Smart Growth
Smart growth is a pattern of land development that creates compact, walkable, transit-accessible communities with a range of affordable housing opportunities and choices. In Vermont, it builds on and maintains the state’s historic settlement pattern of higher-density downtown and village centers surrounded by farm, forest, and natural areas.
Using smart growth principles as a guide, VNRC promotes land use planning that creates communities that are environmentally sustainable, economically viable, and resilient. To do this, we ensure the continued strength and effectiveness of Act 250, Vermont’s landmark development review law, as well as complementary state policies that promote smart growth and reduce sprawl. And we support the state’s farming and forest economies to ensure long-term land availability and economic health.
Kate McCarthy, Sustainable Communities Program Director
802-223-2328 x114
Initiatives
Transportation for Vermonters (T4VT)
Collaborating across sectors to build a sustainable, accessible transportation system in a rural state
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Smart Growth Report Card
Evaluating whether state investments advance smart growth in housing, transportation, economic development, and capital construction
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Promoting compact development through Act 250
Ensuring that Act 250 reduces sprawl and discourages scattered, incremental development
Read MoreSmart Growth News
Old Spokes Home in Burlington to advance transportation equity with small grant for smart growth from VNRC
February 19, 2020 — Old Spokes Home, a nonprofit bike shop in Burlington’s Old North End neighborhood, was awarded a $1,200 grant from the Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC) through…
Our Goals for Act 250
At VNRC we have championed Act 250 and its role protecting Vermont’s environment and communities for the past five decades. We have been involved in advocating for the law since…
Brian Shupe: How can Act 250 work better?
Find below the text of Brian Shupe’s commentary in the Times-Argus this week. As Vermont’s primary land development law turns 50 years old, it is time for a major modernization…
