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What they mean when they say that—what I think they mean, anyway—is they want Vermont to stay real—a working landscape that really works, farms where farming is more than a rich man's hobby, real neighborhoods instead of trailer parks for the poor and gated housing enclaves for the wealthy.
One of the oldest, purest, and most persistent of Vermont values is that democratic (with a small "D") urge to include everybody. Vermonters have never really had much time for pomposity or stuck-upness. Noblesse is definitely expected to oblige in Vermont, because the basic assumption is that everyone, rich and poor alike, is entitled to the same fair and honorable treatment.
I think that's one reason why people are concerned about losing what they call the “real” Vermont, and why they don't want the state turned into a beautiful, sterile picture postcard. Fortunately, there are efforts, both public and private, that aim specifically to prevent that from happening.
That's probably a major reason why, for example, the Vermont Housing and Conservation Trust Fund was created and has fared so consistently well here. The fund was created in 1987 with what seemed like an unusual dual purpose: to protect undeveloped land and to provide affordable housing for low-income Vermonters. At the time the idea of linking land conservation and housing seemed odd. But that combination of goals—low income housing and preservation—fits in perfectly with Vermont's heritage and values, and has the potential to keep Vermont from becoming just another rural theme park.
Community Land Trusts are the private-sector partners of the Housing and Conservation Trust Fund, and they too do their hammering and painting in the belief that better housing for all Vermonters leads to more stable communities—and ultimately to a more beautiful countryside.
Martin Hahn of the Central Vermont Community Land Trust is a firm advocate of downtown preservation. His organization has been fixing up old houses in downtown Barre, Montpelier and elsewhere for several years and making them into affordable, low-income housing. They're currently at work on three buildings in Montpelier.
“You go out and buy one house at a time, trying to turn around a neighborhood,” Hahn said. “We're trying to maintain the economic and social diversity of our communities.”
The director of the Burlington Community Land Trust, Brenda Torpy, says it another way. Her aim is to provide housing for average working Vermonters. She points out that there are people living at the Burlington shelter and working at Wal-Mart. That's wrong, Torpy says, noting that her organization has provided 1,400 units of low-income housing for Burlingtonians and is actively working to revitalize the Old North End, Burlington's major working-class neighborhood.
“We're just trying to preserve the native habitat of Vermonters,” she says. It's only partly a joke.
It's important to note that Community Land Trusts are true community efforts. Federal money has dried up over the last 10 years, but local banks, businesses and charities have helped make up the difference—that and a lot of rubber-meets-the-road fundraising.
There are 90 community land trusts nationwide, and it would be remarkable if one of them were in Vermont. In fact all of the five largest community land trusts nationwide are located right here in the Green Mountains. I think that says a lot about or commitment to keeping our communities true communities— and to preserving a vision of Vermont that is truly Vermont.
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