In a recent poll conducted by the Castleton Polling Institute, one-third of respondents said the economy/jobs/cost of living is the state's most important issue.
We zero in on the cost of living to understand how Vermont's compares with other states in the region and the country. And we look at what factors have the greatest effect.
Jane Kolodinsky, director of UVM's Center for Rural Studies and chair of the department of Community Development and Applied Economics, and Peter Matthews, Chair of the Economics Department at Middlebury College, provide insight.
Here are links to a few sites that compare the cost of living in various cities: CNN Money and Infoplease.
Also on the program, the final report of the Vermont Economic Resiliency Initiative (VERI) targeted a handful of communities to come up with recommendations to reduce future flood damage. Noelle MacKay, commissioner of Housing and Community Development, discusses the report's findings.
Plus, the Vermont Tree Stewards Conference is being held this weekend in Bristol. So we walked the beat with Sue Lovering of Johnson, who is a graduate of the Stewardship of the Urban Landscape (SOUL) Tree Steward Program.
Broadcast live on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015 at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.
