BRATTLEBORO — Jonathan Mack, in his analysis of the “semi-rural economy,” [Viewpoint, Aug. 21] fails to acknowledge that for much of the 19th and early 20th centuries, Vermont's small towns, from Springfield to St. Johnsbury, and much of the Champlain Valley, were hubs of industrial innovation and excellence, developing products and processes, many of which are still in use today.
Along with robust participation in the industrialization of New England, and the Northeast in general, these manufacturers also provided well-paying, stable employment for unskilled-to-very-skilled Vermonters, which, in turn, promoted a robust service economy for these newly-forged consumers.
To turn one's back on the prospect of creating an economic climate that welcomed light industry (Bombardier, anyone? What about C&S? Oops!) in favor of low-paying, often seasonal service jobs for the ever-dwindling ranks of native Vermonters still here, is short-sighted, arrogant, and ill-informed.
Rather than deplore the spotty condition of southern Vermont's virtual highway (and actually, it's pretty good in most of those old industrial centers, including Brattleboro), we should be focused on restoring those physical highways: the roads, rails, and rivers that sent goods throughout the region and beyond.
That measure would, in turn, create the opportunity for the re-establishment of economic activity that provided jobs for more than a handful of telecommuters, “creative economy'' types, or the dozens of boutique farms sprouting across the state. This state needs employment opportunity for everyone, not just the educated, transplanted few.
Prof. Mack's cash-glutted New Yorkers are already here. They show no sign of slowing the pace of their arrival, or their transformation of Windham County to Upper West Side North. As they advance, waving their greenbacks and inflating the price of real estate and everything else, Vermont's homegrown ski-lift-operators/intern-baristas/chambermaids will find it increasingly difficult to afford living here.
Does Prof. Mack think as those Manhattan refugees shop for the fulfillment of their Currier & Ives fever dream, that they can possibly buy enough lattes and artisanal eggplants to create jobs that will sustain Vermont's locals?
The day will come when, secure in their hillside hideaway, fully NIMBY'd against icky cell phone towers and grubby factories, Muffy turns to Biff and complains, “It's simply impossible to find good domestic help any more! The Vermonters have all moved to Flushing!”