If you think your town deserves props for its efforts to become stronger, sign up to get updates about our 2024 Strongest Town Contest: www.strongtowns.org/strongesttown
YES! That's important. If all we do is highlight cute historic villages with perfect local cultures that don't actually have much room for growth, the only thing we're doing is highlighting the next place that's gonna get gentrified by greedy capitalists.
A little sad that it is so unique. Nearly every small & medium town would’ve been designed and laid out a lot like Brattleboro 100 years ago. Amazing that it kept its character the last several decades! So many towns and neighborhoods did not…
Most of your surrounding area is impossible to build on which probably helps. It also helps that the ethos of the community is that community in itself is a virtue. Lots of small towns around here, on the other hand, preferred to drive 20 miles to Walmart over paying an extra dollar for underwear. (It's not that Walmarts are lacking -- there are two just across the river in New Hampshire).
Brattleboro also has better, ahem, demographics, than most urban areas. That's why it doesn't have that much crime. Brattleboro really isn't all that cool, honestly. That being said, I listened to a podcast about Vermont that did a 20 min episode of rebuilding Brattleboro's downtown. I can send it to you if you'd like.
Yes, also similar for much of western MA and down into parts of northwest CT as well. The Ashuwillticook rail trail continues its expansion in the Berkshires so you can bike from one charming old New England town to the next, I think to eventually reach up to Bennington VT and down into CT. I love passing through the compact and lively downtowns and only a few minutes later you're back out into nature. I would love if that bike network one day connected to Brattleboro too.
You say that yet I've lived there since i was 12 and Its becoming more and more suburban by the year. One small plant of land after another is being sold and developed and country side of Vermont is slowely becoming a slightly less dense version of suburbia. It depresses me to know end honestly. I just wish more American would embrace land use laws...
@@Jet-ij9zc Nobody is taking away your house bro, it's just that there is a need for more efficient housing options that don't exist much in some parts of the world like the U.S.
The train station was briefly shown in this video but Brattleboro is also served by free fixed route buses. They're pretty limited in headways and operating hours but its more than can be said about most of rural North America
@@toadscoper4575 Yeah hard not to be with its relative isolation being 16mi from the nearest other significant population center (Keene) and a train only once a day to any nearby "big" city (Springfield)
I've lived in a walkable town (25K people) surrounding by endless farmlands and would have loved ANY intercity public transit. Only had a few $20 trailway buses going to nearby cities.
I don't think I've ever been as tempted to move somewhere as you showed Brattleboro. Beautiful buildings and a good density town that cuts off because people just "don't want to spread".. sounds right for me!
@@MenacingWithVideos While the broader goal should be to reform our current spaces to be more like what we want often that's not feasible. No amount of solicitation or campaigning will make Inglewood look like this in my lifetime, let alone stay within my price range. Besides, people moving puts economic pressure on the places they're leaving to change.
I think the lesson from this video should be, "through smart zoning and development, how can we make other towns like Brattleboro?" The problem in America seems to be only a small percentage of cities and towns are truly pleasant and sustainable and charming, and that leads to gentrification, NIMBYISM, and unaffordability.
I am a Vermonter. Most Vermont towns have a strong, vital downtown. Most shops are owned by local entities and you don’t see a ton of big box stores in Vermont. There are far more factors then I am aware of, but it makes for a very different type of town that you find in Vermont.
My wife and I visited VT for the first time last year. We drove all over the state, and I was blown away. Speaking as an outsider here, you all have something special. I've never been anywhere like it.
Yep. But no others are right on the interstate and highway connecting the rudest/most-aggressive part of the United States (MA/CT/NYC/NJ) ---- so Brattleboro is going to get gentrified VERY quickly now that the world is getting harsher.
@@Observer_EffectI wouldn’t be one to make assumptions. I was born in Vt and lived in Maine and Massachusetts and western Massachusetts is very similar to Vermont. They just suck up to big corporations which isn’t fun but it’s mostly rural towns that depend on local businesses.
I’m glad that in Vermont they don’t have a great many big box stores. I’ve only been to Vermont once on the way to Montreal at night so I’ve never seen it really but the states I’ve lived in have now so many big box stores unfortunately but for me, they overwhelm me because there’s so many choices in the big box stores and if you have a question, it’s hard to find someone to ask. I’d rather pay a bit more and not have a big box store and have less choices and a person that really cares to answer my questions instead of a gigantic company. I almost always shop at a small hardware store instead of the gigantic Lowe’s since I feel overwhelmed by going into Lowe’s so I don’t mind paying a little more at the small hardware store and the people who worked there take time to help me if I need it my questions. Unfortunately, in many cities, towns , states there’s not many other choices. Besides just the big box stores. PS the Vermont Hills and countryside look really beautiful !! I hope it stays that way and you don’t succumb to big box, stores and suburbs.
With a bit of work on their streets, they could easily become a car-light community. I believe the Dutch call it "autoluew". Less space devoted to cars, narrower lanes, complexity in the streets, traffic calming, less curbside parking and good bicycle infrastructure. It's not that you're not allowed to drive. It's that other modes of transit aren't treated as second-class.
@@gcvrsa While I your comment points out some insightful stuff, it also comes off as a bit inflammatory. That being said, you are completely correct. A growing interest in pedestrian friendly infrastructure and car light/free communities is undeniably a good thing. That being said, it seems a growing amount of people are finding a bit too much confidence in what they suggest. Most don’t think about the implications of re-routing traffic, costs for the road itself, the time spent talking to property owners, etc etc. It is dramatically more expensive and complicated than most would hazard a guess for, but I can’t blame people for not knowing all the economics around this stuff. Overall I think a more productive way to continue the conversation would be to point them towards these issues so they can study for themselves. Otherwise, this just feels unproductive.
@@gcvrsa What heavy thru traffic do you mean ? There is a deeplying North South highway that handles passing traffic (to the north, south, and east). There will be traffic to the west, especially with Brattleboro West. Basically most traffic in town will be with a destination. @Mofoman2000 : On the other hand most residential streets seem quite 'low traffic'/ autoluw already. So there is mostly the west-east street from the West neighbourhood and the street to Main Street. The lanes are so wide (1.7x the width of a Ford Explorer), you can narrow them to lower speeds. and create some space for bicycles and/or pedestrians.
Yeah they already said the town is walkable, but what they could still do is add some more tree space and outdoor seating instead of those super wide roads
I think a lot of New England towns have the benefit of their town core maturing before the suburban sprawl starting in the 50s, but a lot fell into new sprawled developments during that time, which creates a weird disconnect where many town residents live outside downtown, work in another suburb, and rarely go downtown. Brattleboro is a truly unique case and encouraging to see.
This pattern is probably true all along the East and in the South. Georgia has countless beautiful old town centers that developed in the 19th and early 20th Centuries. But now they are just a shell of their former selves. Nobody lives in those town centers, and the main businesses are niche retail and specialty dining- nothing for everyday errands. So despite the beauty and walkability, the town centers are basically unlivable. The pattern of suburban development is unbreakable it seems.
Disagree. As a New Englander, this comment is only applicable to maybe 5% of the region. Not only do these quaint small towns price out average folk but the region is just as car-dependent as the rest of the US. You’re not going to find decent public transit anywhere outside Boston and stroads are a-plenty. People need to stop romanticizing NE as this European-esque region, it’s simply inaccurate
@@toadscoper4575Vermont is the only area that can truly claim to have compact development almost across the board. Sprawl along state highways is limited compared to the rest of the region, especially outside the larger cities of Burlington, Montpelier/Barre and Rutland. Way more of an emphasis on compact, village-style development, much like in a lot of rural NY
@@toadscoper4575and a number of other mountain constrained areas/coastal towns have similar development (ie: towns in the Berkshires, North Conway, Rockland ME, etc) albeit with a bit more highway sprawl
@@tomgeraci9886 still unacceptable that all those regions are entirely dependent on cars. Vermont has zero rail transit beyond a few daily diesel Amtrak trains in a select few cities. At least MA, RI, and CT have stretches of the NEC that run through them (not to mention Boston is the only city in NE with mass transit). If Brattleboro were in Europe it’d most surely have an electrified intercity/regional rail connection along with a robust tram network. Unfortunately VT is contempt with maintaining car-dependency.
I've been to Brattleboro a few times and it is a lovely place. I just don't understand how the cost of living wouldn't be a part of this video if you want to give people the complete picture. It is extremely expensive to live there as well as many other parts of Vermont. No mention of real estate prices, taxes, price of goods? So many viewers would probably never be able to even think of affording a home there.
@@krazykkarlA lot of channel viewers subscribe to the ideal of a town being affordable to live in for citizens of varying income level (something I sympathize with, since it allows most people to have the option to grow up and retire in the same community), so such a sentiment is bound to be unpopular here.
This is so crazy to see as someone who’s from the uk I can think of about 20 villages within 40 minutes drive of me exactly like this I had no idea America was so different outside the big cities
eh, uk villages and especially towns generally aren’t this dense though. The UK is a very dense nation sure, but town and city centres are relatively small compared to other countries like in asia and the americas. Lots of terraced homes and tightly packed houses in the uk, but not many multistory apartment buildings.
@Ula-Ka tbf it looks a bit better than a typical UK town which does tend to have suburban sprawl and wouldn't be quite as urban and developed if it had this sort of population. It does remind me a lot of places like Skipton and Whitby though which do have a sharp divide between a dense urban core and remote rural areas just a few miles away
I'm not american, I don't even live in the US, but still I was brought to tears of joy over the beautiful way of living in Brattleboro compared to the otherwise so common sub-urban sprawl in America. I really believe this is the best way for humans to live: smaller cities with tight-knit communities, land use that is efficient and respectful of nature, and access to local produce. What else could you possibly need?
@@andrew8501 Yes, economic opportunity is important. Judging from their thriving downtown, sounds like they're doing ok on jobs - certainly better than many small towns that I have been to!
@@V45194 when I lived in Vermont, I found that the state is entirely dependent on tourism. They certainly aren't good paying jobs unless you own and operate a business that draws tourists.
oh man I feel like Elgin, IL has great potential to be a strong town. Elgin's got all the elements - mixed use buildings, walkable downtown, lots of art and local businesses, public transit, etc. it's "in the suburbs" but it was established at the same time as Chicago so the suburbs just sprawled out to the valley it's in. but Elgin is often looked over bc it is lower income and minorities are the majority of the population. but it's such a special place and I have no idea what to do to help it.
Be an advocate! You can start a conversation to protect Elgin with your friends, family, neighbors. Strong Towns has resources you can use to inform yourself and your community. Fight for what is precious!
This is pretty much a typical UK village or small town! Every area is mixed use. You can walk down the roads (on pavements) where I am and pass: a grocery store; food shops; a garage/repair shop; local pub; hairdressers; butchers; a couple of small industrial units; a cricket pitch; a couple of soccer and rugby pitches; a few bowling greens; BMX/scooter/skateboard park; a park; pond; stream; play park; vets; farms and much much more. Houses range from single bedroom flats above the shops to a 10 bedroom house in a huge garden. All that within a 30 minute walk from my front door. Also a train station with trains every 10 minutes along the coast and up to London and busses around the main roads every 10 minutes. There is no church or other religious structure near, but there are a few around the area for the few people interested. No car is needed to go anywhere unless you want the problems of parking :P There are some massive housing developments going on in the surrounding areas despite huge local opposition as, instead of building on brown field sites, they are building on rural flood plains. And yes, the new houses flood and cause floods.
@@cabdiyareahmed2353 You must live in a very different part of the UK to me :) The area I live is surrounded by open space with paths everywhere, ancient woods and waterways. A look on Google Maps shows as 95% green for over 40 miles all around (well, not south, that's the Channel!). Just the occasional village and a strip of development along the coast.
I live in northeastern VT and I've only gone thru Brattleboro a few times but it always seemed nice. It has the same appearance as other towns along the CT river, brick industrial buildings, but also a connection with the surrounding agriculture. There are lots of other smaller towns in VT with similar qualities.
This is actually why I loved living in Hong Kong. Very concentrated central city, but nature very accessible right around it. I didn’t expect this before living there.
I really like the insight that Abraham had about having to intentionally set plans to meet up with friends. But in smaller more cohesive communities, you're able to use happenstance to reconnect with acquaintances in the flesh, even if for only a few minutes.
Except that not everyone likes "happenstance". I don't even believe in going to my family's house (mom's, daughter's) without first calling and I don't like them popping in on me in my home either. I prefer NOT running into people that I've met before or know. It ruins my day.
@@laurie7689 That is how life was before the advent of the car and people lived in closed-knit communities. It was normal to casually go to your friend's or family's home whenever.
@@ianhomerpura8937 Some people want to be around people and others don't. I fall into the "other" category. I simply don't socialize. I've never socialized, even when I was a kid. When other kids would approach me to ask me to play, I always refused. Eventually, they ceased to ask. I found them to be bothersome, even as a kid. My father rarely socialized with anyone outside the family either, until he met my mom. She was a timid shy wallflower. My grandmother had a cancer scare at one point and wrote letters to both her daughters which she kept and were found after her death (she didn't have cancer when she wrote them, but did die of cancer later in life). In the letter to my mother, she wrote that she was worried for my mom's future because she was so timid. She hoped that my mom would find somebody to take care of her since she couldn't handle taking care of herself. My dad was a good man. The word that best describes him is: Stoic. He tended to the needs of his family without complaint. He had a handful of co-workers that he considered friends, but he didn't ever socialize outside of work with any of them. Neither of my parents did. Work, home, and family were their world. Rarely was a word even spoken with a neighbor. That is how I grew up. Neither of them had friends in school either as kids from what I have learned. Neither did I. I can count on one hand the number of people that I've been friendly with in my lifetime.
@@laurie7689 Sudden Pop-ins are not acceptable, but that's not the scenario depicted and lauded in the video or by the OP. Instead, what was being discussed is the notion of strengthening connections of community members over time through the physical act of connection. Arriving unannounced to the home of relative or acquaintance is just uncouth.
I did not wake up today expecting to see the town I was born in featured in a RU-vid video. I live just 20 minutes away from Brattleboro and my mom still works there and I go to the town quite often. It's so nice to see some spotlight on the small urban communities that exist in Vermont. You really notice how the sense of community is maintained even with the urban elements.
As someone who is from a remote town in India, the probability of experiencing this very experience stands at zero. Lucky you to have this unique experience.
This is why I could never live anywhere besides Vermont. A Vermont town is a community and we help each other. I live up the road from Brattleboro, so it's super cool to see it talked about in this video and appreciated for what it is. I love going downtown and to the farmer's market. People who dismiss Brattleboro as unsafe or sketchy are missing out!
In NH but I recently moved to the Upper Valley and I love it! So great being able to walk into downtown Leb and walk to trails that run all the way to Hanover, Concord, and connect to the AT
This video reminds me of the small town i live in (Tecumseh, MI). Having lived here a year, ive gotten to know so many farmers, bakers and small businesses just by being able to walk and bike into town. CSA's are huge for the community here as well
I love sharing this - it makes me love Selma NC (we were a finalist in 2023) even more - and makes me realize Activate Selma is on the right path to help our town be even stronger! So glad this wasn't a puff piece, Strong Towns! Congratulations, Brattleboro, VT! Your story, your resilience, and how you "dance" together is inspiring!
Absolutely beautiful. So much of the north east serves as a great case study of areas with good roots that have been maintained to various degrees. New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine especially highlight lower-density development, as do many of the non-company towns that don't lay directly on the coastline.
New Hampshire has plenty of great scenery but philosophically is very different from Vermont. The Rochester-Dover area is almost the opposite of Brattleboro: miles of suburban sprawl with hardly any central core.
@@davidneman6527 Ah, that's unfortunate. I haven't spent time in the state, so that's on me assuming it'd be like its neighbours (not that Maine and Vermont are flawless examples, just that they have lot of good areas to point to).
Vermont’s towns developed in a similar compact way to much of rural NY and PA. NH is often very sprawling even in rural areas, with a lot of development along state highways instead of in compact villages/small towns
Seems like an amazing town. Yes, they all have their issues, but the acceptance of everyone across the board is something we need more of in this world. The world would be a better place if we had more of this.
A lot of arguments against infill development, more dense forms of housing, bike lanes, or less parking, is that people like space, that they dont want to live in a box. But people say they always want that "small town feel" and towns like Brattleboro show that you can have that and be successful.
I was thinking about this when someone made the "Geography is destiny" comment earlier. I wonder though why most of these towns in West Virginia that were dense and once thriving are now vastly empty.
Alot of WV grew alongside the coal mining industry. Once the coal mining industry in the US went bust for oil drilling and natural gas, alot of WV economy collapsed with it and hasnt recovered since.
This led me to google, where I discovered I could move from Oakland, CA to Brattleboro, VT. Not only would it DOUBLE the sq footage of my current place, but I would go from 1 to 3 bedrooms, 1 to 1.5 bathrooms, an in unit washer/Dryer + dishwasher AND that place is $100 cheaper than my 1 bdrm here in Oakland. I just wanna shout-out yourself and not just bikes for all the wonderful videos on strong towns!
LOL, as a former Californian, can I just say this is why the rest of the country hates us. We Californians move out of CA and we just end up jacking up the prices of housing everywhere else. It's not our fault that California is the 6th largest economy on Earth.
@@julianallen515 That's a decent point. I lived in Reno for a bit and the snow/ice was the least enjoyable part. Snow I have learned is fun to visit, not fun to be trapped in. For some reason I just didn't think it would get too snowy up there but they are pretty far North.
@@gcvrsa I have been, either lucky or unlucky depending, enough to be medically retired in my late 20s. So as long as the living expenses in the area aren't more than the Bay Area that wouldn't be an issue.
I didn't see anything that I'd consider appealing about it. It is just a small town, not a suburb. Suburbs are for people trying to get away from other people.
it wouldn't work because american style suburbs were made for people who didn't want anyone else around them but were too cowardly to live in the actual countryside. it's the countryside for city folk. so it's nothing. this is just a town
@@laurie7689 hey did you know that american style suburbs aren't the only type of suburb that exists?? suburbs that developed before cars looked way more similar to this town
Really enjoyed my time in Vermont. Many of the cities that I had been to in Vermont are pretty similar to this community. Really wish more states would try and follow this example.
Vermont has the second largest rate per capita of HOMELESSNESS! There aren't any rentals (studio is now $2,000). There is a .4% (less than 1%) vacancy rate. Brattleboro is experiencing one of the worst homelessness crises in the state. If you want to buy? Good luck finding a property. Our real estate rates have risen dramatically since the pandemic. The average price for a home: $408,000 (if you can find it). This video was made before the statewide flooding in July. Finding a rental is virtually impossible.
@@gyandevi3361 I see where you're coming from, but encouraging more of this style of development around the country would help satiate the market and lower the prices in communities like Brattleboro. That's how supply and demand works. Maybe read first before you copy & paste the same thing to any positive comment here?
Mind you, those long meetings are about real on-the-ground issues, not politics, not misc fake crap. Real discussions, no threats or BS. Go Bratt! We LOVE it here!!! Could sure use more affordable housing though.
Personally this is why I love WV so much. I'm originally from a Philadelphia suburb, but when looking for colleges I decided to go to WVU, and part of that decision was for Morgantown itself, which shares a lot of similarities with the towns discussed here. It's not perfect by any means, but WV's unique topography kind of forces towns to be small and dense, which is great as lots of amenities are close by, why simultaneously being close to nature and being in vast forests just within a few minutes drive.
I hate how we have to have videos to explain to people that nice places to live are better then not nice places to live. I love small towns, and I love cities. I don’t understand how anyone can spend any time in suburbia while knowing that places like this exist
@@brianisbrined9255 that’s fine too if we eliminate the suburbs, rural folk like you get more land to chill out in while everyone else gets to live in walkable cities! win-win for everyone
@@pelletrouge3032 if the police and military forces were encouraged to fight crime like it was done in Salvador and it gave fruit drastically reducing crime
Thank you for spending so much time in my home! Brattleboro isn’t perfect, not by a long shot, but it’s worth it. It’s worth the effort of overcoming challenges and strengthening our town for the future. There’s so much negative rhetoric around economic struggles impacting everyone after the pandemic gutted social supports. We’re not the only ones facing these issues and it’s imperative we remember those struggling are part of our community. The only thing you missed was how important our local pub is. ❤️ Kiplings Tavern, named after the author who spent his days in the area.
And - let's let it keep the same population roughly! The unsustainable cancerous idea of unfettered capitalism has people thinking anything can grow forever. Like Brattleboro now?! Keep it more like it is now. People should move in and out, be born and die ---- but it doesn't have to GROW. The Starbucks/Apple Store/etc vibe will find active hostility here.
Infill development is always a challenge - developers are hesitant, neighbours can be resistant, so often the result is only a trickle of new housing. I will be watching Brattleboro closely to see if they are able to lower housing costs with infill, it will be very impressive if they can pull this off.
That's one of Vermont's biggest problems. The place is a NIMBY stronghold. I drove up and down Vermont 20 times and there were never signs of development.
9:24 This is the way things were in many more places in the past. There were not the geographical divides along income lines. It is hard to avoid negativity in a community the more extreme the difference between wealthy and very modest incomes becomes. We have also been marketed to and atomized in such a way as to increase corporate profit, but to the detriment of community.
"Hard"? Within naked bloodthirsty capitalism's options . . . there is no way for it to happen. The wealthier, incoming, would have to really give immediately - a lot - to the community. "Trickle down" from buying your house and groceries here is laughable. Both sides are going to be increasingly self-righteous and angry. And it will continue to split the community. And crime, including violence, are going to continue to skyrocket.
@@Observer_Effect Sweden does a much better job at overcoming the major defects in capitalism by having less capitalism. There are more billionaires per capita in Sweden than in the United States. Yet, their richest person has “only” $17 billion. They also don’t have the extreme poverty as in many parts of the United States. Sweden apparently realizes that market forces don’t solve every problem. Perhaps the belief that anyone can “earn” a billion dollars should be classified as a mental illness.
As a European, I always hear about how "everyone wants to move to the US because it is so much better here..." but really, it is not! And this is actually the first video of my entire life that actually convinced me that there is a place that I would have loved to move in to! You really can see the community, the love and happiness people find from this town.
@@brianog5267 They're all expensive relative to neighboring towns due to scarcity. And these types of towns almost always have colonial roots, so they primarily exist on the east coast.
America is better than Europe in ways that tourists don't get understand. We have a better experience with our schools, with our colleges. Young people after college working in urban cities can have a lot of fun. Having space in the suburbs can also be good when you have a young family. So there are a lot of advantages living in the US, that European tourists don't get to appreciate.
@@saratemp790 I'm terribly sorry but have you ever been to Europe? We do have suburbs, we do have Urban centres and the schools are free here with the same level of education as with the America. Here in Prague, you have anything xou could want (school, grocer's, parks, doctors, etc.) in a walkable distance and if not so, I you can easily take the convenient, comfortable and cheap public transport. When I used to live in Vancouver Canada, (not the US but somewhat comparable I think) we had to take the car everywhere and the amount of homeless people was staggering. Now I do believe there are good places to live in the US, and this video is an great example of such, which I would love to move in to, however those are the exceptions, not the rule.
❤❤ But that’s because the Vermont town centers that do exist, exist because they were designed as “New England”. We still have the same suburban sprawl challenges as the rest of the country but historical building practices combined with participatory democracy has kept it in check. On the other hand we have serious housing issues and connectivity issues to larger areas from an alternative transportation perspective. New England has serious issues ahead to keep the rural character and do infill development that people sometimes resist. Also we are losing our family farms, though some come to replace others there are a lot of issues around that.
As an American, I will say the American propaganda system is strong and starts at birth. I often wish we had more towns like the ones I’ve visited in Europe-walkable, pretty, with spaces people of all income levels can enjoy. There are plenty of good things about America (diversity, natural beauty, friendly people, industry) but European cities have a lot of elements that make everyday life more beautiful, meaningful, and connected. In America, to live in a town with lovely old architecture, well-tended parks, and neighborhoods with shops just down a tree-lined street, you need to be wealthy. Everything here is about how much money you have.
I pass through Brattleboro regularly, and it was one of the first places in Vermont I ever visited. Makes me love the fact I left the suburban hell of SoCal for rural New England.
I was less than thrilled. What advantage to our town is it to have 144,000 views in 5 days to watch a video touting what a great place this is to live? Buying a house has already become nearly impossible for people with ordinary incomes. Out-of-state big cash is snatching up homes and jacking up prices out of reach for people with modest incomes. And I learned from this short video that Brattleboro lacks more than 500 dwelling units, and our Zoning Administrator says, no problem, we'll build up! More highrises coming? I also thought the movie was very superficial, pretty much ignoring old time Vermonters. Rebop farm, fine place with wonderful agricultural practices that it might be, nonetheless is owned and run by a college-educated couple who came here from afar to buy a farm. Somehow the filmmaker did not discover any of the farms, such as Lilac Ridge, run by native Vermont farm families going back generations. I don't think he "button-holed" any random person on the street, but interviewed only people who were introduced to him by whoever his contact person was. I don't think anyone should intentionally try to "balance" ethnic or "racial" representation; but the fact that the only Black-appearing person in the video is a restaurant-owner, is because the filmmaker turned the camera on people selectively, getting a prominent Realtor®, a former selectman, etc; multiple appearances for everyone as the filmmaker recycled a limited number of high-profile people. And where were all the people with cardboard signs asking for money? Sad that the message was not that other towns could learn something from Brattleboro about how to have the benefits of a vibrant downtown, yet with access to rural life: The message was that Brattleboro is a one-of-a-kind town, lucky that this balance is only possible here because of our unique geography. He did say that Brattleboro is not perfect, there are problems, but he did not name them. Were he to name the imperfections, he could start with the self-important, we-know-what-is-best, dysfunctional selectboard which (with hollow compliance to Vermont's Open Meeting Law) acts with contempt for the genuine meaning of an open public process.
This is exactly the kind of place I want to live in. Give me some acerage and the ability to grow food for those in the community and a place to share laughs and food and it's perfect
As someone that has been looking for a new home in a new state for the past year, Brattleboro was at the top of my list. Unfortunately, the home prices are out of reach for a lot of people. That's even if you can find a single family home as it's mostly just multi-family homes for sale. Nothing against multi-family homes, but the prices for them are too much for even fixer uppers. If you are looking for affordable homes in small towns (50k population or less) with goals similar to strong towns (we're talking currently walkable/bikeable, some form of transit, homes that most could afford, and a community+city council aiming to push strong town values), here is my list in no particular order: Auburn & Lewiston, ME Pittsfield, MA Rutland, VT Mt Pleasant, MI Alpena, MI Marquette, MI Sheboygan, WI All have the con of being small so don't expect big change to happen like you would see in a city like Madison, WI, but I can't even afford a shoe box in a city like Madison. Drugs are a problem in Pittsfield and Rutland, but Brattleboro suffers the same con.
Pittsfield like most towns in Western Mass definitely have some serious issues going on, mostly poverty and lack of jobs. Throw in the high cost of living and it's a hot mess!!
I mean, like they mentioned in the video, there is a critical shortage of housing. My wife is a case manager in one of the Homeless Shelters and its absolutely brutal trying to find permanent housing for people. We were looking to buy in Brat but got outpriced and outbid on 2 different houses before we settled across the river in nearby Keene, which also has a lovely downtown but has succumbed a bit more to sprawl.
I just wish we had a bus system as usuable as the Moover is. Brat proves that you CAN have usable public transportation in more rural spaces, and I desperately want Keene to expand its Citybus routes to be as functional.
Alpena huh? Been there twice looking around for a retirement landing spot, but the vibe... Both times left me with a feeling of folks who do not want you there. Really should not matter, but it does. The town for its size is amazing for what it has, and the natural surroundings are so beautiful, remote, quiet laid-back and the entire area was so clean! I feel so drawn to the area and wish the vibe felt more welcoming.
Great story. Thanks for continuing to find these places and tell their stories. We get two things: first, we get examples of what has worked in different places; second we get hope that things can be better and that our effort in our own communities is worth the work. I do have one complaint: we really need to differentiate between "suburban" and "sprawl." Suburbs are the relatively complete places that may either have developed due to the strength of a larger urban center very near by, or that were previously independent and complete villages that have been connected to the larger urban center very near by. Sprawl is not a synonym for suburb. Spraw was the invention of building incomplete places that are typified by endless miles of residential subdivisions that are dependent on the use of automobiles, which then spawned the other inventions of the strip mall and single use districts that again depend on the use of the automobile. When we use the word "suburb" to describe the places that have done so much damage to our economy, culture, and environment, we are distancing and alienating the people who live in excellent communities - places that are often part of the solution. These places are part of the solution, not the problem. The word "suburb" did not come from the description of sprawl nonplaces. It came from the development of the network of shorter rail lines that connected the villages that circled New York City, which were built on a level created below the level at Grand Central Terminal that connected to other cities: the urban level. The level below became known as the "suburban" level. If we can include the people who live in a place like the Rivertowns along the Hudson north of NYC - complete communities that are walkable and not dependent upon the automobile - as part of the solution, we will have an easier time convincing them to manage there communities that reinforces what it takes to be a Strongtown. If we alienate them by saying that we oppose suburbs, we risk convincing them that they are not urban places. Since they cannot be considered rural, they become vulnerable to sprawl land use patterns as they grow, if they do not recognize themselves as being urban.
This town is special. I wish I could live here honestly. I hope as they expand, they don't lose their connections and also the aesthetic. I hope for their infill densification projects they look at doing something like mass timber buildings, with maybe brick facades for the ground floors. Keep the character, but also stay very in touch with the nature. They could also do rooftop garden spaces to help maintain the food production for the additional people, plus perhaps be useful for people like me who like to garden but due to disabilities can't really do very hilly terrain. I think this town has a fantastic balance of urban and rural and is truly a bit of a time capsule.
Wow, amazing! I used to live across the border in Greenfield and always loved Brattleboro. Got engaged to my partner there two weeks ago! There are a lot of wonderful small towns like this in Western Massachusetts and Vermont
Brattleboro seems interesting, and even very nice in its own way … but to be honest it’s FAR from my ideal of a place to live! I suppose I’m a city kid through and through, so Brattleboro seems much too sleepy:for my tastes. My idea of heaven is a first-story walk-up in a multi-family five-story courtyard low-rise, in a medium-density part of a major metropolis, maybe one half-block from two major bus transit arteries, with three major parks I can walk to in under two-to-five minutes (one of them having gardening allotments available to rent), with a bank, a post office, an urgent care clinic, a guitar shop, three bookshops, two thrifts shops, three supermarkets, several restaurants, one decent pub, and a cinema all within five-to-ten walking minutes from me, just eight blocks from the beach, and three blocks from the metro which during rush hour takes me to the heart of the metropolis in well under an hour - why, I was at one of the world’s major museums just this afternoon, on a passing whim! “I want to see a Chagall window!” thought I … and one short hour and a slice-of-pizza-on-the-way later, there I was in front of a Marc Chagall window!! I wish my branch library hadn’t been shuttered by my short-sighted city, and my favorite nearby used record shop went out of business, and the nearby fabric shop and hobby shop both moved away, plus after nearly thirty happy years I’m afraid the yuppies moving in will within the decade price me out of my own neighborhood … but it’s been a good run. Maybe I’ll try Paris next, their efforts to pedestrianize look promising. In any event, I think my point is: for some of us, having a few million people as neighbors is pretty swell, Boris de Vincennes or Lincoln Park or Central Park are plenty of nature, and if we just got rid of the cars, Paris or Chicago or New York City could be paradise!!
This is how a lot of towns in New England are, I love it. Once you get away from the old US you get the more suburban Midwest/south and even worse the urban sprawl of the west.
CT has some great small city urbanism! New London and Middletown are good examples that really need some love. And then of course New Haven and parts of Hartford (the parts they didn't bulldoze)
@@Lactuca true. I think we have potential in some areas. New Haven is really cute but very far from a feeling of community. Our class tensions make it hard. It doesn’t feel as close knit.
I looked into their zoning laws and was pleasantly surprised. Their "residential zones" actually have flexibility in them to allow housing stock to grow with town population. The following are permitted uses from their site: "Single-unit detached dwelling Rooming or boarding house, Single-unit attached dwelling Retirement housing, Accessory dwelling Nature or recreational park, Duplex (2 units) Bus stop shelter, Triplex (3 units) Utility structures, Quadraplex (4 units) Communication antenna, Multi-unit dwellings (5 or more units) in existing residential buildings Agriculture and forestry". The zone also CONDITIONALLY allows things like small shops ONLY on two streets out of the hundreds that are there. Also a nice mixed use zone sprouting out from the downtown (Urban Center) district, but I have a feeling if I were to go look at historical satelite, those were probably there for a long time and got grandfathered in and it was then surrounded by the residential district and choked its growth. Ultimatley I feel like that if the time ever came where the Urban Center would need to grow to accomodate the larger population, I am doubtful the residents would allow it to happen. Still, this town has things set up much better than most.
I live in San Francisco and run into people I know all the time. I think it all depends on what sort of neighborhood do you live in when you lie in a big city. My neighborhood is dense but still very "neighborhoody" and there are lots of familiar faces. Also making an effort to meet people as vital anywhere you live
The access to both natural environment and urban living is exactly why I chose to live in Juneau Alaska. I appreciate this video exploring the reasons this combo is wonderful... and it comes with planning challenges.
Shout out for Cumberland MD. 2.5 hrs west of DC & Baltimore with a great downtown and neighborhoods. Struggling to recover from its heavy industrial past, but right sized to be a city that is connected to the beautiful countryside that surrounds it.
Thank you for covering my home!! We have a huge homeless problem, and the infrastructure is awful, and the coop is exorbitant. The people you collaborated with are lovely, and so with the rest of our community, but dont paint a perfect picture.
I'm curious about the resident retention rate. Have locals been able to stay as long as they wish, generation after generation? Or have locals been pushed out by gentrification?
Really appreciated the format of this video highlighting all of the benefits of this lifestyle and beautiful scenery shots. Reminded me of my college town Athens, OH which has a tight knit community like this outside of the student population. Also Lancaster, PA is an extremely enjoyable historic town w/ modern amenities that I would recommend checking out!
As a New England resident i can say that is feels like so many small towns here. And thats amazing. I graduated in 2010 and my class was 86 kids, and that was in Massachusetts. I love New England for towns like this, and when i explore other parts of tye country nothing makes me feel more home then a town like Brattleboro VT or Douglas Massachusetts or a number of other tight knit towns
I disagree with them not being perfect for arguing. To me, a real strong town is where people sit down together to discuss, instead of hating one another from afar. Discussion and arguing is a cornerstone to any healthy relationship, let alone community. Way to go Brattleboro!
I dearly love Brattleboro - lived there for years and now live 20 min away. It has many wonderful qualities and I’m excited it won this award. But I had to LOL at “insanely well designed.” Anyone who ever has tried to drive downtown through what locals call “cluster**** corner”-especially when there’s a train going by-would find it hard to agree. It’s a sweet and very quirky New England town that’s relatively healthy largely because of tourism and people driving through to go further north to ski (which is a weakness in many ways, because climate change is going to kill ski resorts eventually). It literally *can’t* spread because of topography, which (along with Airbnb culture) also contributes to it having a rental housing crisis like everywhere else. It’s great but it’s not magic.
Driving thru downtown is annoying for sure but a big point of strong towns is that optimizing for Drivers makes things generally worse for everyone who's not in a car. As someone who works on main st, Brattleboro's downtown is absolutely lovely as a pedestrian, and also relatively accessible to pedestrians. I do wish there was better (read: any) bike infrastructure in and around downtown, but space constraints largely make that impossible unless you just completely removed street parking, and I think that's probably a non-starter politically speaking. Towns definitely got troubles. Lot of issues with homelessness because of that housing crunch, but the town is stepping up to try and deal with that problem. Like he said in the video, no where is without problems. But it's a damn good town, and you can absolutely live worse places.
I imagine strong towns would consider brattleboro's downtown traffic situation to be a good thing. They want you to get out of the car and walk around, not drive through town.
I am always confused by the economy of towns like this. Like what do the people here do for work? All these people are just talking about breweries, farmers markets, little boutique stores, and restaurants?
There are a variety of industries in Southern VT. Aerospace parts, microchip fabrication, IT stuff. But also, there is a man who hand makes cellos for a living. It's Vermont.
Vermont has the second largest rate per capita of HOMELESSNESS! There aren't any rentals (studio is now $2,000). There is a .4% (less than 1%) vacancy rate. Brattleboro is experiencing one of the worst homelessness crises in the state. If you want to buy? Good luck finding a property. Our real estate rates have risen dramatically since the pandemic. The average price for a home: $408,000 (if you can find it). This video was made before the statewide flooding in July. Finding a rental is virtually impossible.
@@robertruffo2134and also how much of it ought to be spread across the country. If more communities were like this, there would be less of a demand in the few that would otherwise have it all. Only problem is some people in the few fortunate towns might be rather protective of their property values…
I love the kid asking what kind of organs. Made even better by the moms not seeming to really get what the confusion was about. 😂 Anyway, looks like a charming little town. I'd love to visit if I ever decide to fly across the Pond.
The problem with the coop is that usually you dont get to choose what vegetables you get, and if you arent a lover of all veggies it can result in some food waste :(
How does one add at least 500 apartments to Brattleboro without the sprawl? A couple of high rises would have to be built and I'm sure there would be opposition to that.
I have become somewhat familiar with the layout of Brattleboro thanks to following along on maps while reading how the fictional local police detective Joe Gunther solves crimes in a series of fine mysteries written by Archer Mayor. Highly recommended.
I love what they are doing. I wonder how they dealt with the local government. I know there's so many great ideas that the government often won't allow.
