Commentary Series (VPR)
7:55am and 5:55pm Weekdays
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Tuesday May 6, 2008
My Vermont: Becka Roolf, Montpelier
Despite our environmentalist tendencies, Vermonters drive more than
residents of any other state.
In the course of my day, I rub shoulders with many people who live in rural places, down dirt roads, on five-, ten- or twenty-acre lots.
But my Vermont is focused on Vermont's vibrant downtowns. I live in Montpelier on less than an eighth of an acre, in a citified neighborhood with sidewalks. I don't drive my car for days or weeks at a time. I walk the ten minutes into town in the winter, or ride my 45-year-old bicycle in the summer.
People say I'm lucky I don't need to drive, but it wasn't luck. It was choice. Two years ago, when I bought my house at the very peak of the market, the ability to walk and bike was my top priority.
I'm an avid gardener, and this summer I plan to try a few urban backyard chickens. Yes, I would love to have an acre or five, and a mountain view, but my Vermont is focused around the historical village and the ability to walk and bike. This is just as much the "true" Vermont as the landscapes along a rural road.
I love my freedom, and the community, that comes with this compact approach to transportation and life.
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