elect
nick priest
WE STAND TOGETHER
One Burlington
Our social capital can be stronger. But how? With society ever-changing and social media constantly creating a society of individuals how can we take that stand?
We have to do it together. A more transparent government that works to keep the citizens informed. A local government that doesn't just advocate for civic duty but actively pursues ways to engage with the town. And we must do it while coming together as a single, strong community.
Tackling the Issues
Even with the great things that Burlington has and does we have some things that we need to address. Issues we need to do everything in our power to act on now.
Housing - We are aging our senior citizens out of our town and we are also making it increasingly difficult for young couples and families to move into town. We need to look into ways of stabilizing our housing stock while finding new and innovative ways to adapt to both a younger incoming market and an aging market ready to downsize.
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Community/Culture - We need to find ways to invigorate our sense of community and culture. Businesses AND residents will find us more attractive if we have a culture. From little things like graphics wraps for electrical boxes to larger initiatives like a black box theater that could double as an indie drafthouse with a beautiful classic marquee sign. Let's find ourselves and then share it.
Traffic - If we want to continue to see Burlington grow and redevelop we need to address the traffic. The bigger this problem becomes the more it will hurt us.
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Infrastructure/Development - Businesses are shifting where and how they operate. As a town, we are going to need to be more proactive in inviting businesses to town and we are going to have to be more flexible to their needs with regard to office space and culture.
Landlocked Forest - Land in Burlington is at a premium. We need to do everything in our power to preserve the green space in Burlington and find ways for the community to enjoy it. There are several trails already up in that space being used - I think we could find a few more ways to draw interest to that land in a very environmentally friendly way.
These are just some of the conversations we need to be having. We also need to keep conversations going around our children and schools, open space, infrastructure, taxes, and our local economic development.