Shaftbury, Vermont
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6/14/2009
I lived in Shaftsbury from late summer of 1994 'til July of 2002. We took our two children who were then almost 6 and 3 out of a very high crime city where we didn't feel real secure to a tiny town in Vermont. HUGE culture shock. We came from a place where stores were open pretty much all the time, including holidays, to a place where the pace was much, much slower. It took a while to get used to the stores not being open very late during the week, to even earlier on Sundays, to being completely closed on the holidays. We went from a city where everything I needed was less than 5 minutes away, to a place where I had to drive 5 miles into the center of town from my house just to get some milk. Then it was another few miles to get to Bennington to do "the real grocery shopping".
Shaftsbury is a beautiful place to raise children. Shaftsbury Elementary School is a sweet little school with very caring, very knowledgeable teachers who you can see TRULY enjoy their jobs. Both of my children went all the way through that school before we moved to Maine. I was very involved in the school - they love parental involvement, and encourage it.
I will say ... if you are a person who loves country living, peace and quiet, then this would be a great place for you. If you need a faster pace this is definitely NOT the place for you. Also, I have to say that the weather did occasionally get me down. Shaftsbury is trapped in a valley between the mountains. That means, for some reason, that there always seems to be some kind of cloud banks blocking blue sky. If you have seasonal affective disorder this wouldn't be the place to move to. The sky always seemed a bit gray and dismal.
Overall, however, I would say that the positives would far outweigh the negatives if you have young children.
Diane | Naples, ME