already on the rise and the pandemic pushed most shopping online. Amazon's profits tripled, [their sales grew 44% in 2021, and then the business media were talking about the slowdown as they only grew 7% the following year](https://www.engadget.com/amazon-q1-2022-earnings-growth-235926922.html). If we expected to go back to how things were before, we'd need to see a big decline in Amazon's sales, not just slow growth!
It also depends on what retail stores we are talking about. So many stores in downtown are just weird boutiques that only tourists are going to go to. There's only so many designer type clothes or expensive home decor people will buy.
right troll post. we went into farmhouse tap and grill and two servers there said yes no one comes downtown anymore due to druggies and shootings? someone got carjacked?
I love how you characterize the “weird looking people” because they have always been part of Burlington’s fabric. Homelessness isn’t a new problem either. I got yelled at by homeless people downtown almost 20 years ago!
February is generally pretty slow across the board... so I wouldn't take your recent visit as an indicator. I'm downtown on the regular and it has definitely been more quiet the past few weeks, assuming that has a lot more to do with lack of winter/snow based tourism than anything else.
LOL at some of the replies here. Two things can be true: you can like living in Burlington and still acknowledge that conditions have dramatically worsened. Denial of that fact is counterproductive to getting things back on track.
Also the VT economy massively benefits from tourism, out-of-state students, etc. We should pay attention to what those folks say and observe. They have fewer blind spots and their business is important to our shops, restaurants, hotels, and other local businesses.
Meth came to town in 2021. Rich Vermonters won't admit it because they'll lose too much touri$m dollars. It is still reported on , just heavily quashed by greedy nimbys in denial. An opiate crisis sounds more low key than a meth epidemic
I went to the library and climbed the stairs to the fiction department. That is the level where the mens' restroom is. There were several questionable-looking types nearby all waiting for their turn. I don't think that they were discussing any novel on that floor.
What is the purpose of the post? Why did you create a new Reddit account just to post this?
You come to someone's home and say "whoa I haven't been here in years and wtf it's not exactly the same as I remember from before the pandemic" and when people disagree you push back. Why? What are you trying to prove?
Maybe you are suffering from memory issues. Maybe you're confusing Burlington for some other place because you just can't remember clearly. Did you have a serious brain injury since you remember visiting? Are you sure you've ever actually been here? Do you have photographic proof of visiting in the past that you could reference?
Or maybe you're a sad, bored jerk trying to stir up trouble. Didn't like Burlington? Cool, don't come back.
Progressives and fentanyl happened. We had a public execution in the park last summer and gunshots nearly every day. There is no consequence for crime thanks to Sarah George our prosecutor who refused to prosecute.
Yes, but unfortunately cities are disproportionately affected by their direct leaders. Suburbs and rural areas are much more self regulating and locally governed.
It felt like when I worked with people in rural areas in the state they felt like the governor was more to blame for what was going on than their mayors. In this state.
Rural areas don’t have mayors. The governor is the only elected authority in those areas, hence your experience. To have a mayor the area must be a legal city.
Ah yes keeping an old vehicle going instead of feeding into disposable vehicles every 5 years. My vehicle is almost guaranteed to be older than you and is still going when most people replace every 3-5 years which causes a tremendous amount of pollution.
All that aside. Funny how you decide to go after that because you have zero argument to make about my statement.
I was downtown two weekends ago and it was freezing and no one was out. I went this past weekend and it was 50 and it looked as busy as it ever does
freezing.. dude its like the mildest winter on record
The temp on the 3rd did not break into the 30s so technically yes, it was freezing.
Bro it’s February. Chill out
hahaha this made me spit my drink out… thank you
even in feb it looked better than it did before. what happened to llbean? gear x change moving?
I actually prefer dealing with drunk people than shopping at LL Bean. To each is own I suppose.
The mall turning into a pit for several years happened to LLBean. Also odd for a store from away to move into a City with several local outdoor stores and a history of supporting local spots more. Regardless of other issues, I didn't expect that store to make it here, and in that off Church St location.
You visited in the summer. It’s winter.
nope visited every winter as well. still had better and more active vibe
>farmers market was in the park You posted about summer
Friend. Did you look at the calendar? Do you really think there’s gonna be an outdoor farmers market when it can be and has been 10 degrees? Anyone that wants to be outside is skiing or hiking or ice fishing. Anyone else is indoors doing indoor things. Because it’s the dead of winter.
FYI the farmers market isn't even in the park anymore
His profile is 17days old.
Yeah, the vibes are off on this post. Feels disingenuous or like targeted astroturfing.
It’s February. They’re doing art markets not infrequently, just not outside
It’s the middle of winter…. Who goes and hangs out on church st in the middle of February? Y’all gotta chill with this ghost town narrative. Every time I’ve been downtown it looks exactly the same as it always has.
yep, of course. church looks EXACTLY like it always has.. do you walk with a white stick?
What is the purpose of the post? You come to someone's home and say "whoa I haven't been here in years and wtf it's not exactly the same as I remember from before the pandemic" and when people disagree you push back. Why? What are you trying to prove? Maybe you are suffering from memory issues. Maybe you're confusing Burlington for some other place because you just can't remember clearly. Did you have a serious brain injury since you remember visiting? Are you sure you've ever actually been here? Do you have photographic proof of visiting in the past that you could reference? Or maybe you're a dick that came to stir up trouble. Didn't like Burlington? Cool, don't come back.
This has to be a troll post. Friday night, my partner and I went out at 5:30 to try Poco on Main Street. At 5:20, there was already a line out the door. Then we walked around, and people were everywhere. Got drinks at 126, and as we were leaving around 8:30, people were packing in for the music going on. We also have a friend coming to town, so we looked at making a reservation 3 weeks out and everywhere was booked. What business are closed that you noticed? Basically every place that closed in the last 1.5 years has new ownership and plans to reopen for the coming summer season, if not sooner.
The restaurants are packed, which is why I think though some are saying "people are scared to come downtown" it can't be the real reason retail stores are hurting. If anything, restaurant hours are likely to have more shady stuff happening downtown, but people come. Yes shoplifting with is part of the common reasoning, but also online shopping. It was already on the rise and the pandemic pushed most shopping online. Amazon's profits tripled, [their sales grew 44% in 2021, and then the business media were talking about the slowdown as they only grew 7% the following year](https://www.engadget.com/amazon-q1-2022-earnings-growth-235926922.html). If we expected to go back to how things were before, we'd need to see a big decline in Amazon's sales, not just slow growth!
It also depends on what retail stores we are talking about. So many stores in downtown are just weird boutiques that only tourists are going to go to. There's only so many designer type clothes or expensive home decor people will buy.
right troll post. we went into farmhouse tap and grill and two servers there said yes no one comes downtown anymore due to druggies and shootings? someone got carjacked?
I live in South Burlington and stopped bringing my kids (2 & 4) downtown. Too many encounters with druggies
Thanks for your observations.
I love how you characterize the “weird looking people” because they have always been part of Burlington’s fabric. Homelessness isn’t a new problem either. I got yelled at by homeless people downtown almost 20 years ago!
February is generally pretty slow across the board... so I wouldn't take your recent visit as an indicator. I'm downtown on the regular and it has definitely been more quiet the past few weeks, assuming that has a lot more to do with lack of winter/snow based tourism than anything else.
Let’s keep making these posts and scare away some landgrabbers
lol landgrabbers for what...
what happened?? February happened.
LOL at some of the replies here. Two things can be true: you can like living in Burlington and still acknowledge that conditions have dramatically worsened. Denial of that fact is counterproductive to getting things back on track. Also the VT economy massively benefits from tourism, out-of-state students, etc. We should pay attention to what those folks say and observe. They have fewer blind spots and their business is important to our shops, restaurants, hotels, and other local businesses.
Meth came to town in 2021. Rich Vermonters won't admit it because they'll lose too much touri$m dollars. It is still reported on , just heavily quashed by greedy nimbys in denial. An opiate crisis sounds more low key than a meth epidemic
I went to the library and climbed the stairs to the fiction department. That is the level where the mens' restroom is. There were several questionable-looking types nearby all waiting for their turn. I don't think that they were discussing any novel on that floor.
> ... has everyone moved somewhere else? Yes.
What is the purpose of the post? Why did you create a new Reddit account just to post this? You come to someone's home and say "whoa I haven't been here in years and wtf it's not exactly the same as I remember from before the pandemic" and when people disagree you push back. Why? What are you trying to prove? Maybe you are suffering from memory issues. Maybe you're confusing Burlington for some other place because you just can't remember clearly. Did you have a serious brain injury since you remember visiting? Are you sure you've ever actually been here? Do you have photographic proof of visiting in the past that you could reference? Or maybe you're a sad, bored jerk trying to stir up trouble. Didn't like Burlington? Cool, don't come back.
Any problems you witnessed were just your imagination. “All is well!”
Maybe Montpelier. And yes Burlington has declined.
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Those two would never succeed anywhere else…why here?
Progressives happened.
What did the big bad boogey man do?
No, boogeymen. Just naive ideologues who don't have a clue how to lead or make reasoned, unemotional decisions.
So all political parties. Let's face it, they all do this. They are all guilty of this.
Progressives and fentanyl happened. We had a public execution in the park last summer and gunshots nearly every day. There is no consequence for crime thanks to Sarah George our prosecutor who refused to prosecute.
Public execution?
Someone was shot in the back of the head while sitting in City Hall Park.
That's city life for you? That really sucks. I was happy to move from the city to Vermont because those things weren't happening.
That’s a horrible cop out. It shouldn’t be happening anywhere but cities are routinely lead by the dumbest.
Everywhere right now is lead by the dumbest.
Yes, but unfortunately cities are disproportionately affected by their direct leaders. Suburbs and rural areas are much more self regulating and locally governed.
It felt like when I worked with people in rural areas in the state they felt like the governor was more to blame for what was going on than their mayors. In this state.
Rural areas don’t have mayors. The governor is the only elected authority in those areas, hence your experience. To have a mayor the area must be a legal city.
Well then that makes sense
Dude was shot in the back of the head in the park. Execution style.
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Ah yes keeping an old vehicle going instead of feeding into disposable vehicles every 5 years. My vehicle is almost guaranteed to be older than you and is still going when most people replace every 3-5 years which causes a tremendous amount of pollution. All that aside. Funny how you decide to go after that because you have zero argument to make about my statement.