While Vermont doesn't have any urban area as populated as Portland, Ore., we might have something to learn by reading a recent report published by Living Cities.

Quick reminder that the Directory of Affordable Rental Housing (DoARH) Web site lets all managers of subsidized housing in Vermont post their vacancies for free.

We noticed that Vermont's largest city ended up on two lists at CNN.com recently.

Burlington ranks #4 on CNN's list of cities with the lowest number of foreclosures: 1 in 8,006 housing units.

Elsewhere on the site, the Queen City's listed as having the 23rd highest rental rates anywhere in the country.

A recent report by Ernst & Young says if proposals made by Affordable Rental Housing A.C.T.I.O.N. are adopted by Congress, investment in affordable housing development will increase substantially.

The report estimates investment in large and small housing developments in metro and rural regions across the country is likely to increase by nearly 50 percent in 2010 and '11.