GAY VILLAGE, BURLINGTON: 2000

by Kathleen Kalina

hat would a

planned commu

nity for the gay
population look like? First we
should consider the errors of
the past. We know that living
together in communes where
there is no private space
doesn't work for most of
people; the 70's proved that
out. We also know that some
gay neighborhood / villages in
big cities converted old neigh-
borhoods. That is problematic
in Burlington. Most Burlington
neighborhoods are dominated
with single family housing,
have old structures and are
crowded. Provincetown is
quaint, but who would want to
ever copy that mess.

Then let's consider a
whole new approach. What
would be the best of commer-
cial street in Provincetown and
a gay village to live in where

you have single and multiple .

housing free to have yards,
dogs, cats and room? Planned
communities has historically
considered condo or single

family. We could go a step fur—.

ther meeting our special needs.

Lets try a free fall vision.
Here it is:

A subdivision of 50/ 100
acres is purchased as our own
land development company.
We could all buy shares in this
company, plus set the rate of
leased land fees and build the
homes we want, plus set aside
space for multi apartment like
for singles or condos. That's
one part of the vision. Now
what would it look like spa-
tially? As an individual you
would lease a piece of land and
build whatever you like.

You sell the house and
lease when you want to move.
This reduces the cost of indi-
viduals buying land. The trust

’ company that we all own,

holds the land ownership of

the entire area. The main street

into the community would be
(perhaps near Tafts corners for
example). The commercial
street of our subdivision has a
street that ends in a rotary to
return traffic either to an un-
derground garage or out. The
commercial street has shops,
cafes, hotels, business and
nightclubs that is zoned to be
artistically quaint. If we keep
a zoning board that requires
interesting quaint architecture
it will be an attraction for shop-
pers to come to our community
and spend money.

We will also have our
own nightclubs to draw in
gays from all over, the same as
Provincetown, Ogunquit. Our
hotels will put visitors up for
the stay. A safe place to be‘ what

we‘ are. Remember that-

.v~.,-.

Provincetown draws a lot of
shoppers that are non gay too,
but its a town made safe to be
gay. That's what we want,
since we couldn't rely on
purely gay money to sustain it.
The shops would pay a tax to
our land corporation and be a
source of income to also keep
our community financially sol-
vent. (Our homes would be for
gays only to the extent we can
without prejudice).

This would be the first
only new millennium, planned
community for gays] lesbians.
Streets leading out of the com-
munity would be planned to
avoid commercial street for
residents. We will have learned
from the traffic mess in Ptown.
Parking for shoppers would be
in underground garages and
not be a clog like it is in down-
town Burlington. Alleys and
employee parking with a load-
ing dock behind shops would
be neatly designed for trucks
loading more efficiently in-
stead of what you see on
Church street.

Our private streets
should be designed so that we
are close to a community cen~

lll'llillil.'1 llwzw-i l\W1[llli=0ll

 

Mix business with pleasure.

Join us at the monthly Rainbow Business Association mixer.

(Corner of Church & College St. in Burlington)

ter that has gatherings/ mov-
ies/ lectures. The vision of
what people build whether its
a single, double or multi is ba—
sically planned to accommo-
date all of our lifestyles. With-
out having to buy the land un-
der the house, your cost is low.
You could build a nice small
house for $45,000. Just like sub-
divisions, sewer lines and elec-
tric/ gas is put in to each lot
ahead of the house. Multi
dwellings are merely double
large lots.

We can even consider el-
der gay housing in an acces-
sible spot so we can all care for
elders, something that we will
not have if we have no rela-
tives/children. It will take
many years for the tree and
water gardens to mature, but
that's the fun and creativity of
it. A large swimming pool / ten-
nis area would add to our com-
munity center pleasure. When
the news gets out across the
country, the people will come.
And if gay marriage becomes
legal, we will have a bonanza
of hotels supporting wed-
dings. Now you can see the
economics of the plan.

    

Leunig's Bistro

Wednesday, October 14
6:30 - 8:30 pm.
$ 1 0. 00/ person
Door prize and lots of
hors d'oeuvres!

phone (802) 848-7037 - email RBAvt@aol.cum 0 address P.0. Box 8335. Burlington. VT 05402

OUT IN THE MOUNTAINS — OCTOBER 1998 — 5

sivermonl Freer} To liiam;

 
   
 

Task gFort:e

9:; K Hg .
“  \ A.......¢.«~

Beth Robinson and Mary Liggett answer questions about
same—gender marriage at the Champlain Valley Fair.

Marriage Task Force
Stress!

BY Joy D. GRIFHTH

have spent the past three years writing articles and letters

of rebuttal for equal rights, taking notes, participating and

encouraging my peers in the g/ l/ b/ t/ q community not only

in Vermont, but (through GOLDEN THREADS) across the na—

tion. Yet, I had not felt the full force of my beliefs until spending

12 hours sitting behind the Marriage Task Force Table at the

Champlain Valley Fair. It was there that my body experienced

the immediate pain and sadness from verbal attack and misun-
derstanding.

Naturally, my table partner and lhad prepared ourselves
for an approach of non—confrontational dialogue with people
sharing the same questions and uncertainties about family roles,
schools, and the government defending everyone’s basic rights.
These human concerns were the footings of our structural ap-
proach while we awaited possible personal onslaught right along
with our interested supporters. '

Ayoung woman approached our table and stated, "l have
a question. Do any of'”you people” believe in God...or, ...orsome—
thing like that?” I experienced a little electric shock zinging
throughout my body alerting me to take care, and then 1 saw the

TASK FORCE, p10

 
  

ONE OF US.

To Volunteer Call: 773-VOTE
To Make a Financial Contribution
Send Check to:

The Committeeto Elect Steve Howard
20 Countryside Drive
Rutland, Vermont 05701

Paid for by 7719 Committee to Elect Steve Howard, Pally Smith, Treasurer