housing crisis

Public Safety Forum for Downtown Workers 10/10/2023

From the organizer:

Do you work a late-night shift in downtown Burlington? Are you concerned about public safety, parking, and the rising cost of living in Burlington?

Join us for a public forum to share concerns with city decision makers as we work to improve the working environment for downtown workers. Church Street Marketplace Commissioner Chris Haessly, Parks & Rec Comissioner Lee Morgan, and Burlington City Councilor Mark Barlow are on hand to listen to concerns and discuss possible solutions to the challenges faced by downtown workers.

Potential Housing Solutions for Aging Vermonters 09/22/2023

Host Bobby Lussier chats with guest Talor Stewart (Architect, author of Conscious Home Design) about potential solutions to Vermont's housing crisis, particularly through grants from the Vermont Housing Improvement Program (VHIP).

Complex Systems and Homelessness with Yoshi Bird 09/15/2023

Host Meghan O'Rourke interviews Yoshi Bird, Project Director of the Vermont Zoning Atlas, about the project on mapping housing, data, and homelessness.

For more information visit: http://www.zoningatlas.org/vermont

What's Going On?: Decker Towers 09/14/2023

Host Sandy Baird is joined by guests Bob Collins (tenant) and Jim Rader (concerned citizen, former Burlington City Clerk) to discuss recent developments at Decker Towers.

Burlington Mayor's Press Conference: Update on Chittenden County Response to Motel Program Sunset 06/05/2023

From the Mayor's Office:

Mayor Weinberger and regional partners provide a briefing on the City’s and Chittenden County Homeless Alliance’s Letters of Intent submitted on June 1 in response to the Vermont Department of Child and Family Services’ call for proposals to support homeless response efforts. As Vermont’s most populous city and a community with a robust concentration of resources including state agencies, community health centers, public transportation, MOUD providers, and non-governmental organizations that support basic needs, Burlington expects to shoulder the bulk of the challenge caused by the sudden sunset of the state Economic Services Division (ESD) Motel Program within Chittenden County.

With: Mayor Miro Weinberger; Sarah Russell, Special Assistant to End Homelessness, City of Burlington; Will Towne, Co-Chair of Chittenden County Homeless Alliance; Kim Fitzgerald, Chief Executive Officer, Cathedral Square.

Peace Talks: Transforming the Housing Crisis by Design: How Industrial Revolution in Housing Construction Can Thread the Needle for New Development in Vermont 04/12/2023

From Peace Talks:

In this episode, we are exploring innovative solutions to the housing crisis in Vermont. We talk with Jason Van Nest who is an Architect, a professor at NY-Tech, and the Founder & CEO of LOGIC Building Systems. The crux of the matter is that new, affordable homes need to be built for younger, more diverse populations, but not at the expense of existing Vermont communities or the environment. Conventional approaches to development have struggled to address these issues because of the complex dynamic systems at play. Economic, social, and environmental interests all overlap in contradictory ways when it comes to housing. But what if there was a way to address these overlapping interests and needs by shifting our focus from home construction to industrial revolution? Tune in and see how an architect is transforming the housing market by design.

Show Guest: Jason Van Nest, Architect, professor at NYTech, and the founder & CEO of LOGIC Building Systems

Support Little Morocco Cafe Protest 04/04/2023

From the organizers:

A protest against the 150% rent increase by Hinsdale Properties on their tenant, Little Morocco Cafe. Protect minority owned family businesses! 150% rent increase is not ok!

The Burlington Housing Summit 2019 - Phase II 09/04/2019

Please join us for the BTV Housing Summit - Part 2 for an important community conversation about housing policy reform in Burlington.

In June, we kicked off the public conversation about these ideas with the BTV Housing Summit where, over the course of two meetings and dozens of small group conversations, we got to hear from more than 200 Burlingtonians and other stakeholders about housing in Burlington, how to get it right in five key areas, and—knowing that there will be more work to do—what policy reforms should come next.

https://www.cctv.org/watch-tv/programs/burlington-housing-summit-2019

Additional information:

Burlington is one of many cities around the country where, for decades, land use policies have restricted the creation of new housing – and the walkability, affordability, and diversity that come with it. While we have made progress over the last seven years to reform our housing policies, we have more work to do.

Why is housing policy so important? By getting it right, we also have the opportunity to structure our land use in a way that benefits our climate and natural areas, makes it possible for our community to be more diverse, spreads the costs of our public services over a larger tax base, and much more.

Right now, the City is working on a package of housing policy reforms, with a focus on five key areas of unfinished business from the City's Housing Action Plan. In each of these areas, we have the opportunity to make structural fixes that will help address the supply and affordability of housing in Burlington. These five areas are:

Updating our standards for *energy efficiency in rental housing* in order to support our climate goals and protect renters from unreasonably high utility costs;
Making it easier for people to build *Accessory Dwelling Units* (ADUs) which offer more flexibility for families to age in place, offset housing costs for homeowners, and create additional neighborhood-scale housing options throughout the city;
Implementing new regulations for *short-term rentals* (like Airbnb) that help us reduce impacts on long-term housing availability and neighborhoods, while balancing the economic benefit for Burlingtonians who are hosts;
Reforming our *requirements for building new parking* in new residential developments in our downtown and along key transportation corridors, in order to reduce a major cost driver of housing and give people more choices when it comes to the cost of car ownership; and
Continuing Burlington’s proud legacy of building as much permanently affordable housing as possible by restoring and increasing the level of funding for the City’s *Housing Trust Fund.*

The Burlington Housing Summit 2019 06/11/2019

For many years, Burlington has faced a housing crisis. Meanwhile, right now, progressive cities around the country are looking to housing policy as a solution to many of our central challenges, and reforming outdated land use policies that increase income inequality, promote sprawl, and drive up rents. Here in Burlington, we can do the same.

We delve into our housing challenges, opportunities, and key policy reforms and emerge from this summit with a list of priority housing initiatives that the administration will spearhead in consultation with the City Council, the Planning Commission, housing stakeholders, and the public in the coming months. Our goal is to deliver draft ordinances for these priority reforms to the City Council for action this fall.

We know that beyond the next few months, there will be more work to do. To this end, the summit also includes space to hear from the community about other ideas we should consider in the future.

We need all of your voices at the Burlington Housing Summit. Together, we can take a step toward a future where housing is a human right and where Burlington is the sustainable, vibrant, affordable, inclusive, and equitable place that we strive to be.

Part 2: https://www.cctv.org/watch-tv/programs/burlington-housing-summit-2019-phase-ii

Burlington Mayor's Show: The Burlington Housing Summit 05/22/2019

For many years, Burlington has faced a housing crisis. On June 11, the City is hosting a Housing Summit to delve into our housing challenges, opportunities, and key policy reforms. In this episode, the Mayor Miro Weinberger talks with David White, Director of Planning and Interim Director of CEDO, and Olivia LaVecchia, Communications & Projects Coordinator, about housing in Burlington – and why we need everyone’s voices at the Housing Summit on June 11.

See more: www.burlingtonvt.gov

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Applications Now Open for the Spring 2025 Cohort of the Neighborhood Community Media Internship Program

Town Meeting TV is excited to announce that applications are now open for the Spring 2025 cohort of the Neighborhood Community Media Internship program. Join up to 8 other youth to engage in interesting media making projects! This paid media internship opportunity is designed for youth aged 16-20 who are eager to gain professional experience in the audio-visual field and develop a deeper understanding of their local community. The group will meet under the leadership of Town Meeting TV's Travis Washington from the end of January 2025 to the beginning of June 2025, on a schedule agreed upon by the whole cohort. Click here to apply!