Church Street Marketplace Webcam – Burlington’s Brick Mall

The Church Street Marketplace Webcam watches a crossing on the brick pedestrian mall in downtown Burlington, Vermont. It is a pan-tilt-zoom camera, and it keeps moving through a loop. One stop looks down the length of the bricks past street trees, benches and a large boulder toward a row of blue CityPlace banners. The next swings across shopfronts under slanted glass canopies, and another turns to the cross street at the edge of the pedestrian zone, where traffic passes. Shoppers, dog walkers and families with strollers drift through every shot. A weather panel in the lower right corner of the stream gives the current Burlington temperature and a three-day forecast, so the camera doubles as a quick check on conditions downtown.

About the Church Street Marketplace

The marketplace covers four blocks of Church Street between Main Street at the south end and Pearl Street at the north end. The $6 million project that turned the street into a pedestrian mall began on July 7, 1980, and the mall opened in the fall of 1981 to a design by Carr & Lynch Associates of New York. The four blocks largely match the Church Street Historic District, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010. Two years earlier, the American Planning Association had named the marketplace one of America’s Great Public Spaces.

According to the Church Street Marketplace, the four blocks hold more than 100 shops, restaurants and local businesses and draw about 1.5 million visitors a year. A Unitarian church stands on Pearl Street at the head of the mall, and a Masonic Temple anchors the same northern end. Burlington itself is the largest city in Vermont, with 44,743 residents at the 2020 census, and it sits on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain.

The camera is an AXIS Q6315-LE, a dome with a 31x optical zoom, and the stream credits Royal Group as its sponsor. The broadcast has run on the same YouTube video since June 27, 2023. Look for the hanging sign of the Catamount Store, the University of Vermont’s shop, on the left of the long view, along with bike racks, pennant bunting strung between the buildings and the wooden cornhole boards that sometimes sit out on the bricks.

Weather and Climate in Burlington, Vermont

Burlington has four sharp seasons, and the camera shows all of them. January’s daily mean is -6.2 C (20.9 F), and the city averages 222 cm (87.5 in) of snow a year, so the bricks can spend long stretches under snow with shoveled paths running through it. Spring arrives slowly. April’s daily mean is only 7.6 C (45.6 F), and the street trees in frame stay bare until the weather warms.

Summer is mild, with a July daily mean of 22.4 C (72.4 F), and the street trees fill out into a green canopy over the bricks. October averages 10.2 C (50.3 F), and early in the month the trees over the mall start to turn yellow. The extremes on record run from 38 C (101 F) down to -34 C (-30 F), which is why the forecast panel on the stream is worth a glance before a walk downtown.

Things to Do Near the Church Street Marketplace

The mall itself is the main draw: a few hours of shops, cafes and restaurants on traffic-free bricks, with the Unitarian church on Pearl Street at the north end. The marketplace hosts festivals, concerts, parades, rallies, street entertainers and cart vendors through the year, so a walk along it can run into music or a crowd at almost any time.

Burlington’s Lake Champlain waterfront lies west of downtown. Waterfront Park is the city’s large public space on the shore, and ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, is a hands-on science and nature museum there with aquariums and exhibits about the lake’s ecosystem. The Burlington Greenway runs about 12 km (7.5 miles) along the shoreline for walking and cycling, with the Adirondack Mountains across the water. The Spirit of Ethan Allen runs boat cruises on the lake, and the shore is the place to watch the sun set over Lake Champlain.

Similar Webcams You Might Like

For more of Vermont and another famous American street, try these cameras.

• Burlington Ferry Dock Marina Webcam
• Killington Webcam
• Bourbon Street Webcam

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the Church Street Marketplace?

It is in downtown Burlington, Vermont, on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain. The pedestrian mall runs four blocks along Church Street, from Main Street at the south end to Pearl Street at the north end.

What can you see on the Church Street Marketplace Webcam?

The camera pans through a loop around one crossing on the mall: the long view down the bricks toward the CityPlace banners, the shopfronts under their glass canopies, and the cross street where traffic passes the edge of the pedestrian zone. It never holds one position for long, so the framing changes from minute to minute.

Is this Church Street in Burlington, Vermont or North Carolina?

Vermont. Burlington, North Carolina has a Church Street of its own, but this camera is on the Church Street Marketplace pedestrian mall in Burlington, Vermont.

Does the Church Street Marketplace Webcam show Lake Champlain?

No. The camera looks along the street at shopfronts, trees and passers-by, and none of its views reach the water. The lake lies west of downtown, and the Ferry Dock Marina webcam is the one to watch for the Burlington waterfront.

What events happen on the Church Street Marketplace?

The marketplace hosts festivals, concerts, parades, rallies, street entertainers and cart vendors throughout the year, according to its operator. When one of those is on, the crowd usually shows up on the camera, which makes it a quick way to see whether something is happening downtown before heading over.

How many shops and restaurants are on Church Street?

More than 100 shops, restaurants and local small businesses line the four blocks, according to the Church Street Marketplace. A survey in September 2010 found the storefronts 91.7 percent occupied.

What is the weather like in Burlington, Vermont?

Winters are cold and snowy and summers are mild. Daily means run from -6.2 C (20.9 F) in January to 22.4 C (72.4 F) in July, and about 222 cm (87.5 in) of snow falls in an average year. The panel in the corner of the stream shows the current temperature and the next three days.

Is the Church Street webcam live at night?

Yes. The same YouTube broadcast has run without a restart since June 27, 2023, and the camera model has a day and night mode with infrared illumination for low light.

Source: Church Street Market Place