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Beyond the statistics, we got many hundreds of responses from you sharing your personal stories. Here is just a small selection of what you had to say:
Allison in Moretown said:
Our home that we have rented for over 11 years is now on the market to be sold. We live in a rural area and housing is hard to find, especially affordable housing. We worry that our house will sell, and we will be asked to leave. We have been looking for over a year for a place we can afford in the school district where our daughter attends high school. We don’t want to move her out of the school district before she graduates, but we have not found anything we can afford that will accommodate us. I appreciate that we are in a better situation than some, and I feel grateful for that. I do get angry though, at the amount of short-term housing and second homes in our area when many of the people who work at the resorts or in the service industry around them cannot afford to live. The short-term rentals are killing our community, and it is frustrating. Thank you for caring.
Benjamin in Montpelier said:
I live in Montpelier. The house I live in is nearly a century old. The one bedroom apartment I rent has unreliable heat and inadequate insulation, so it's scorching hot in the summer and freezing cold in the winter. There are peeling patches of lead paint in my kitchen and bathroom, and shield bug infestations are a recurring problem. I pay $800 each month for this place. It's deeply frustrating. I've lived here for eight years, not because I chose to, but because I'm unable to save up enough money to move elsewhere.
Like many people in Vermont, I'm stuck. I work nearly forty hours a week, I'm making $21 an hour, and I can't save enough money to afford a car, let alone enough for first month's rent, a security deposit, and other moving costs. Even if I wanted to move to a new place here in town, at any given time there's only a few apartments available to rent and they're all more expensive. I cannot afford $1400 a month for another equally tiny one-bedroom apartment. The idea of ever owning my own home feels about as likely as becoming an astronaut. Montpelier was always an expensive and stagnant place to live, and this has only grown worse after covid and after the flood. The town (like Vermont as a whole) is indifferent to the needs of low-income residents like me (and callously indifferent to the needs of its ever-growing population of homeless people).
Carol in Bennington said:
I'm 63, my 33 year old son lives with me because he can't afford to rent in our area. He works two jobs and is committed to working hard. It's hard for him to imagine a time when he could ever own a home of his own.
Patrick in Windsor said:
I am currently living in a friend's semi-furnished basement, who shares the house with his mom and sister. We are all adults who cannot afford to get into the housing market because a typical property is set at a price range that only upper middle-class tourists can afford. Not only this but housing is extremely limited now, and anything under $120,000 is scooped up by someone who wants a second home. I swear, I have driven by at least 1000 houses in my area that are occupied no more than a quarter of the year. This has gone too far, there are so many of us that feel this unwarranted pressure.
Nathanael in South Burlington said:
I want to buy a house but there are only condos and overpriced poorly maintained and dilapidated single-family homes. Property taxes are incredibly high. Municipal and state regulations are exceptionally contrary to development and building. Builders aren't even available anyway. The people I work with keep leaving for other states because of this and pay is low and work is scarce for highly skilled workers. I'm thinking of leaving for these reasons too.
Jessica in Burlington said:
I’m a single mom. I live with my 7-year-old daughter and our dog in a one-bedroom apartment in Burlington. There is no parking space with this apartment, and I pay 65% of my income on rent alone. It is the cheapest place I could find that was acceptable housing for a child and a dog. I can’t afford a two-bedroom. I work full-time; I have a college degree.
Marcus in Bristol said:
I can't afford anything here. I had to move back in with my parents. I'm concerned with how many new homes are being bought by private equity and/ or used as short-term rentals. I am curious how much that is the real cause of the housing crisis.
Amy in Winooski said:
I rent in Winooski. I am mostly satisfied with my living situation. It's a nice apartment and I know I'm lucky I found one in the current market. But the rent is so high, and the cost of heat and electricity is on me, so with utilities bills, and especially as hot as the summers are getting now, it takes up a huge chunk of my income. My rent also increases 5% a year, and I only get a 3% raise every year, so the cost of rent is outpacing my income. I love living in Vermont, and I know I am luckier than a lot of people, but this place still needs to be more affordable for our communities to grow and thrive. |