From the Editor’s Desk: Capital City Forward

Regular readers of The Bridge may have noticed that much of our reporting on the city of Montpelier originates in city meetings. Meeting coverage is the meat and potatoes of most community newspapers, and we are no different. But we’ve wanted to do more for a long time.

Constrained by limited resources and a small staff, we haven’t (yet) been able to deep-dive into some of the city stories that are so important to our community. We plan to change that this year with our Capital City Forward initiative.

So what’s the Big Idea? We, like many in Vermont’s Capital City, can’t help but notice that a pandemic, a couple of floods and fires, the prevalence of remote work, and a whiplash economy, not to mention a new war, have deeply affected our little municipality. We also have noticed a pattern of big projects years in the making that appear to pass all the hurdles, only to die, even in some cases after voter approval. So what gives?

We decided to look into some of these bigger issues — like infrastructure, a thriving (or not) downtown, housing, community mutual aid — and how things get done; what the city has achieved; and where the challenges and solutions might be. It’s a big task; we’ll be offering up several special sections throughout the year with a deeper focus on some of these issues.

We begin here, on pages 12–21 with an introduction to Montpelier’s new city manager; a word from six former mayors of Montpelier; and an overview of city projects past and current, among other stories. 

This initiative also involves conversations with our community — including focus groups underway this month. Reach out to us if you’d like to participate.

The goal for this deeper reporting and community engagement is to better understand the challenges and opportunities facing Montpelier — and maybe even uncover some solutions. I hope you’ll join us for conversation, participate in the focus groups, and keep sending in your ideas, letters and commentaries to help focus future reporting.  

—Cassandra Hemenway, Editor in Chief