Category Archives: Uncategorized

Burlington School District and Magnet Schools

By Pike | Published: July 9, 2010
I occasionally work with home buyers looking to purchase a home in a particular neighborhood in Burlington so that their children can attend the school located within the neighborhood. In the fall of 2009, Burlington opened two magnet schools and has changed the way children are enrolled in the district. As one school commissioner wrote [...]
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Big Joe Burrell Statue Plays on Church Street

By Pike | Published: June 1, 2010
The long awaited statue of Big Joe Burrell has been set in front of Halverson’s Upstreet Cafe on Church Street just in time for the 2010 Burlington Discover Jazz Festival. Big Joe was a much loved Burlington jazz/blue saxophonist/singer who passed away in 2005. Big Joe Burrell played in both B.B King’s and Count Basie’s [...]
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Burlington Might Finally See the Southern Connector

By Pike | Published: May 21, 2010
The Southern Connector has been a controversial topic for over 40 years. Some say that building it will lead to additional sprawl in Chittenden while only increasing driving time from one end to the other by about 8 minutes. Others say that it will relieve what they think is traffic congestion in Chittenden County.  At [...]
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Essex Town and Essex Junction Planning Commission

By Pike | Published: May 21, 2010
A group of concerned residents in Essex Town and Essex Junction is encouraging residents to come to the Planning Commission meeting at Founders Elementary School on May 27. Some major changes have been proposed to Chapter 11 and Chapter 3 of the Essex Town Plan which have the potential to jeopardize the protection [...]
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Renting a home in Vermont

By Pike | Published: May 12, 2010
Vermont has statutes specific to residential rental agreements. Burlington has additional regulations regarding rental housing within the city. It behooves both renters and property owners to read and understand the laws prior to entering into a lease agreement.  In 2008, the Vermont Apartment Owners Association successfully lobbied for changes to the Vermont rental agreement statute, [...]
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Accredited Buyer Representatives (ABR), the best and brightest Realtors?

By Pike | Published: April 30, 2010
I, with maybe 50 or so other Realtors in Vermont and New Hampshire, recently took the National Association of Realtors ABR –Accredited Buyer Representative– designation course. It is a two day, 16 hour course and I had heard from a few agents I respect that it was a course worth taking. It was not. It may [...]
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Missing Dog on Shelburne Road in South Burlington

By Pike | Published: April 19, 2010
Missing Dog - The dog, Gus, is small (20-30 lbs) with tan short hair, black muzzle and dark Lab-like ears. Gus jumped out of a car window on Tuesday afternoon in South Burlington on Shelburne Road.  He is a beloved family pet who is missed terribly by his family. He is a friendly dog but [...]
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Junk Mail

By Pike | Published: February 9, 2010
The Vermont legislature considered enacting  junk mail legislation so that VT residents could choose not to be a part of the waste stream. Sadly, the legislature buckled under pressure of the junk mail lobbyists who claimed that jobs would be lost as a result of the legislation. While Vermont could be creating jobs greening up [...]
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Selling homes in 2010 v 1999

By Pike | Published: January 14, 2010
At the beginning of the 21st century, most home buyers had never viewed a home online; the three top home sale marketing methods were yard signs, newspaper ads and open houses. In 1999, buyers who went online in search for a home were in the minority – only 37 percent of buyers used the Internet in [...]
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Burlington Planning Commission Dinner

By Pike | Published: December 22, 2009
Burlington Public Meeting: There will be a joint meeting of the Planning Commission, Development Review Board and Design Advisory Board Joint Meeting on Tuesday, December 22 at 5:30 PM at the Firehouse Center for Visual Arts.  The agenda is below. Dinner and Refreshments Agenda & Introductions Historic Building Materials – The Commission has embarked [...]
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