hello!   I am in the running for a job in Stillwater NY and no way in hell would I reside in NY state so southwestern Vermont it is!  

Anyone with info on the Bennington/Pownal/Rutland/Fair Haven areas would be greatly appreciated.  Specifically the crime areas to avoid, housing market/cost of living, and anything else to be aware of would be awesome. I did notice some small towns have very high property tax rates which was interesting.  The wife would like to be near or by a downtown area (any suggestions here) but I understand that'll prob extend my daily commute which leads to my next question.  

Are you allowed to run studded tires in your area?  Ive got 2 older 4x4 SUV's with fresh BFG's on them but I know from my driving experience in snowy weather up in Flagstaff AZ those tires dont really help much when the road get bad.   Does VT require vehicle inspections/smog and how much is vehicle registration?   How bad do the roads get in the region?  I see my commute time running from 50 mins to a bit over an hour but with weather I could see it getting pretty extended.  

Thanks!

Bennigton is kinda a shithole. Rutland used to be ok but now its like a giant white trash magnet and full of drugs/ FSA in a lot of areas. It still has some ok areas but you can spit on the bad areas from them.
Fair haven isn't too bad away from the center There are a lot of decent towns I just recommend staying clear of high population city areas.Not much in way of stores its slow around here.  


Snow can get bad sometimes I just use all terrain tires and i've been fine with an awd rav4 and I'm high in elevation.
Inspection is every year but no smog test.

Shaftsbury, Arlington, North bennington are all good towns, I can't imagine much crime. Especially in shaftsbury (its mostly old people ) Manchester is a great town but living there aint cheap.

Tried to send you an IM, but your inbox is full.  Send me one if you would like.

Bennington sucks, and I believe there's a no shooting law within city limits.  It's one of the few exceptions to the state-wide Sportsman's law that prevents towns from enacting any sort of local gun control.  That said, any neighboring town is going to offer a rural setting where you can more or less do whatever you want.  If you have kids, finding a nearby town with a good school may be a challenge.  Most of the nearby towns have very small populations, and likewise, very small schools.  My kid goes to a school that has 40 kids TOTAL in k-8.  Generally the towns with higher taxes are the more wealthy towns, which also have better schools.  

Property taxes are high, but compared to NY, they're great.

Bennington doesn't get a whole lot of snow, but if you go 10 minutes west into Woodford, it might as well be Alaska.

Yes, you can run studded tires.  MA requires them to be off the car by May 1, but I'm not sure if VT has a similar requirement.

Yes, VT requires vehicle inspections, but there are plenty of small garages that will put a sticker on anything.  No smog checks.

The roads are a mixed bag during bad weather.  Generally the state-maintained roads are awful because the state seems to have an aversion to salting the roads until a week after it stops snowing.  Most of the towns do a decent job with their local roads.

FYI, Rutland is being invaded by Syrian refugees

http://news10.com/2016/07/05/rutland-meeting-highlights-citys-division-over-welcoming-syrian-refugees/