The State of Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development initiated and is hosting a “Homes for All Toolkit” event. The event is described as an “Interactive event for novice and emerging small-scale home builders, community development professionals, and local leaders interested in innovative home-building and home-renovation solutions.” Through this project, the agency seeks to accomplish the following: z Creation of a Missing Middle Homes Design Guide that broadly appeals to Vermont architecture. z Complete 5 Neighborhood Infill Design Case Studies that illustrate how building designs can be integrated into existing neighborhoods. z Create a Builders’ Workbook that serves as a “How-To” providing a comprehensive roadmap to real estate development novices. Guidance will include regulatory, financing, infrastructure, design, and partnering advice to help developers achieve success. z A complete training resource for both public and private sector residents to promote the toolkit. A culmination of education, resources, and empowerment is intended to bring prospective “developers” of all size and skill levels to the table, in hopes of building affordability, cultivating local support, and spurring community change. The mix of these strategies is needed on a broad scale to bring about successful development projects of this nature. An additional strategy to attract investment into currently undervalued neighborhoods is like a land banking program but called a Community Land Trust (CLT). CLT’s are nonprofit, community-based organizations responsible for holding land “in trust” for the benefit of community members. Resident leadership and the community at large control the land, shepherd the long-term vision which is frequently a result of a public planning process, and ultimately ensure long-term housing affordability. According to the Houston Community Land Trust, “Community land trusts create housing affordability through shared ownership: the homeowner owns the home itself, while the community land trust owns the land beneath, stewarding it for the benefit of the homeowner, future homeowners, and the community as a whole.”
Homes for All: Advertisement. Source: State of Vermont
Economic Strategies | 181
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