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[deleted] t1_j8mhugd wrote

Reply to comment by joeydokes in How Vermont’s Housing Crisis Got So Bad by punkthesystem

I agree with a lot of what you have said here. I also think that this article did a very good job in describing the problems for anyone trying to build an affordable single family home in Vermont. The article's depiction of issues created by Act 250 are spot on. So far, us "Vermonter's who have been here for decades" have not done anything in all that time to address those problems. As I stated elsewhere in this post, too many times I have witnessed the wealthy buy up a portion of a farm to build their McMansion, only to then turn around and use Act 250 and/or sue the same farmer to keep that farmer from building a smaller home nearby for a family member working that same farm. People need places to live, and reasonable housing development CAN be achieved without turning our state into a "toxic waste dump".

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joeydokes t1_j8niqep wrote

Many of the problems faced are not unique to VT, some (like graying and edu) are. Being a tourist State so close to the Tri-State corridor and 30M people is impactful too.

A lot of your assertions are correct. Many of these issues have persisted for a long time. Your anecdote regarding farmland may have merit, e.g. using 250 as a weapon. I also think that for as valuable as the VT Land Trust is, it needs more flexibility in addressing conservation vs succession issues. But the truth is that farming in VT is in peril. If not for lack of interest then for poor economy of scale. Beef, organic dairy, hemp, and the like have promise, but its still a threadbare life keeping the machines running.

Sure, its important to attract industries to work-centers like ChitCo, but outside of the 45-60minute commute, the rural problems are still going to be there regardless. I had hope for Newport, but that sure got F'd up. Maybe Hardwick can become a success story (a la Pete's greens and the like).

I just don't thing Big Business should be the first goto to find a fix to small State problems.

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[deleted] t1_j8nkaca wrote

100% agree with everything you just said, esp. about the VT Land Trust.

Breaks my heart what happened to the farmers and farming industry in this state, and the State should be doing A LOT MORE to support these new growth industries.

Fingers crossed for Newport too! Thank you for replying to me. :)

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joeydokes t1_j8nncyp wrote

and thanks for the convo! I can't speak to southern VT, or parts below #15 even FTM; despite having traipsed across the State to the point of knowing it blindfolded.

Farming and forestry is what makes VT special, what accounts for its pastoral beauty. VT does grass very well. Sadly the industries that use it are under stress, specially dairy; which started feeling the strain in late 80's early 90's with ops moving first to western NY, then later (with advent of reverse osmosis) to the southwest. Trying to compete with economies of scale elsewhere is a losing proposition.

Going organic, niche specialty dairy products, and the like helps to some degree but can't stem the trend of consolidation, which further erodes the prospect of more farmers via succession.

Thing is, if normal working class folk made a livable wage they could afford to buy produce/meat at those farmers' markets usually reserved for better off tourists and 2nd home owners. They could more directly support their neighbors; though I know that like me, many probably get their whole milk, eggs, beef even, from their neighbors operation.

But the elephant in the room is how little food security there is in Vermont despite being fertile and abundant. Not too different from how many kids would qualify as 1st gen to go to college.

They/it has not been a top priority, despite the bounty of advocates calling it out.

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[deleted] t1_j8nqgu3 wrote

I am so grateful you took the time to write all of that out. Hopefully you will bring some awareness to how our farming industry / food security crisis stems from the same problems that are causing our housing crisis: Impossible to fix either one independently from the other. Good on you!

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joeydokes t1_j8nrpbk wrote

Appreciate your kind words!

I don't know if its any different now than back in the 90's, but there is/was some degree of entrenchment at work.

In the case of Ag, it was those in position at the Farm Bureau, Coop extension and the State, whose focus was so narrow that they could not think outside the box. Granted, their constituency was probably the most anti-change, 'aint broke, don't fix' group to walk/work the earth. Understandably so, considering how little is actually in their perview of control.

Just pressing for things like crop rotation, low-till no-till, ... was a herculean task! So, advocates could only really push for what their audience was ready to hear.

These days, minds are much more open I suspect.

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[deleted] t1_j8nule4 wrote

"These days, minds are much more open I suspect."

I sure hope that you are right. Even if they are, there still needs to be a lot more education on the topic(s), and hopefully these conversations today helped in that regard.

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