Marketplace All-in-One Make Me Smart: Vermont Edition
Feb 27, 2026
Carly Berlin, a Vermont housing reporter covering homelessness and state policy, joins to unpack Vermont’s housing crunch. She discusses causes like high build costs, zoning and aging builders. They explore Act 250 reform trade-offs and the idea of preapproved catalog homes to speed construction. Conversation also touches on rising homelessness and flood risk shaping where Vermont can safely build.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Aging Workforce Is Raising Housing Costs
- Vermont's housing crisis is driven by high construction costs and an aging construction workforce.
- Carly Berlin highlights Vermont as one of the oldest states, with retiring tradespeople and too few younger workers replacing them.
Old Land Rules Now Block New Housing
- Historic land-use and environmental regulations like Act 250 were designed to slow development and now constrain building.
- Carly Berlin explains these 1970s-era rules emerged after rapid development around ski towns and now restrict new housing.
Reform Act 250 To Unlock Infill Development
- Reform Act 250 to speed building in already developed areas while tightening protections for important natural resources.
- Carly Berlin says the statehouse is weighing trade-offs: easier local builds versus increased regulations in sensitive zones.