Topic: Community Infrastructure

Due the logistical challenges attached with rurality and the lack of incentive for private investment, certain communities face hurdles when implementing the infrastructure that other communities take for granted like high speed internet or affordable energy.

What Works Solution

Islesboro Affordable Property

Islesboro Affordable Property (IAP) was founded in 1988 and is one of the oldest affordable housing groups on a Maine island. It is also among the few with a paid staff member—executive director Rick Rogers.   HOW IT WORKS Initially, IAP built an 8-unit project, the Ruthie James Subdivision. IAP… SEE MORE

What Works Solution

Monhegan Island Sustainable Community Association

Monhegan Island Sustainable Community Association, or MISCA, is a combination of a land trust and an affordable housing organization. On Monhegan, where available land is at a premium, MISCA has largely attempted to renovate existing buildings, rather than build new ones, though it has purchased five houses and owns two… SEE MORE

What Works Solution

North Haven Sustainable Housing

Nearly every solution to the lack of housing requires the purchase or creation of new units, either for rent or for purchase. Additionally, most island housing organizations have included some legally binding restrictions on acquired or constructed property in order to ensure that it is both affordable and available for… SEE MORE

What Works Solution

Monhegan Trash & Recycling

Shortly after Angela Iannicelli first moved to Monhegan in 2004, she was asked to coordinate the island's trash and recycling program. At that point, each bag of trash had to be stuffed into a small on-island compactor. Diapers, hypodermic needles, dog poop—all came up into employees' faces. With no town-provided… SEE MORE

What Works Solution

Vinalhaven Transfer Station

In 1996, Vinalhaven decided to close its landfill and convert its waste management system to an on-island transfer station that would gather, compact, sort, and export solid waste from the 1,300 year-round residents, a population that, at a minimum, triples during July and August.   HOW IT WORKS Residents can… SEE MORE

What Works Solution

Peaks Island Transfer Station

As part of the city of Portland, Peaks Island provides weekly curbside trash pick-up and built a transfer station in 2001 to compact and transport waste from the 1,000 homes on the island. Its $597,050 (2017 fiscal year) operational budget, which covers personnel, barge transportation, electricity and water, among other… SEE MORE

What Works Solution

Weatherize Upper Valley

The Upper Valley region is a rural area situated in between the major population centers of Concord, New Hampshire, and Burlington, Vermont. Vital Communities, a community nonprofit based in White River Junction, Vermont, realized that the uptake of energy efficiency in the region was slowed by a set of barriers that were… SEE MORE