Sustainable Communities Policy Priorities
VNRC advocates for policies that support affordable housing, strong local economies, healthy ecosystems, and transportation choices that reduce climate pollution and household costs. Our policy priorities focus on helping communities grow in ways that are equitable, climate-resilient, and fiscally responsible.
Housing
VNRC supports policies that encourage compact, walkable development in and around downtowns, village centers, and mixed-use neighborhoods. Concentrating growth where infrastructure already exists helps reduce development pressure on forests and farmland while making housing more accessible and affordable.
Our priorities include:
- More homes and home types in walkable downtowns and village centers
- Land use policies that support compact, mixed-use development
- Investments in water, wastewater, and community infrastructure
- Revitalization of historic downtowns and neighborhood centers
- Housing policies that reduce displacement and expand affordability
- Planning that aligns housing, transportation, and climate goals
Compact development reduces the distance people need to travel for daily needs, lowering transportation costs and greenhouse gas emissions while supporting local businesses and community life.
Transportation & Connectivity
Transportation is Vermont’s largest source of climate pollution and a major household expense, especially in rural communities. VNRC promotes transportation solutions that provide people with more options to safely and affordably get where they need to go.
Our priorities include:
- Safe infrastructure for walking, biking, and rolling
- Complete streets policies that serve all users
- Reliable and accessible public transit
- Better connections between housing, jobs, schools, and services
- Investments that reduce dependence on long car trips
- Community design that supports healthier and more connected neighborhoods
Transportation and land use decisions are closely linked. Communities designed around proximity and connectivity can reduce traffic, improve mobility, and strengthen local economies.
Climate Resilience & Community Infrastructure
Vermont communities are increasingly facing flooding, extreme weather, and infrastructure challenges. VNRC works to ensure communities are prepared for climate impacts while making smart investments that strengthen resilience and reduce long-term costs and impacts.
Our priorities include:
- Flood-resilient community planning and infrastructure
- Protecting rivers, wetlands, forests, and natural floodplains
- Modernizing water, wastewater, and stormwater systems
- Supporting energy-efficient and climate-ready development
- Coordinating state and local planning for resilience
Healthy natural systems and well-planned infrastructure help communities better withstand climate impacts while protecting public safety and reducing future recovery costs.
Strong Local Communities
VNRC believes effective planning depends on community vision, engagement and collaboration. We work to support inclusive planning processes that help communities shape their own futures while advancing statewide goals for affordability, resilience, and environmental stewardship.
Our priorities include:
- Transparent and accessible planning processes
- Support for municipal and regional planning capacity
- Policies that align state investments with local plans
- Equitable access to housing, transportation, and public infrastructure
- Community-centered approaches to growth and resilience
Strong communities are built through thoughtful planning, public participation, and long-term investment in the places people call home.
Addressing Sprawl and Commercial Strip Development
Vermont’s landscape, small towns, and working lands are central to our identity and economy. But decades of low-density sprawl and commercial strip development have increasingly spread homes, businesses, and infrastructure farther apart — consuming farmland and forests, increasing transportation-related costs and pollution, drawing investment away from historic town centers, and making it harder for communities to provide affordable public services.
Our priorities include:
- Revitalization of downtowns, village centers, and existing neighborhoods
- Encourage infill and redevelopment where infrastructure already exists
- Coordinate transportation and land use planning
- Protect farms, forests, natural areas, and scenic rural landscapes
- Promote safe, walkable, multi-modal community design
- Reduce costly, dispersed infrastructure expansion
- Support housing choices in locations connected to jobs and services
Concentrating growth in existing centers supports walkable, resilient communities and helps protect local economies, farms and forests, and public investments.
