Introduction
While Vermont and New Hampshire are physically neighboring states, the State of Vermont is effectively less car dependent overall thanks to Act 250, even though the provisions have only been stated indirectly. With regards to the State of New Hampshire, on the contrary, more modern car dependency is unfortunately present within the State of New Hampshire, which lacks such strict land use regulations and focuses on environmental impact only in select regions of interest.
Vermont Examples
Within the State of Vermont, developments are typically significantly older than in New Hampshire. However, within the State of Vermont, slightly newer developments also exist within the vicinity of Burlington, many of which seem to only lightly be car dependent. Interestingly, even the islands inside Lake Champlain are culturally more connected to tradition than to modern car dependency.
While the villages may be more walkable in the State of Vermont, the outer town areas remain largely rural with Act 250 restrictions mitigating sprawl to the greatest extent possible. Many tourists continue to flock to Vermont at various times of the year, especially in the summer, autumn, and winter months, specifically for natural attractions and recreational purposes. Though such purposes are deemed “nonessential” and labeled as such in modern society, the term “recreation” also implies that exercise is optional when, as with arts and crafts, exercises are also vital to human survival, both individually and collectively.
If the outer town areas are car-dependent, then the State of Vermont also provides accommodations relevant to the mountainous state, such as the predominance of modestly lowered speed limits, which may often get lower than fifteen (15) miles per hour (mph) in the particularly rural areas in such cases as Smugglers’ Notch, which is already impossible to plow in the winter months, resulting in a seasonal closure. Additionally, many of the fringe areas are intrinsically rural, rather than suburban, based on land use styles and amenities more typically associated with rural communities across the New England states. Such rural land use amenities, many of which are particularly prevalent in Vermont, include ski slopes, ski resorts, hotels, lodges, resorts, vacation housing, rentals, tourist sites, historic sites, and other amenities intentionally designed to capitalize on the natural environment of each area in question.
New Hampshire Examples
Unlike the unique and thus iconic realities of the State of Vermont, the State of New Hampshire provides a more normative background regarding modern car dependency. The State of New Hampshire is notable for the unfortunate realities of car dependency and related issues, even impacting the resort community of North Conway to a greater extent than would be impacted in Killington. Interestingly, however, the greatest deviation often occurs with the particularly normative issue of car dependency in the southern region of the State of New Hampshire, most notably impacting more modern developments located within Rockingham, Hillsborough, and Merrimack Counties.
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