John Bossange: The eclipse traffic and crowds were a warning for Vermonters

This commentary is by John Bossange of South Burlington, a retired middle school principal.

This is a photo of the interstate during the eclipse. It could well represent the reality of rush hour traffic on Interstates 89 and 91, or on other roads like Routes 2, 302, 100, 15, 7, 14 and 9 if we grow the population by another 155,000 people to reach 802,000, as promoted by Vermont Futures Project.

The recent commentary from Kevin Chu of the Futures Project and Amy Spear of the Chamber of Commerce expressing excitement over the “vibrancy” experienced from the eclipse visitors should be a wake-up call to all Vermonters.

The three minutes of darkness did not produce a vision of a sustainable community. Instead the three minutes of darkness were a harbinger of an overcrowded and unsustainable future, unwanted by most Vermonters.

READ MORE

It is this traffic scene that raises the fear of uncontrolled sprawl and the type of living environments most of us would never want to experience. Longtime Vermonters want no part of this, nor would those who moved to the state to avoid endless commuting and traffic jams resulting from sprawling car-culture communities and distant work locations.

Once again, it’s the developers, realtors and lending institutions, this time supported by Vermont Futures Project and the Chamber of Commerce, who are leading the charge to alter Vermont’s landscape. Changing the landscape and destroying the natural beauty of Vermont to accommodate more cars and homes is permanent. Sadly, this does not appear to be a part of their short-term thinking.

“Smart growth” is key to protecting our environment. It does not promote the creation of car-centric communities, which require the type of commuting seen in the photo that leads to congestion at intersections and major arteries built to accommodate the increase in traffic.

Smartly envisioned village centers and town core development can prevent this unhealthy scene when places of work, play and municipal services are at least near public transportation, or within a walkable and bikeable distance. If remote work continues, that will certainly help, but the jury is still out on the impact of the isolation and the lack of a supportive work environment needed for creativity and sound decision-making.

Even with smarter, well planned growth in town and village centers, the basic idea of a growing “vibrant” economy, as measured for a century by the Gross National Product, is now a deadly economic spiral downward. Growth, as we have known it, is environmentally, economically, politically and socially unsustainable.

There are simply not enough resources to take care of an increase of 155,000 more people, especially if we continue to believe we can live in a “vibrant” consumption economy. The “carrying cost” alone of the projected development is in itself, totally unsustainable. The impact can only be covered by a dramatic increase in our taxes and never covered by impact fees or growth in a grand list.

That’s a message about the future that those who make their living and profit from excessive development would prefer not to hear. We can be sure most politicians will not risk their reelection giving such a message, as evidenced by Gov. Phil Scott and others. Developers, realtors and lending institutions will not sacrifice their short-term profits for a sustainable and more hopeful future.

We have an opportunity to grow responsibly and not let the pressures from those who will benefit the most financially control the message of the vision of Vermont’s economic future. Vermonters want a reasonable balance. Some 150,000 people somehow lured to our state by a “vibrant economy” within 10 years is not a balance and is an insult to any reasonable Vermonter. Further, no independent demographer would defend those projections.

The crowds gathered here from the eclipse and the picture of our interstate should serve as a “code red” warning to all Vermonters of the type of future envisioned by the Chamber of Commerce and the Futures Project.

Of course we need more affordable housing of all types, and with our aging population, we need young families to move here and engage in many of our small business opportunities.

However, no one will come to Vermont to experience the type of sprawling, expensive housing projects and car-culture living requiring the daily grind of traffic jams witnessed during the eclipse. Too many already experience that in other states. Why move here if it’s moving to “Anywhere, USA?”

The eclipse was exciting, but not for the reasons given by the Chamber of Commerce. The darkness of the day should serve as a solemn reminder of what an unsustainable future will look like in our state if the Vermont Futures Project gets their way.

Read the story on VTDigger here: John Bossange: The eclipse traffic and crowds were a warning for Vermonters .