In Vermont and in communities across the country, too many families are enduring a housing affordability crisis. Vermont villages and towns need a wider range of housing types to meet a changing population, which has slowed significantly in the past decade, resulting in declining household size.
To address these issues, Vermont Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) partnered with the Congress for New Urbanism, Vermont’s 11 regional planning commissions, AARP Vermont, Vermont Housing Conservation Board, and the Vermont Association of Realtors to provide Vermont municipalities with simple changes to their zoning regulations that will enable more attainable affordable housing at a range of incomes, in walkable, inclusive and age-friendly neighborhoods.
CNU’s Project for Code Reform provides an approach that can enable a great place, even where resources for revising zoning regulations are limited, as they are in many towns and villages in Vermont. The approach focuses on the essential land use elements needed for vibrant, livable neighborhoods, and helps local governments identify and implement the "biggest little" code changes needed to achieve the greatest impact on housing and affordability. Incremental code reform enables communities to try new approaches and grow into them, advancing to additional changes in an organic way and at a pace that suits each particular place.
Enabling Better Places: Zoning for Great Neighborhoods is made possible through a partnership with:
Vermont Department of Housing and Community Development
Vermont Regional Planning Commissions