Northfield would be a good option. Houses are less expensive, good school district, and close to the Mad River Valley for skiing and Barre for family.

2021 Tacoma here. You’ve mostly got the right idea. Three pieces of advice:

1. make sure you have snow tires with good grip.
2. put some sandbags in the bed to give the back tires some added grip
3. drive like you’ve got a glass of water on the dash and you can’t spill a drop. That visualization helps a ton to keep your car steady in all sorts of maneuvers