For excellent resources about fair and affordable housing in Vermont, follow the links below.

Learn about inclusive communities and fair and affordable housing….

These links provide information about programs to create inclusive communities.

• Watch the Two Rivers Ottauquechee Regional Commission and the Fair Housing Project of CVOEO municipal training video (on YouTube, recorded 1/23/18): “Homes for All: Updating Municipal Policies to Improve Housing Opportunities“
• Chittenden County Economics of Housing Summit (1/29/18)
  • Full Summit Video
  • Video of the summit in four parts:
    • Economics of Housing Overview, Part One: Costs of Housing Construction – Nancy Owens, President of Housing Vermont (presentation slides)
    • Economics of Housing Part Two: For Profit Developer Perspective On Development Hurdles – Erik Hoekstra and Brad Dousevicz, Redstone (presentation slides: rental housing and housing affordability)
    • Economics of Housing Part Three: Using a limited Equity Model to Overcome Barriers to Home Ownership – Amy Demetrowitz, Director of Real Estate Development, Champlain Housing Trust (presentation slides)
    • Economics of Housing Part Four: Q&A, Presenters and Audience
• Watch the Thriving Communities webinar and view presenter slides. The presentation focuses on density in development, diversity in communities, and creating economically inclusive neighborhoods. (2015)

• Check out the Fair Housing Project website, which has links to an information clearinghouse, including  a “Guide to Fair Housing in Vermont” handbook in many different languages.

• Lean the Basics  of Fair Housing with our Introduction and Review of Vermont and Federal Law.
• Read through our blog posts about issues of affordability, inclusive housing and building community in Vermont and the nation; the Thriving Communities campaign blog page.

Learn about the state of housing in Vermont….

Check out some of the resources below to learn about the shortage of affordable housing in Vermont and statewide housing needs in general, use the resources below.

• Check out the Vermont Housing Data website for Vermont community housing data. They have useful tools like a directory of affordable rental housing and housing profiles for all Vermont communities. Even a running list of vacancies!
• Read the 2015-2020 Vermont Housing Needs Assessment for an in-depth look at Vermont’s affordable home ownership and rental needs.
• Read the “State of Vermont: Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice,” published in 2012, for ongoing issues with Fair Housing.

Learn about federal and Vermont fair housing policy…

Knowing the laws behind fair housing and inclusive communities is important to the work we do. Below, you’ll find the federal and state laws that ban illegal housing discrimination and information on the department of Housing and Urban Development’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, which requires states, counties, municipalities and housing authorities that receive HUD funds to proactively strive to create more inclusive and less segregated and communities.

Federal Fair Housing Law:

• Read the full text of the federal Fair Housing Act.
• Read Vermont’s fair housing law.
• Read the 2014 Supreme Court ruling on inclusive communities and disparate impact of fair housing.

Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing:

• Read the HUD overview of the rule or the executive summary.
• Watch the HUD informative video on AFFH.
• CT Fair Housing Center’s training video to learn about fair housing laws in general and about how federal financial assistance benefits inclusive housing.
• For a deep look into how inclusive housing affects communities, read Inclusionary Housing: Creating and Maintaining Equitable Communities from the Lincoln Land Policy institute.

 

Learn about Vermont’s efforts to create inclusive communities…

• Read “Multi-Purpose Brattleboro Development Garners National HUD Design Award,” where former  HUD Secretary Julián Castro praised a Brattleboro Development’s design for inclusive development.
• Check out Project VISION, a Vermont program which “… wants to give Rutland residents the tools necessary to help improve their neighborhoods. … to create community leaders.”
• Check out the Vermont Agency of Transportation’s “Better Connections” programs, which seeks to create inclusive communities through land use zoning and transportation plans.

Elsewhere and Miscellaneous …

Poverty & Race Research Action Council – on-line reports-newsletter from a national perspective: http://prrac.org/index.php

VHFA’s Housing Toolbox: http://www.housingdata.org/toolbox/steps-for-municipalities

VHFA’s Regulatory Tools: http://www.housingdata.org/download/Policy%20Tools%20Matrix.pdf

Lincoln Land Institute’s Visualizing Density: http://datatoolkits.lincolninst.edu/subcenters/visualizing-density/gallery/index.aspx

Jumpstarting the Market for Accessory Dwelling Units: Lessons learned from Portland, Seattle & Vancouver: http://ternercenter.berkeley.edu/uploads/ADU_report_4.18.pdf

South Burlington’s PUD Review Project by Front Porch Community Planning & Design, and SE Group: https://outside.vermont.gov/agency/ACCD/bylaws/downtownboardmaterials/FY15%20MPG%20Project%20Examples/CPR-MPG-FinalProduct-SouthBurlington-FY15.pdf

2015-2020 Vermont Housing Needs Assessment, with County Reports: http://accd.vermont.gov/housing/plans-data-rules/needs-assessment

Overview of State Designation Program Benefits: http://accd.vermont.gov/sites/accdnew/files/documents/CD/CPR/CPR-Designation-Benefits-Overview.pdf

DHCD Mobile Home Park Guidance for Municipalities:

http://accd.vermont.gov/sites/accdnew/files/documents/DHCD%20Mobile%20Home%20Park%20Guidance.pdf

“Not very many options for the people who are working here”. Rural Housing Challenges Through the Lens of Two New England Communities, A White Paper: University of New Hampshire Carsey School of Public Policy, 2017.

Mad River Valley Affordable Land Initiative: http://www.mrvpd.org/Housing.php

TRORC’s A Home for All: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0vrZvwOeDQ

Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition’s Voices of Home: http://www.vtaffordablehousing.org/voices/

A Matter of Place – Fair Housing Documentary: https://vimeo.com/77785957

Building Homes Together Campaign: http://www.ecosproject.com/building-homes-together/

“Housing Apartheid, American Style,” New York Times editorial, May 16, 2015

“Where Should Poor People Live?” by Alana Semuels, The Atlantic, June 2, 2015

“Living Apart: How the Government Betrayed a Landmark Civil Rights Law,” by Nikole Hannah-Jones, ProPublica, Oct. 29, 2012

“Overcoming Structural Barriers to Integrated Housing: A Back-to-the-Future Reflection on the Fair Housing Act’s ‘Affirmatively Further’ Mandate,” by Robert G. Schwemm, Kentucky Law Journal, 2012

“From Ferguson to Baltimore: The Fruits of Government-Sponsored Segregation,” by Richard Rothstein, Working Economics Blog, Economic Policy Institute, April 29, 2015

“Fair Housing: Talking Past Each Other About Cities and Segregation,” by Martha Bridegam, California Planning & Development Report, Aug. 30, 2015

“Fair Housing Litigation After Inclusive Communities: What’s New and What’s Not,” by Robert G. Schwemm, Columbia Law Review Sidebar, Sept. 18, 2015

“Leveling the Information Playing Field Between Advocates and Developers“, Rooflines. Posted by Miriam Axel-Lute on September 28, 2015

“A Brief History of Public Housing,” by J.A. Stoloff, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Policy Development and Research

The Terner Center for Housing Innovation’s Development Calculator allows users to estimate the probability that a given development project will be built, given a particular set of policies and economic conditions. For example, if a proposed policy increases the density requirements in a jurisdiction, holding all other factors constant, how will this change affect the likelihood that a planned multifamily project will be developed? http://ternercenter2.berkeley.edu/proforma/

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