Gary is a fucking dweeb and Middlebury should be feeling very self-conscious about hiring a "libertarian progressive" prof, but speaking as someone working on the front lines of this issue (municipal worker), I have to admit that he's mostly right about the economic factors that have led us here. This one is worth a read.

I don't buy Gary's dismissal of AirBnb and other short term rentals, though. I think there's just not enough information about the overall potential rental stock and how much of it is currently tied up in STR or second home status. Similarly, he handwaves away climate activists as "anti car" without acknowledging that transportation is by far the largest contributer to Vermont's GHG emissions. Doubling the density of rural areas (which he suggests due to the large lots available in those areas) would only exacerbate the current situation while failing to add enough density to make town-town public transportation more viable.

Finally, I am sick of people defending second homes on the basis that their owners use fewer municipal resources. Sure, they don't enroll their kids in the local schools or drive on the roads as frequently, but they also don't spend money year round. More critically, second home owners do not -indeed, cannot- contribute to our society the way that year-round residents do. It's not surprising that a libertarian economics nerd would forget about the social aspect of housing in favor of spreadsheet data, but it's an issue that anyone who's ever lived in a town within 20 miles of a decent ski slope can understand by taking a walk around their own neighborhood.