Formal_Coyote_5004 t1_jee613n wrote on March 31, 2023 at 11:12 AM

Reply to comment by huskers2468 in Proof that capitalism won’t solve the affordable housing crisis. by No-Ganache7168

Well, Stowe has a lot of restaurants and 75% of restaurant staff commute at least a half an hour to get to work. This is probably true for people who work in hotels too. I commute an hour every day because i moved out of morrisville (I live up north now) and there are zero restaurants around me where I’d actually make money. So it’d be nice if the people who worked in Stowe could live in Stowe. Another commenter said Morrisville is an option, which is true, but most of my coworkers live in Johnson, Jeff, Eden, etc.

Edit: added on, and this was a response to the question “does Stowe need to be affordable to all?”

huskers2468 t1_jee7qmm wrote on March 31, 2023 at 11:30 AM

I agree that there needs to be housing for the workers, but I don't agree it necessarily all needs to fall inside that town. I believe, with the expanding resort and local businesses, that housing needs to be built to support the workers.

The only focus is on the town itself, which is an option, but there is plenty of space between Morrisville and Stowe. My favorite spot would be to expand Waterbury center. That area has the infrastructure to support expansion. It has the larger grocery store, hardware store, gas stations, land, proximity to interstates, and more.

People want Stowe to do everything, it's just not the optimal with current infrastructure.

Formal_Coyote_5004 t1_jee9k3a wrote on March 31, 2023 at 11:49 AM

That makes sense to me. I know very little about the actual politics of what we’re talking about… all I know is my own experience of working in the same restaurant for 9 years. Over the last few years I’ve noticed that workers are being forced further away, which sucks, and at the same time, the amount of people who visit Stowe is becoming overwhelming. This town simply wasn’t built to accommodate this many people. Like I remember at least two times when cell phone service straight up crashed because there were too many people in town. And we’ve all been stuck on the mountain road for at least two hours. It’s nuts. I know I’m contradicting myself here (workers should have housing but Stowe is beyond its capacity) so I think what you’re saying makes a lot of sense!

huskers2468 t1_jeebeqq wrote on March 31, 2023 at 12:06 PM

I think there is give and take to both of our points. I'm not set in stone on my opinions. It's just that Stowe is a lightning rod for these articles due to the ski resort. To me, that means that actual solutions are being overlooked, and it just charges the conversation.

Please install another cellphone tower lol. It's incredible that a place with that much traffic has the worst cell reception I've seen in a decade.

>And we’ve all been stuck on the mountain road for at least two hours. It’s nuts.

I've turned around 3 times in 2 years...

At least this year felt better with the new parking limitations. However, I don't like that it's just another added cost for skiers. I'm a proponent for 2-3 bus specific parking lots near the restaurants and town. Ones that do not make 10 stops along the way. That way it promotes the businesses of the town that are away from the resort, and it provides a clear spot for free efficient public transport.