Burlington, Vermont
burlington bluebird

It's fun. Beautiful. Safe. Cool. Diverse. Busy. Surprising.

I Like St. Mike's: The Heart of Vermont

walking church street in burlington vermontPlace any town on the shores of Lake Champlain and surround it with mountains and you'd have a special place. Add the shops, businesses, restaurants and live music venues of downtown Burlington and you have a place that's consistently called one of the healthiest, happiest and most desirable cities to live in the whole country.

No wonder there are over 14,000 college students in town, attending Saint Mike's, UVM, Champlain and Burlington College - the city keeps them busy.

You can catch live music most nights, eat great food from around the world, shop for snowboarding gear, get your latte fix, find some awesome vintage clothes and spend the day on the shores of Lake Champlain at the beach, at the boathouse, on the seven-mile bike path or out on the water.

There are plenty of opportunities for first-hand job experience at an internship in town. Local companies include IBM, GE Medical, Burton Snowboards and Ben and Jerry's.

Got the travel bug? Burlington is just a road-trip away from the Winter Olympic cities of Lake Placid and Montreal, plus Boston and Portland, Maine. There are lots of bus, air and train connections in town to get you where you want to go, and bring you back again.

Burlington's Waterfront

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There's a local joke that Burlington’s slogan should be "Yeah. We've got a festival for that."

But it's true: the Burlington Waterfront is the center of all things festive, from the Reggae Festival to the Discover Jazz Festival to the Winter Festival in February (complete with a Penguin Plunge to benefit Vermont Special Olympics), the Vermont City Marathon and a whole lot more.

Out from under the festival tents, the Waterfront will keep you busy. Visit the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center, located at the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, take a run, walk, rollerblade or bike ride down the bike path, a 7.6 mile recreational route (bike and blade rentals are available), hop on the ferry or on the Spirit of Ethan Allen to see the city from the water, or rent a boat or kayak from the Community Sailing Center and spend some time on the water.

If you're more of a beach type, Burlington's got some long sandy beaches like North Beach, and great cliffs to jump from into the waters of Lake Champlain!

Ten Reasons to Love Burlington

We take being green to heart in the Green Mountain State. We were named a “Best Cities 2010” by Kiplinger’s Magazine for tying its environmentalism to its economic growth, and we’re called the second “Greenest Small City in America,” by Organic Gardening magazine.

  1. We know how to have fun. We’re called A Top U.S. City to Live and Play by National Geographic Adventure. Whether you’re into skiing, riding, sailing, blading, running, biking, hiking, climbing or just throwing a Frisbee, you’ll be in good company in Burlington.
  2. Lots of cool businesses call us home, including: Ben & Jerry’s, Burton Snowboards, Dealer.Com, Magic Hat Brewery, and Cabot Cheese.
  3. MSN Local Edition ranked us number two in Best College Towns. Burlington College, Champlain College, University of Vermont and Community College of Vermont are all within a few miles of each other.
  4. We’re no couch potatoes: we’re called the top healthiest place for women by SELF magazine in a survey of 100 U.S. metro areas.
  5. We’re sustainable: Vermont was named fifth in the world and first in the United States for sustainable destinations by National Geographic Society’s Center for Sustainable Destinations.
  6. We're on the map. Church Street Marketplace, located in the heart of downtown Burlington, was named one of the 10 Greatest Places in America by the American Planning Association.
  7. PETA says we’re one of the best cities for vegetarians. And it’s true that it’s pretty easy to find tofu and soy milk just about everywhere (including the dining hall).
  8. You might just want to stay here forever. BusinessWeek named Burlington one of the best places to raise a family, we were called the "Best Green Place to Live in America" by Country Home magazine and one of "Best Places to Retire Young" by CNNMoney.com.
  9. Kiplinger named Burlington a top-ten "Best City for the Next Decade."
  10. The Home Depot Foundation presented one of its two "Awards of Excellence for Sustainable Community Development" to Burlington.

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The Edmundite Catholic Liberal Arts College