Burlington, VT has been selected as the 2010 winner of the The Home Depot Foundation's Awards of Excellence for Sustainable Community Development (small city category). As described on the Home Deport Foundation website, this award "recognizes public-private partnerships that have successfully developed projects and/or initiatives that promote and exemplify a more sustainable community." Click here to see the video filmed in Burlington, VT. The driving force behind this award, Burlington's Legacy Project (first developed in 1999), was developed based on thousands of resident's input and serves as a guide to Burlington's economic growth, environmental and social equity, and to ensure quality education for all.
Also - as I write this, I have learned that once again, Vermont has been ranked as the healthiest state in America according to America's Health Rankings. Specific criteria that kept Vermont at the top of the list included high rates of graduation from high school, ready access to prenatal care, wide health insurance coverage, few children living in poverty, adequate availability of primary care physicians & public health spending, and a decrease in the prevalence of smoking & deaths from cardiovascular disease.
These two awards are shining examples of why Burlington, VT is one of America's most livable cities!