By Annie McAneny
Thriving Communities Campaign Volunteer

The town of Manchester in Bennington County received funding this month to assess what areas of the downtown will be able to support residential development, including the redevelopment of existing mixed-use buildings. The market feasibility assessment will be funded by a grant from the Municipal Planning Grant Program through the Agency of Commerce and Community Development. This project is part of a larger effort in Manchester to increase the amount of workforce housing in order to create a thriving, livable downtown. The town’s new Land Use and Development Ordinance was one of the first steps towards higher density workforce housing development. The new working group will begin meeting in January.

Towns across the state are seeing the benefits of housing working groups, task forces, and committees. These groups identify local housing needs and work to increase the supply of affordable and workforce housing in order to improve their communities. Affordable housing has social, environmental, economic, and social justice value, and local housing groups have proven to be a solution-driven approach to addressing affordable housing shortages. Everything from health, to commute time, to civic engagement improves with increased quantity and quality of affordable housing. The shortage  affordable housing is one of the largest impediments to thriving  local economies.

Local housing committees have helped make housing a central topic in towns across the state. Based on interviews we’ve done with people in these groups, housing committees can achieve major successes. Some of the most common efforts have been to establish Housing Trust Funds, to create density and height allowances in zoning, and to allow converted accessory apartments and mixed-use buildings as residential units. Housing committees have also been instrumental in increasing public will for affordable housing. This advocacy is done largely by volunteer community members working on educational campaigns for their select boards, planning commissions, city councils, and neighbors.

In recognition of the important role that housing committees play in addressing community needs and to support these often grassroots groups, the CVOEO Fair Housing Project is developing a Housing Committee Toolkit. This effort is part of the Thriving Communities Campaign, which is a collaboration of CVOEO, statewide housing organizations, regional planning commissions, and others to raise awareness about the economic and social benefits of affordable, inclusive housing. The toolkit will include profiles of existing housing committees, success stories, frequently asked questions, and answers from people currently working on housing issues in their communities. Further, we’re assembling a list of resources to help community members develop housing committees, lead outreach campaigns, and navigate state and local housing policies. The toolkit will be released on the Thriving Communities  website (www.thrivingcommunitiesvt.org) in early 2019.