The idyllic northeastern state is plagued by drugs, crime and homelessness: “People don’t feel safe”

Vermont residents say their famously beautiful, leafy state is increasingly plagued by homelessness, crime, drug addiction and other social problems in its larger cities.

The downtown areas of Burlington and Brattleboro and other cities are too dangerous to walk at night after reports of passers-by being attacked by thugs, locals told DailyMail.com.

Some blame the crises on costly social programs in a Democratic-leaning state that has Bernie Sanders as its senator and gave President Joe Biden a 36-point landslide victory in 2020.

“People don't feel safe going to cities anymore,” small business owner and Republican candidate Mark Coester told DailyMail.com.

“You can walk down the street and clearly see people with needles in their arms. “Our cities and communities are suffering, and now the feeling of hopelessness is only getting worse.”

It's a dramatic turnaround for the idyllic Green Mountain State, thanks in part to rising real estate prices during the pandemic.

Vermont's problems are evident in Burlington, its largest city, with about 44,000 residents, including about 350 homeless people who live on the streets or camp out on the idyllic shores of Lake Champlain.

Many of them gather at night on Church Street, the popular red-brick building of boutiques and restaurants that is plagued by drugs like fentanyl and xylazine, also known as “tranq,” that scares off locals.

Residents recently told Fox News that the area becomes “really dangerous” at night.

An elderly woman noted that locals don't set foot in the area after dark because “people get beaten up at night.”

Since late August, Burlington police have been warning residents of the need to be vigilant following a series of attacks by “large groups of suspects and perpetrators,” including juveniles.

In one incident, a victim was taken to hospital after being attacked, thrown to the ground and kicked by a group on the street.

In another case, a New York teenager was shot in the upper body and seriously injured at a waterfront skate park.

Meanwhile, downtown shop owners are complaining about an increase in retail thefts.

The CVS on Church Street recorded up to 20 thefts each day in August.

Cafe workers complain that thieves have even stolen their tip jars.

Mark Bouchett, the owner of Homeport, a downtown gift and home goods store, said in an interview with YouTuber Peter Santenello that he recently hired security because his annual losses from shoplifters reached $75,000.

Bouchett said thieves have become bolder and more violent in recent years and feel they can steal with impunity.

He called for greater support from local police so that there would be “significant consequences for wrongdoing” in an increasingly lawless city.

Locals express concern about Vermont's growing homeless population, but also fear that crime and drug abuse are on the rise.

An apparently homeless person sleeps on a bench in downtown Burlington, Vermont's largest city.

Burlington officials say they are working with the local community and government to help the homeless by increasing access to public housing, mental health care, shelters and drug treatment centers.

But locals say they want security and more police on the streets to arrest wrongdoers.

The city is working to hire more police officers and give money back to law enforcement after budget cuts. Nearly a third of the city's armed forces were lost to attrition.

Vermont's social problems are not limited to Burlington. Homeless encampments have become a common sight in Brattleboro and the state capital Montpelier, among other places.

The statewide homeless population reached a record 3,458 homeless people this year.

That's 163 more than the 3,295 in 2023 and a staggering three-fold increase over the state's pre-COVID numbers.

They include 107 war veterans, 737 children, 855 people with mental illnesses, 309 people fleeing domestic or sexual violence and 568 people with long-term disabilities, researchers found in January.

The homelessness epidemic was exacerbated by the July end of Vermont's pandemic-era voucher program, which had covered the cost of motel rooms for homeless people.

In Montpelier and Barre alone, about 100 to 140 families were expected to leave their motels this fall.

Vermont social worker and TikToker Chibi Chanwick warned that those affected will soon face snow and freezing temperatures in Vermont's harsh winters.

“I expect to see a lot of elderly deaths, minor deaths, people with disabilities who are dead because they are outside, and that is not good,” she said.

Rapidly rising real estate prices in Vermont are also forcing families to downsize or even lose their homes and apartments.

Two security guards walk along Church Street Marketplace in Burlington, where security has been increased amid fears of drug abuse, gun violence and retail theft.

Burlington opened an emergency homeless shelter last year, but more people than ever are sleeping on the city's streets.

Prices skyrocketed during the pandemic as Americans left big cities for small towns and leafy rural areas, including in Vermont.

The state has a rental vacancy rate of just 3 percent. According to Vermont's latest housing needs assessment, 24,000 to 36,000 homes will need to be created between 2025 and 2029 to meet demand.

More than 90 Vermont lawmakers signed a letter this month calling on Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, to declare the rising homeless rate a state emergency and speed up funding for emergency shelters.

“We are well past the point at which our local communities can bear the human and financial costs of dealing with this problem over the next few months,” they wrote, warning of the colder winter months ahead.

The myriad problems represent a dramatic turnaround for Vermont, known as the “Green Mountain State” and known for its healthy outdoor living and strong social services.

John Klar, a farmer and former tax attorney in the small town of Barton, blamed the crises on “expensive and ineffective progressive policies that unfairly tax Vermont’s working class.”

“This has been exacerbated by sanctuary city laws, police and drug interdiction cuts, lax law enforcement and skyrocketing property values ​​during the pandemic,” Klar told DailyMail.com.

He added: “Locals and young Vermonters are fleeing the state in droves.”