Help build the Vermont Zoning Atlas
Zoning atlas map sample
Leslie Black-Plumeau

The Vermont Zoning Atlas team is seeking volunteers to help complete its build-out across the state. This is an exciting opportunity to join a national data standardization project, be part of a grassroots team and be among the first researchers to work with raw zoning data across Vermont. The project started this summer by focusing on Chittenden County towns.   

Leslie Black-Plumeau
September 13, 2023
Reimagine how Vermont locations are designated for community development
VT map
Leslie Black-Plumeau

Join local officials, planners, business and property owners, statewide leaders at the Designation 2050 Design Summit on September 12, 2023.  Hear about the findings of the Designation Program Evaluation underway and help design the future of these programs – and Vermont.

Leslie Black-Plumeau
August 25, 2023
New smart-growth opportunities and resources for Vermont communities
Hardwick-VT
Leslie Black-Plumeau

Vermont communities now have more ways to promote inclusive, smart growth. Last week, the Vermont Department of Housing and Community Development launched the Community Partnership for Neighborhood Development grant program and is accepting applications.

Leslie Black-Plumeau
August 2, 2023
Is your community passionate about creating new housing opportunities?   
Missing middle town homes
Leslie Black-Plumeau

Apply to be one of five pilot communities for free neighborhood design infill design services. 

Leslie Black-Plumeau
June 14, 2023
FHLBank Boston hosts Community Forum on April 19, 2023
VT community
Leslie Black-Plumeau

FHLBank Boston is hosting the Community Impact and Partnership Forum for Vermont lenders and community leaders.

Learn how members, sponsors, and community developers can successfully partner with FHLBank Boston to support the creation of affordable housing and promote homeownership and economic development in their communities. Network and build partnerships. The second half of the forum will include training focused on the 2023 Affordable Housing Program. Lenders – bring your development partners. Housing developers – bring your lenders!

Leslie Black-Plumeau
April 11, 2023
Why Vermont needs 30,000-40,000 more homes
bar chart
Leslie Black-Plumeau

Earlier this year VHFA projected a need for 30,000-40,000 more homes by 2030. These projections are based on data from the U.S.

Leslie Black-Plumeau
April 3, 2023
30,000 to 40,000 more Vermont homes needed by 2030
VT households graph
Leslie Black-Plumeau

To meet expected demand and normalize extremely low vacancy rates, Vermont will need 30,000-40,000 more year-round homes by 2030.  This means adding 5,000 to 6,700 more homes to Vermont's primary home market each year, well above the 2,100 homes that the state has been generating.

According to the 2020 Census count, the number of primary Vermont households was 9,000 more than in the prior year—an unprecedented increase. Although tempered somewhat in 2021, Vermont continued to show signs of heightened demand.  

Leslie Black-Plumeau
January 25, 2023
Vermont begins Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice
VT begins analysis of impediments to fair housing month
Leslie Black-Plumeau

Equal access to residential housing (i.e. housing choice) is a fundamental right that is critical to personal, professional, and community development. If equal opportunity is to become a reality, fair housing is a goal that public officials and private citizens must embrace.

To that end, the State of Vermont is planning a comprehensive Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (AI) to further the goal of fair housing and satisfy requirements of the Housing and Community Development Act.

Leslie Black-Plumeau
November 21, 2022
Sara Bronin, nation's expert on broad impacts of zoning, to keynote November Statewide Housing Conference
Sara Bronin
Leslie Black-Plumeau

This year's Vermont Statewide Housing Conference on November 16, 2022 will feature keynote speaker Sara Bronin, a Mexican-American architect, attorney, professor, and policymaker whose interdisciplinary work focuses on how law and policy can foster more equitable, sustainable, well-designed, and connected places.

Leslie Black-Plumeau
September 23, 2022
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