Introduction 1.1: Successes

The Island has many strengths worth recognizing and holding onto.  

·  The Vineyard has maintained a strong sense of community, where people will pitch in to help a family facing sickness or fire, or to build an Agricultural Hall.

·  The Vineyard has in many ways managed to keep the Island’s rural character and a considerable amount of open space.

·  The Vineyard has preserved the distinct character of each town, from the unique streetscape of each main street to the different way each town government works.

·  The Vineyard has retained mostly small, locally-owned businesses and banks, with no big-box stores and almost no chain stores.

·  The Vineyard still has farming and fishing which provide local, fresh food, and contribute to the Vineyard’s character.

·  The Vineyard remains a diverse community with year-round and seasonal residents, with a large range of income levels, and with a variety of ethnic groups.

·  The Vineyard has very good municipal services – schools, police, fire, EMT, libraries – as well as very good hospital and medical/community services.

·The Vineyard Transit Authority carries a million passengers a year. If you think traffic is bad now, imagine if all those trips were being made by car.

·  The Vineyard has significant wealth – property values of over $18 billion and an “annual gross domestic product” of over $800 million – which makes many good things possible (though it is not without its negative impacts as discussed in the next section). Our good services are thanks in large part to the financial support of seasonal residents who pay a considerable portion of town taxes and are generous contributors to Island non-profits.