👨Early 30s ManinWard 5
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Housing is too expensive
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Burlington, VT · Live ReportIssue Focus · September 2026 edition
Housing
Raised by53%29 responses · past 55 days
Top Themes
We select quotes that capture residents' main points about housing, then group similar quotes by theme. Each theme includes the original quotes, so you can read them, cite them, and see what the theme is based on.
#1 Theme:Raised by 56% of respondents
Housing is too expensive and too scarce
Housing costs are too high, choices are too few, and renters fear they cannot stay.
What people are saying:
👩Early 30s WomaninWard 6
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Housing costs are out of control, make me worried about my continued ability to rent in this area and to afford a house
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👨Early 50s ManinWard 4
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Housing prices in the community are unsustainable. As is the current tax base.
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👨Mid 30s ManinWard 5
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Housing is important to me because the high cost and lack of options keeps me and my partner stuck at a specific point in our lives, unable to move on to the next chapter. We’ve been stuck in a very small (500sqft) 1-bedroom apartment for almost 5 years now, with the rent constantly pushing up ($1500/mo when we moved in there in 2020, $1750/mo now).
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🧑Early 30s Nonbinary PersoninWard 5
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collectively make over $250,000 which means that we are fortunate enough to be able to afford Burlington prices, however even with making this much we would not be able to afford a house in Burlington. We have so many friends and neighbors who are in debt, priced out of their housing, have absent or actively harmful landlords, etc. I believe the visibility of homelessness in Burlington is a direct symptom of the lack of affordable housing in our community.
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👩Late 20s WomaninWard 7
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Access to housing has always been incredibly difficult with high rent costs & houses that have mold. I’ve been sick for a long time living in the ONE with mold issues / a bad landlord and only know am feeling better living in a new home.
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More voices on housing
A few more quotes worth reading, about topics outside the main themes above.
👩Late 40s WomaninWard 5
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Homeless people with dogs, I hope the dogs are accepted at shelters
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Resident Ideas
We highlight particularly actionable, tangible, or unique ideas from residents: Because our goal is to spark action in the real world — and action starts with an idea.
Build affordable apartments on empty lots
👩Late 50s Woman
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I wish the city would build apartments on empty lots like on Riverside where the bakery was, or in the Memorial auditorium space that someone working full time at a minimum wage job could afford.
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Use HomeShare for housing matches
👩Late 40s WomaninWard 5
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Could the city use the HomeShare as a model to connect homeowners with too much house, to people in need of housing?
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Every response is counted toward the next edition.