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mattgm1995 t1_j7rj9gw wrote

Reply to comment by Necessary_Cat_4801 in How Can We The Increase Affordable Housing Supply? Ideas? by twentiesforever

There’s plenty of empty land in VT. Why don’t you build more instead of punishing people who enjoy spending time in the state? Tourism supplies 10% of VTs jobs, skiing isn’t going away, and outsiders bring $3B into Vermont yearly. You want to lose that?

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Necessary_Cat_4801 t1_j7rjqli wrote

I don't necessarily want to lose tourism. I'm fine with people not being able to afford a second home here. Most of the tourism in Burlington comes from Quebec. They aren't going to stop coming. If we lost the NJ/NYC/MA crowd and gained workforce housing, that would be a win for the state.

As an nonresident, you seem to be missing that VT does whatever it can to fight sprawl. That's why we have open land. Most of us want real jobs, not jobs waiting on rich people.

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mattgm1995 t1_j7rk6wl wrote

Most of burlingtons tourism is from the rest of New England. And much of it is from people who have second homes and want to go out in Burlington. As a resident who is super entrenched in their position I think you’re missing the ramifications. Also, no one is stopping you from getting a good paying remote job. Major employers aren’t going to suddenly move campuses and jobs to Vermont because “housing is available”

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Necessary_Cat_4801 t1_j7rkm2l wrote

Lol. OK. I have a job. I don't want a remote job, that sounds miserable. I'd rather live and work in my community.

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mattgm1995 t1_j7rksv5 wrote

What do you expect these high paying jobs that suddenly flood the state when we all leave to be?

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Necessary_Cat_4801 t1_j7rl77f wrote

I don't see the connection. Housing would be more attainable.

Tourism jobs don't pay livable wages anyway and soon there won't be anyone to fill them.

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mattgm1995 t1_j7rlhnj wrote

You said “most of us want real jobs, not jobs waiting on rich people”. If you lose 30,000 jobs, what jobs do you think will suddenly appear?

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Necessary_Cat_4801 t1_j7rm0hv wrote

30k seems very high, and pretty arbitrary and pretty pulled out of your ass.

I really don't care what you think, honestly.

If you think people are happy to work minimum wage jobs with no benefits, instead of having available housing that's great. Good for you.

Most people in VT don't work in tourism. We can't hire teachers at the moment because we don't have housing. If we lost second homes, people would still come. Not a problem.

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mattgm1995 t1_j7rmd6n wrote

http://accd.vermont.gov/tourism/research before you go insulting me and since you clearly haven’t done one ounce of research, it’s from your own states website.

And I don’t think that. I’m just asking you, where do you expect jobs to appear from? What companies are moving 30k jobs to Vermont?

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Necessary_Cat_4801 t1_j7rmsz7 wrote

Dude, seriously. I don't care. People who have enough money to have a second home in VT are a tiny percentage. The vast majority of tourists don't own second homes here. We would still have tourists without second homes, this argument is just stupid.

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mattgm1995 t1_j7rn3hq wrote

Not going to address you insulted me despite the numbers coming from your own states website? I’d argue a significant amount of money comes from people who spend their weekends and vacations at second homes in Vermont, spending money in restaurants, gas stations, mom and pop stores, etc but it doesn’t affect me if you can’t understand how the world works. Because it’s going to keep working whether you’re onboard or not.

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Necessary_Cat_4801 t1_j7rnlaw wrote

Jesus. It's reddit. Get over yourself for fucks sake.

"I'd argue a significant..." is not a meaningful statistic, and the state doesn't live to serve you and will be fine without you.

Good fucking christ rich people are the worst.

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mattgm1995 t1_j7ro813 wrote

It’s Reddit. Okay. “Get over yourself for fucks sake” Here goes then. Save money and buy a house. If you can’t afford it, get a better job. If you can’t find a better job, move to a state with high paying jobs, and if you can’t change your living situation, grow up and look at the hand you’ve given yourself and deal with it.

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Necessary_Cat_4801 t1_j7roi54 wrote

Lol. I have an advanced degree and a good job. The cost of housing in VT is completely divorced from wages in VT. We're trying to fix it. One of the fixes is making homes available for residents. Deal with it.

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mattgm1995 t1_j7rot1k wrote

You think this is a uniquely Vermont problem? I live in Eastern MA and also can’t afford to live in a nice town. On a six figure salary. This is a New England problem. Vermont is in a better place than MA tho since they at least have land to build

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Necessary_Cat_4801 t1_j7rpddn wrote

Maybe sell your other fucking house? Jesus.

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mattgm1995 t1_j7rpzs5 wrote

It’s our family home, not mine. Point being, it’s not a Vermont issue. Kicking everyone out isn’t going to help you

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