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 Len Cadwallader, Executive
Director of Vital Communities, lives in Hanover, New
Hampshire. Over the past few years he has become an
invaluable resource for anyone with an eye on the
future of this region. Recently he spent some time
answering questions for Constructive Images.
Q: What is Vital Communities?
A: Vital Communities is a non-profit organization
that manages four smaller entities: Valley Quest,
Valley Food & Farm, Upper Valley Housing Coalition (UVHC),
and Upper Valley Transportation Management
Association (U.V.T.M.A.). Valley Quest is an
organization that aims to get people involved with
the land. “Quests” lead people off of their sofa and
outdoors, encouraging them to be responsible for the
protection and stewardship of the land they love.
Valley Food & Farm is an organization that gets
local food onto tables and connects local buyers
with local producers. The result is a stronger farm
economy. Upper Valley Housing Coalition advocates
for more homes affordable to working families. Upper
Valley Transportation Management Association works
for efficient transportation in the Upper Valley.
Q: How did you get involved
with Vital Communities?
A: My profession has always been the management of
non-profit organizations and seven years ago, after
moving to the area from Rutland, I got involved with
Vital Communities. I found it to be a key
organization because its service area encompasses
all of the Upper Valley’s fragmented political
landscape. I say fragmented because our region
encompasses three planning commissions, many towns,
and two states.
Q: What are some other general
issues with the Upper Valley area and how does Vital
Communities go about solving them?
A: Our region is changing quickly. Most jobs in the
Upper Valley right now are located in the
Hanover/Lebanon area, forcing people to commute
great distances every day to work. The job centers
used to be in Springfield/Claremont and at one point
in White River Junction, but this is how a regional
landscape evolves. Right now, there just isn’t
enough housing in the job centers for people to live
practically on a working income. The people who
cannot afford to live in the job centers are the
people who are forced to pay commuting expenses
every day. Vital Communities works to solve problems
such as these with systems-based solutions for
regional problems. By this I mean that we are
looking at the underlying issues instead of just
getting rid of the “symptoms.” For example, if we
only solve the traffic issue on Ledyard Bridge
between Norwich and Hanover, we are just getting rid
of a symptom. We need to look at the bigger picture
to discover what regional problem is causing such
traffic problems throughout the Upper Valley.
Q: So, housing and
transportation issues are interrelated?
A: The biggest problem with housing is that we have
already used up all the land that is easy to
develop; therefore, future development is hard. We
want to save nutrient-rich soil for farms, conserve
wetlands, and think ecologically, so we have limited
choices. Land costs right now are very high. Zoning
restrictions in towns in the Upper Valley mitigate
denser town centers, increasing sprawl, which is
exactly what we want to avoid. Norwich, for example,
has houses on every road in all directions, which
causes higher taxes due to policing, plowing,
maintenance, etc. We need to start building
vertically, not horizontally. This would be a normal
layout for a developed area. On 12A in West Lebanon,
for example, we have a long strip, which is highly
inefficient. We are not building upward at all. A
more efficient 12A would have multiple main streets
and buildings with up to six floors.
Q: How do we address this
issue?
A: The bottom line is that people need to start
living closer together. We need more mixed-income
neighborhoods, and we must encourage housing
development in the area. Many people want towns to
be less artificial and want mixed-income
neighborhoods. Stratifying the classes in the Upper
Valley is counterintuitive from an economic
standpoint.
Q: Don’t some people move to
this part of New England specifically because they
want to live in a secluded space?
A: I think deep down people respect those who work
with their hands and would value mixed
neighborhoods. There are those who will seclude
themselves and continue to live outside of a town
center, but there are plenty of people who do not
necessarily want to mow their lawn and clean the
gutter every Saturday (which are characteristics of
the New England country home). Instead, they would
rather go biking or enjoy the outdoors. These people
who don’t want to maintain a house would live just
as happily in apartments or condominiums. But we
need to build them first.
Q: Why do you use the phrase
“homes affordable to working families” as opposed to
“affordable housing?”
A: Affordable housing brings on a whole slew of
negative connotations. By saying “homes affordable
to working families,” we can avoid the associations
that come along with affordable housing and say just
what we mean: a house that someone can afford on a
working income, whatever that income may be.
Q: What do you like most about
the Upper Valley?
A: There’s a lot to like. I like the performing arts
scene. There is good access to biking, good kayaking
and day hiking. I enjoy the stimulating intellectual
scene. The area just has a great sense of vibrancy.
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