How do you leave a place you love?

I always assumed that I would die in Burlington. Sometimes during idle moments I'd find myself daydreaming about my own funeral, running through a roster of possible guests: friends and neighbors, synagogue members, political allies and adversaries, colleagues from my work and my husband's. I wasn't so much being morbid - well, OK, maybe there was that, too - as I was expressing satisfaction at being so deeply rooted in this community; acknowledging how assuredly this place has become my home.

If Burlington's real estate market is booming, why are these buildings vacant?

(08.10.05)

The vacant white house at 280 North Winooski Avenue in Burlington's Old North End is so shaded by the tree in front of it that from the road you might not realize it's abandoned. Sandwiched between commercial buildings, it's surrounded by a sea of crumbling concrete. Disposable cups are tangled in the vegetation in front of the house.