Originally published on Vermont Digger in November 2018
Would Vermont be more affordable if property owners could be confident that policy changes made in Montpelier, and at the local level, would not negatively impact property values? Any serious effort to address our affordability crisis and demographic trends should contemplate this question. High property values, and more specifically, high land values, is the unifying theme across a variety of challenges, whether it’s development of affordable housing, education spending, growing businesses, renewable energy development, or increasing the amenities that would make Vermont more attractive to new residents. High land values act as a growth constraint and there’s a deep underappreciation in Montpelier for the impact land values have on making Vermont more affordable. State government cannot do much to affect the cost of materials, but it has a great deal of influence when setting policies that affect land prices. Indeed, some towns in Vermont, such as East Montpelier, have already recognized a need for a shift in approach (“we’d like to see development that may be skewed toward the younger crowd that would bring children to the school.”) Continue reading “Vermont’s Affordability Crisis: Are We Solving the Right Problem?”