Burlington, Vermont —
With a population of nearly 45,000 people, Burlington may be Vermont’s biggest city — but it’s still the smallest top population center of any US state. For travelers, it’s a chance for an urban escape that still offers easy access to nature and a small-town experience.
“You get this feeling of, ‘Here is this place where people care a lot,’” said Christine Tyler Hill, a crossing guard and artist who lives and works in Burlington’s Old North End neighborhood.
It’s a close-knit community, where civic engagement runs deep. As a crossing guard, Hill spends weekday mornings helping pedestrians, including Progressive mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak.
“Six degrees of separation? In Burlington it’s two degrees,” said Hill, whose hand-printed newsletter about daily life in the city, The Cloud Report, went viral on TikTok earlier this year.
