ANGELO LYNN

As this calendar year draws to a close, the sense of renewal and rejuvenation, of starting with a fresh slate has a strong cultural pull. It’s part of the drive that makes humankind seek to expand knowledge, and to establish societal benchmarks (the right to vote, to marry freely, etc.) often derived from what once were lofty goals. Inherent in that process is learning from the past — from our mistakes as well as our successes. 

To that end, today’s review of the key local stories of 2023 (found under the heading Chronology that starts on Page 1A and continues through several pages inside that section) is not an idle exercise in simply recalling the year’s news, but an exercise in learning from those experiences and taking steps forward where we can in the year ahead.

Here are some of those common obstacles, from this perspective, and ways forward:

• Lack of housing and tight employment: The tight housing market of the past few years is part of a vicious circle that hurts local businesses’ ability to hire the help they need; drives housing prices (and rents) higher; and has led to a drop in school enrollments, which in turns puts more pressure on schools to do more with less state aid. The seemingly obvious answer is to build more housing that will attract younger workers and families, but with a tight labor market, and high wages in the construction industry, that has proved difficult. But it’s not impossible. Chittenden County has seen huge growth in housing over the past couple of decades, as has Franklin County and other parts of the state. It is possible here too. Fortunately, progress has been made this past year with multiple larger building projects underway in Middlebury, Bristol, Vergennes, but more needs to be done. 

Here’s how: At the state level a big push was made in last year’s legislative session to modify some of the building restrictions in Act 250 to allow the market to create more housing, but it was eventually stonewalled by Democratic leaders in the House. A renewed effort to pass those reforms in 2024 should be a legislative priority. Addison County’s delegation could help lead the way.

On the local level, towns like Middlebury can do more to remove hurdles to local developers who have been put off by years of costly delays and paperwork that has given the county’s shire town an undesirable reputation as a place to build. That conversation has been ongoing for the past couple of years, but to little avail. To change that reputation, Middlebury needs to adopt a bolder, more vocal and visible, approach. Using the mantra of “build it and they will come,” Middlebury’s town officials (town managers as well as elected boards) could set concrete numbers of new units to build over the next few years, review and modify town processes that have caused past delays and ramped up costs, and then have the appropriate town officials be held accountable as part of their job performance. 

From past state studies we know Addison County is currently short 300 housing units to meet existing needs, and that’s not counting any expanded growth. Furthermore, the county loses 20-30 units per year to decay. Middlebury would make up the bulk of those shortages. Those state studies should help provide the goals to reach; the rest is putting people in charge to be sure the market of supply and demand works.

• As part of making Addison County a more affordable place to live, continued work to address childcare costs is imperative. A review of the year’s news shows remarkable progress in providing expanded capacity: Red Clover Childcare at Middlebury’s Congregational Church received a large donation for their expanded services and the Otter Creek Child Care center received millions from Middlebury College and a large federal grant; state legislation increased the pay for childcare workers; and other smaller efforts around the county are underway. 

One obvious solution remains untapped: using existing capacity at the county’s elementary schools (from the decreases in the number of students over the past decade) to provide formal programs for 3-5-year-olds through the school day. Windsor County (Woodstock/Killington area) does this through its school system as part of its educational programming — a huge boon to those young families living in that county, and a major attraction for young families to move there. While there is concern among the larger providers of childcare in Addison County that such a move would cause unwanted competition, it’s a conversation that should rise to the top this coming year with the intent of finding a way to maximize existing school facilities (which taxpayers already pay for) to their highest public use. If it’s done right, more families would move into the area and there would be ample demand for both public and private providers. That, at least, should be the goal.

• Climate change shows up in every facet of our lives — from the extreme flooding we saw in 2023, to frost damage to crops, and the lack of snow for winter sports and activities as the year ends. Locally, we must manage our personal spaces in the most energy efficient ways possible and encourage legislators to continue to support state incentives to encourage those investments. Individuals can also buy hybrid vehicles or all-electric. That said, the larger towns and institutions (schools, the college, the hospital and other large employers, as well as larger housing complexes) should be considering how they can install EV charging stations to meet that growing need. Two other adjustments are needed: stop the NIMBYism that has prevented some solar farms from expanding, and join groups like the Third Act to become involved in a nationwide movement to help reduce the harm caused from a warming world.

• The social problems facing our communities — from gun violence to racial and gender prejudice, drug use, and the growing concern of various forms of mental illness, including from loneliness — call on a different set of resources that small communities have in abundance: compassion for their neighbors. These are complicated issues with a never-ending range of causes and effects, but most can be helped by creating stronger community bonds. The question for the year ahead is how to bridge the divide between those in need and those willing to help.

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With each issue, we must also face one other formidable foe: the difficulty of turning good intentions into action. It’s one thing to create a wish list of ways to make your community stronger; it’s another to mark off actual goals achieved. As we ring in the New Year, let’s work hardest on the latter.

Angelo Lynn