Greetings!

Thank you for your work on the ECOS Project, this is an exciting rendering of the potential for county's promising future.

My name is Infinite Culcleasure and I am a resident of Burlington. I also happen to be a policy analyst by training, and the area I tend to gravitate toward is community & economic development. Consequently, I have pored over Burlington's Consolidated Plan (as well as other corroborating documents) and have become familiar with the housing and economic issues in the City and surrounding areas.

In examining the Community Assessment section of the "Chittenden County, VT Competitive Assessment Report," one area of concern that is very difficult to ignore, in contrast to the Burlington CON Plan, is the lack of analysis regarding the increasing disparities between white families and nonwhite families. Particularly in the "Quality of Life" section, where major issues such as affordable housing and child care is concerned. Disparities exist on almost every socioeconomic indicator available.

Furthermore, because Chittenden County is the most diverse County in the state, and continues to increase in diversity, to present a "colorblind" analysis appears incomplete at best, at worse, quite negligent.

In my humble opinion, in order to accurately reflect the potential for a sustainable future in Chittenden County, the ECOS Project has an analytical responsibility to include and highlight as a major issue the growing gap in quality of life for Vermonters who are struggling to benefit from the economic development activity in the region.

To ignore these statistical realities in the report could only serve to set our communities up for failure. Addressing them now and within future reports would not be a departure from the task at hand, and would only prepare policy makers to act more decisively when the opportunity presents itself.

Thank you so much for your time and attention, and for the opportunity to share my comments!

Petite info pour ceux qui ne l’auraient pas vu, je vous recommande le dernier hors-série du journal Le Monde. Chaque année il publie un atlas thématique, et celui de 2012 n’est pas sans lien avec notre Mouvement : L’atlas des utopies.

ECOS Analysis Reports Comments
Shelburne Comment

I will offer a few general comments as others from our local Shelburne ECOS committee are providing more detailed comments:

1. Overall the three Economic Reports were helpful and form a reasonable foundation to help choose the final four or five target segments. Those reports, whenever available, will finalize the Economic Analysis reports. Also I have never viewed “non-profits” as an industry sector, but rather a form of corporate organization. Would “social services” be more appropriate term that “non-profits”?

2. The Energy Report had an unanticipated absence of economic information. It will be impossible to make the necessary analysis and trade-offs regarding our energy future without such information. For example what are the rate forecasts, what investments are required (e.g. gas-fired electricity plants to supplement wind and solar), break-even projections with and without subsidies, etc. What, if any, will be the impact on both our residential and business customers? What will be the economic impact on our region? After reading the “Conclusions” section, I sensed that the only one was that “a lot of factors affect energy”. More work seems appropriate.

3. The Education Report’s first 10 pages of excerpted material are not much of an asset to the Education Analysis Report, and seem to bog it down. The balance of the report, much excerpted also, seemed to be a potpourri of various studies and facts on education. Regional information and statistics are in short supply. At the end of the report, I really didn’t know what to conclude. I would like to see a clear, concise and pithy comparison of the statistics of our region, compared to the state and fed, and not to exclude cost which is an issue with some. Following that I would like to see the key issues and conclusions based on the statistics, and finally a few key recommendations.

4. Housing. While there are valid discrimination cases where race, disability or other factors are involved, it seems that income more than anything, drives access to housing. Discussion and conclusions on this point might be appropriate.

5. The Natural Resources section seems to be organized and cohesive and IMO the recommendations are reasonably appropriate to the facts,

Hi, I am a member of the community with only recent awareness of the ECOS project and I looked closely at the Education Analysis. I noted some comments on each chapter - they follow the General Comments below.

General Comments
 This report is missing the following: author, purpose, list of sources of information, list of tables and figures, table and figure numbers.
 There is no section specific to high school education.
 Much of the information presented in this report is general, boiler-plate language about educational best practices and is not specific to Chittenden County. Thus, it is not very helpful in helping us confirm priorities that have been set by our local high schools and state department of education or establishing new directions.
 This report does not note any of the successes of K-12 education in Chittenden County or innovative work that is being done regarding education reform.
 There is no mention of the State’s new interest in promoting K-12 STEM education.
 If this has not been already done, a review of this report should be solicited from the following persons in our community (at a minimum): all school principals, the Commissioner of Education, all school boards, UVM Continuing Education, CVU Access program.
 This report consists mostly of data and text from other documents, much of it not specific to Chittenden County. There is no analysis of data provided.
 No recommendations are provided.

The Big Picture
 This section lists things that communities, in general, must do to improve education, but it does not identify, much less prioritize, the most critical things Chittenden County communities must do. There is no contextualization to Chittenden County.

School Readiness
 This section provides general information on the need to ensure that children have quality early childhood experiences before they begin school in order to better perform in school.
 There is no Chittenden County or even Vermont-specific data presented here, no overview of Chittenden County or Vermont-specific educational policy that relates to this topic or recommendations.
Early Grade Reading Proficiency
 This section talks about why it is important for kids to be able to read in order to do well in high school.
 Again, this is a general overview and says nothing specific about Chittenden County or Vermont – what they are doing, how well it is being done and where they are heading. No recommendations provided.

Middle Grade Success
 This section talks about why middle school is such a critical time in a student’s life and what the particular challenges are for them.
 Again, this is a general overview and says nothing specific about Chittenden County or Vermont – what they are doing, how well it is being done and where they are heading. No recommendations provided.

Vermont NECAP Scores
 This section talks about how our State average NECAP scores (2008-2009 data) indicate a disparity between socioeconomic levels in both reading and math from grades 3 through 11.
 Chittenden County-specific information should be provided.
 There are other issues to consider in addition to the socio-economic disparity. Math and science performance are two examples.
 Another useful indicator of our educational performance that should be reviewed is NSF State Indicators for science and engineering (2010): http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind10/c8/c8i.htm. This provides K-12 STEM performance results.
 No conclusions/recommendations/context provided.
 I’m not sure what the purpose of this section is.

Chittenden County Pre-K-12 Data
 This section presents the United Way of Chittenden County’s Education Target Outcomes. It also presents some kindergarten assessments after 4-6 weeks of being in school (source of data not included) and selected Chittenden County Youth Risk Behavior Survey results.
 There is no discussion or interpretation of the data.
 The choice of data seems arbitrary. Why was this data chosen for inclusion and not data about high school-specific student academic performance, graduation rates, college attendance rates, etc.?
 A specific question with regards to the figure labeled “Clubs and Organizations” - why was it included? It suggests students are not very involved in afterschool activities, but does not include participation in sports – which is generally a very healthy thing to participate in and accounts for much after-school student engagement.
 Again, I can’t figure out the purpose of this section. How does this information help us think about future community educational choices?

Higher Education
 This section presents scant data related to graduation rates and college attendance rates (state-wide averages only), the need for Vermont to have a highly educated workforce, and data on the fact that Vermont support for higher ed is among the lowest in the nation. Oddly, some of this data is presented twice.
 Some things that this section should have included: The unique role of the State’s only research university located within Chittenden County and the benefits and opportunities that go along with it; a breakdown of where Chittenden County high school graduates are going to school (in-state and out-of-state, private and public) and why; at what rates they are graduating, college costs (affordability) and accessibility. Also, the unevenness of the college state system and UVM, and how that might affect student decisions to leave the state for higher ed.

Adult Education
 This section talks about programs available to help adults earn a high school diploma.
 This section does not include information on the need or success rates of these programs.
 This section should also include information and data on continuing education programs (such as UVM and CVU Access) for adults who may be looking to improve skills, embark on new career paths or are embracing life-long learning activities for personal fulfillment.

Connection Between Education and Health
 This section presents general data that shows that the more educated a person is the more likely he/she is to be healthy.
 It would be useful to see more specific Chittenden County data presented in this section, and an analysis of how we are doing as a community in this context, where we need to improve and what opportunities exist.

Some Information I’d Like to Have Seen in this Analysis
 State and Chittenden County Goals in K-12 Education, how they relate to best practices in education and what those best practices are.
 Chittenden County Student Academic Performance, Drop Out Rates, Graduation Rates, College Attendance Rates, etc. as compared to State and National Data
 Chittenden County Student Well Being Data
 Highlighted programs in K-12 education in Chittenden County (broken out by early, middle, and secondary) – ideas to build on. What are some of the great things happening in our community (Grad Challenge and CVU 2015, Dual Enrollment Program, UVM programs for high schools students, Big Picture at South Burlington, etc.)
 A discussion of how we are to maintain (and continue to improve) our K-12 education in light of a projected decline in student enrollment.
 A discussion of the state budget formula for supporting K-12 education and how that is going to look for us down the road.
 A discussion of how our higher ed facilities support Chittenden County residents and what opportunities exist for improving this relationship. (ex. Continuing Ed, Dual Enrollment, UVM programs for high school students, UVM Community-University Service Learning Partnerships (CUPS), UVM Senior Experience in Engineering Design (SEED) program, connections to economic development etc.).
 The role of the Governor’s Institutes, Math Counts, and UVM Design TASC as enrichment programs.
 An identification of needs in each of these areas.
 Recommendations for moving forward to provide healthy and well-educated citizens in Chittenden County.

Re: Natural Resource Analysis

Introduction – Nine bulleted goals:

Goal #4 – Add the word “equitable” – Restated goal would read as follows, “Enable equitable access…..”

Goal #7 – Add the word “sustainable” - Restated goal would read as follows, “ …working landscapes specifically sustainable agricultural and forestry land uses.”

Water Quality – p.7

Area of Concern #2, item A - …and degradation of landscape functions which contribute to and (aid in the maintenance of environmental and population health.) Bracketed segment altered from draft.

Data Trends – p.8

“Fish consumption advisories due to toxins have been fair in the lake …” Does this mean they occur fairly frequently? Needs clarification.

p.9

“Without sufficient functioning floodplains….” Does the reference to algae in the sentence refer to species of algae that are detrimental to the lake environment but harmless to humans and pets? Or all algae, particularly blue-green blooms? If the latter is the case, perhaps a blurb about the potential health effects on humans and pets.

Additionally, this is a development issue. Perhaps linking this item to the land use report since drafting zoning to prohibit development in floodplains would need to be come from many fronts.

Preliminary Recs – p.11

#4 Riparian buffers need to be protected – once again not just a natural resource issue. Land –use needs to be focused on this as well. Also an issue of housing safety, by extension. This is a broad, important issue. Maybe some cross-referencing to other reports for a sound, cogent link?

#6 Low Impact Development may need a bit of definition. Perhaps a mention of bringing the natural resource advocates influence to bear on zoning regulations that achieve some of these ends! All of these are synergistic with built environment and population health goals. Nice!!

Forest Fragmentation – p.12
Dense, multi-use development would curtail fragmentation. Refer to Land Use Report.

Habitat & Biodiversity – p.13
Denser development patterns that allow for the conservation of broad land tracts, public or private, would be a great help in some of these areas. How about putting forth zoning that requires municipalities to address wildlife migration and habitat conservation in their subdivision regulations? 8% is a tragically low number.

Perhaps my analysis is based on ignorance but I believe climate change has a major influence on non-native species maintaining footholds in new areas. I think a mention of climate change and sustainable energy policy adoption would be apropos. Or link to energy plan where this is (hopefully) addressed.

p.14

“The impacts of a dwelling on biodiversity….etc” Another order for denser development! Hold the sprawl!

I think all the work groups have similar, overall visions for the county that are expressed in language and concepts specific to their particular topic or discipline. I think it’s essential to link all of the reports either through an executive summary and/or by frequent cross-referencing so that the united vision becomes apparent to anyone reading, but most importantly, to anyone planning to use the document in their town.

The “ blurb and refer “ technique is also a way to integrate the reports. This allows a workgroup to acknowledge any connection its data/recommendations has to other reports. Then refer to that report for the whole story.

Great report! I loved reading it – near and dear to my heart!

Re: Development /Future Land Use & Transportation

Future Land Use Scenarios – p24.

“All the scenarios consumed between 16% and 45% of the land when compared….”

In this sentence the reference for the percentage rang is unclear. 16-45% of the land in CC? of the land that would have been consumed if traditional trend persists?

Public Survey on Scenarios – p.29.

Third bulleted item re: urban green space – this also relates to health and well being. The effect of the natural environment, in this case pocket parks and the like, on the community aesthetic and the positive effect on mental health.

This comment also relates to the follow-up question and the response on access to green space. Here the green spaces are linked to more overt predictors of health recreational green space to increase opportunities for physical activity; green space designated for community gardens as means of augmenting the local food system.

As planning scenarios develop these are important considerations, especially since the kernel of each was garnered from direct public comment.

p.30

“…the new scenario builds a regional future land use (plan??) on the zoning established in municipals regulations.”

If current zoning is not examined and slated for revision how will the “what ifs” ever make it to the table? Basing the future on current Euclidean zoning standards is really just creating another business as usual scenario. The ECOS project represents an integrated look at planning – this comprehensive perspective is not de rigueur so depending on current zoning regulations to fashion this new vision may be difficult if not impossible.

2035 MTP and Regional Plan – p.31

Suggested addition:

In the first sentence “The 2035 land use scenario was developed…..and its associated impacts on travel, the environment and population health.”

2035 Transportation Scenario Analysis – p.33

Table 12:
#2 – Add “Health” to the Scenario name.

Fantastic that social equity and energy conservation are addressed by the common elements of the scenario. Many of these impact Health as well so it is a natural, concomitant addition.

Pg. 36

Figure 27 – When discussing greenhouse gas emission as a function of increased MT mentioning the link to air quality, respiratory health, increased asthma incidence in higher traffic areas – etc could be appropriate and integrate traditional transport and its association to health.

Somewhere in this section ( any other portion of the report ) inclusion of “Complete Streets” and how this addresses use of the latest design guidelines to balance user needs thus increasing alternate transport options, decreasing VMT, decreasing congestion, potential decrease in air pollutants and the overall impact on population health.

At some point in the report, perhaps at a point when denser development, transit usage, housing stats are being addressed it might be valuable to reference the Housing Needs Assessment p. 53 entitled Location of Homes which discusses the proximity of affordable housing to transit lines and other stats that are relevant to land use and transport planning.

Also, p.55 of the Housing Needs Assessment contains information on affordable housing and its proximity to jobs that should at least be referenced in the Land Use and Transportation Analysis.

What a great comprehensive report! Thanks for the opportunity to comment.

One last sideline – I think all the work groups have similar, overall visions for the county that are expressed in language and concepts specific to their particular topic or discipline. I think it’s essential to link all of the reports either through an executive summary and/or by frequent cross-referencing so that the united vision becomes apparent to anyone reading, but most importantly, to anyone planning to use the document in their town.

Interesting reference:
Many Pathways from Land Use to Health Associations between Neighborhood Walkability and Active Transportation, Body Mass Index, and Air Quality
Lawrence D. Frank, James F. Sallis, Terry L. Conway, James E. Chapman,
Brian E. Saelens, and William Bachman
Journal of the American Planning Association
Volume 72, Issue 1, 2006

I'd appreciate the addition of a "big-picture" perspective to the Energy Analysis. That is, before talking about regional (New England), state, and county concerns / constraints, can we please set the stage by recognizing that at least some energy markets are global in scope and will be affected by larger (even global) forces?

And then, might we acknowledge the current / coming challenges of Peak Oil and Climate Change as the game-changers they are / will be?

While folks involved in the ECOS project may accept one or both of these challenges as part of the new landscape, talking about both is a critical step for ECOS to take, in order to raise awareness among so-called non-believers.

Case-in-point: My local planning commissioners, when asked in '09 and in '11 to acknowledge and consider Peak Oil and Climate Change in Town Plan rewrites told local energy committee members that these issues were "too political" ('09) and "the science is still out on climate change" ('11).

There is much education to be done, I believe, and ECOS can help.

Examine Combined TDM and Public Transportation Concepts Set Out in Alternative 1 in Draft Circ Hwy EIS (2007)

After reading through the Land Use/Transportation Analysis prepared for the ECOS project (Draft #2) I would urge the ECOS Committee and CCRPC staff to consider for analysis the robust public transportation/transportation demand alternative that was included in the Circ Highway EIS Alternatives Screening Technical Report. This alternative (called "Alternative 1: Combined TDM and Public Transportation Concepts") was developed with input from CCTA. It offers a comprehensive strategy that could move Chittenden County towards long-term energy and environmental sustainability.

Unfortunately, during the Circ EIS process, this alternative was deemed too broad in scope to fit the much narrower goals and purposes for building the Circ. Highway. As a result, this Alternative was not fully analyzed (e.g., in terms of energy saving and other impacts).

I don't know if CCRPC staff made use of the comprehensive and inter-related strategies set out in Circ Alternative 1 in developing Scenario 2 in the ECOS Land Use/Transportation Analysis -- if not, I'd urge staff to take a close look at Circ Alternative 1, which is still available online at:
http://www.circeis.org/documents/study_documents/draft_eis/DEIS%20Appendices/Appendix%20B%20Alternatives%20Screening%20Technical%20Report/Chapter%204.pdf

(if the above link doesn't work, go to:
http://www.circeis.org/HTML-appendices/appendixB.html
then download Chapter 4, and look at pages 4-2 to 4-6.

The bottom line for me is that a comprehensive strategy combining public transportation and TDM is essential for meeting Chittenden County's long-term energy, transportation, and land use needs. In the long-run I believe this will also be a much more cost-effective approach than building new highways. Again, the framework for such an approach was set out in Circ Highway Alternative 1. What wasn't done at that time was the more detailed analysis of energy and related benefits/impacts.

These are comments on the Housing Needs Assessment Report.

Awesome work! We are going to be referencing your data in our report.

There is a clear connection between housing and public health and it would be great if you could do a "blurb and refer" to the Public Health Data Analysis. Something like, "Everyone should have the opportunity to live in a safe, healthy home. People who live in substandard housing or who are homeless are more likely to experience poor health. The ECOS Public Health Data Report provides more detailed information on housing and human health."

Also, the Natural Resource Analysis addresses issues around location of development and the impact on the environment--it would be good to reference that in your report since you focus primarily on need and transportation but not environmental impact of where housing is sited.

Second paragraph of introduction: "The importance of a reliable, affordable, and sustainable provision of energy". Also for difficult choices between food, housing, etc., the Public Health Data Analsyis Report will have information about food insecurity and the health impacts so it would be good to refer to our report after your heat or eat sentence.

In the section that talks about Vermont as a state with highest percentage heating with wood as a primary heat source, it would be a good place to address health effects related to poor indoor air quality. I will check with our Environmental Health Unit to see what we have. I know you aren't addresing the larger discussion about environmental impact of various energy sources, but there is a very specific health impact at the household level with improper wood burning practices.

Regional and Municipal Energy Planning Section--number 4. "Be conscious of the energy ramifications of planning and implementation efforts at all levels and in all planning categories (land use, housing, environmental, transportation, health, etc.).

Economic Infrastructure: should be double spaced as are the other sections
on item 3: add Broadband to telecommunications.

Social Community: on item 11: add , education after recreational.

Hello, Roundabouts save fuel and lives in a community. Please read sample from article below and check out link for source. http://www.economist.com/node/21538779

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, an independent research group, estimates that converting intersections with traffic lights to roundabouts reduces all crashes by 37% and crashes that involve an injury by 75%. At traffic lights the most common accidents are faster, right-angled collisions. These crashes are eliminated with roundabouts because vehicles travel more slowly and in the same direction. The most common accident is a sideswipe, generally no more than a cosmetic annoyance.

What locals like, though, is that it is on average far quicker to traverse a series of roundabouts than a similar number of stop lights. Indeed, one national study of ten intersections that could have been turned into roundabouts found that vehicle delays would have been reduced by 62-74% (nationally saving 325,000 hours of motorists’ time annually). Moreover, because fewer vehicles had to wait for traffic lights, 235,000 gallons of fuel could have been saved.

First comment: This page looks and feels very "dry" and to get people involved and interested, I think you need to figure out a way to make it more interesting. Awareness seems a beginning and that needs more of a marketing approach. It is very interesting stuff, so it shouldn't be hard to make it look and sound interesting. Is RETN (Regional Educational Technology Network) involved? Using their help with public access TV and video would be helpful, doing more with visuals and audio. Let me know if you have any questions and if I can help some how.

shite, clearly we also need better proof reading and web development skills (can't delete other post).

Agreed. We not only need to increase matriculation but also to increase the rigor of the education programs. More emphasis on the critical thinking, math, science, recycling and the environment.

As I look to the future recognizing nothing remains constant the weakest section of the Economic Base Analysis is the limited exploration of the anticipated needs for "labor force quality". Today's manufacturers complain about the science and math skills of Vermont's secondary school graduates. If we want to remain a manufacturing state, there needs to be a better understanding of the problems and solutions to our current workforce deficits.