The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources is seeking input from the business community about their experiences with permitting and environmental regulation in Vermont. Please share your insights at one of the "listening tour" meetings the Agency is holding over the next two weeks at locations around the state.
Planning
NPR interviews Secretary Castro about transition to new HUD leadership
HUD Secretary Julian Castro described his hopes for the transition to new leadership during an interview with NPR yesterday.
A congressional confirmation hearing, scheduled for Thursday, will provide an opportunity for nominee Ben Carson to share his goals for U.S. housing policy.
Castro met with Vermont housing officials in Burlington last summer and attended the opening of the new Bright Street affordable rental housing complex.
New fact sheets show impact and need for housing tax credits in VT
In Vermont, the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits allocated by VHFA have financed 6,513 apartments, providing affordable homes to 15,175 low-income Vermont households and supporting 7,360 jobs. However, 15,061 households in Vermont still pay more than half of their income towards rent, and the average minimum wage worker has to work 89 hours per week in order to afford a modest-two bedroom apartment, underscoring the need to expand the Housing Credit.
White House releases housing development tool kit for communities
In response to declining housing affordability in many parts of the country, the White House released a report this week on best practices for reducing local housing development barriers. The accumulation of these barriers has reduced the ability of many housing markets to respond to growing demand, the report explains.
Upcoming appraisal courses follow recent studies of energy efficient homes
In light of research documenting the lower default risks of mortgages for energy-efficient homes, the Vermont Green Home Alliance invites lenders and appraisers to consider two exciting courses scheduled for October 13-14, 2016 in Concord, New Hampshire:
Vermont's median household income and poverty rate improved in 2015
The median income among Vermont households increased in 2015 to $56,990, according to US Census Bureau estimates released this week. The last time this indicator increased for Vermont was 2011.
Improvements in household income in 2015 were experienced nationwide and reported earlier this week by the Census Bureau.
Poverty rate estimates also decreased in Vermont and the U.S. for 2015. Vermont's estimated poverty rate decreased to 10.2% in 2015, with an estimated 61,000 Vermonters below the poverty line. Twenty-five percent of Vermonters living in poor households are children.
Stakeholder input needed for roadmap to end homelessness in Vermont
A steering committee of housing and service providers, state agencies and funding organizations is working to reduce homelessness and stabilize vulnerable populations. The committee’s current goal is to develop a system for facilitating service-connected affordable housing options, building local capacity, determining costs and identifying available and needed resources.
Prevalence of housing cost burden increases for rural Vermonters
More than 30 percent of the households in Vermont’s rural counties are now cost burdened by their housing expenses—a stark increase since 2000, according to a recent Harvard analysis of non-metro areas nationwide. This interactive map shows the increase in cost burden rates sweeping U.S. rural areas.
Chittenden County leaders call for increased production of housing over next 5 years
Building Homes Together was launched yesterday. It is a collaboration of organizations and communities seeking to remedy some of the most pressing challenges in Chittenden County’s housing market.
“The housing shortage in Chittenden County has been well noted with unhealthy vacancy rates and high rents,” added Charlie Baker, Executive Director of the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission. “Employers can’t find workers, and workers themselves spend more time in commutes and with a higher percentage of their paychecks on housing costs.”
Together over 100 individuals representing local municipalities, institutions, employers, bankers, builders, and others -- including VHFA -- have signed on to support this effort.
Our brains process information differently. When making important life decisions, we weigh a few factors deliberately (slowly). But for hundreds of other factors, we must rely on intuitive judgment — and we weigh these unconsciously (quickly). Even if in our slow thinking we work to avoid discrimination, it can easily creep into our fast thinking.