NOT A Fast Read: State-of-The-City 2017 > What's Ahead?

"The people running local governments, as well as the people they serve, have the natural human tendency to highly value free money today and deeply discount, if not altogether dismiss, the financial burden these projects will create in the future.
We've been building infrastructure this way for two generations. We have created a lot of short term growth, but we've also created trillions of dollars of non-performing assets, infrastructure investments that are slowly bankrupting our cities, towns, and neighborhoods. . . "
[Images included are from City of Mesa]


Those sentences are extracted from this writing . . . "
A letter to POTUS on infrastructure
January 23, 2017 by Charles Maroon

Dear Mr. President,

I am writing you on behalf of our Board of Directors and our membership regarding a potential surge in federal infrastructure spending.
At Strong Towns, we have developed a unique understanding that allows us to speak with a level of clarity on this issue. Our supporters have no financial interest in whether or not more federal money is spent on infrastructure; our mission is to advocate for ways those investments can make our cities stronger.
To borrow a real estate term, America's infrastructure is a non-performing asset.

For nearly every American city, the ongoing cost to service, maintain and replace it exceeds not only the available cash flow but the actual wealth that is created. . .

 

The fundamental insolvency of our infrastructure investments is the root cause of the pension crisis and the explosion in municipal debt. 

It is the real reason why our infrastructure is not being maintained.
New growth is easy and comes with all kinds of cash incentives.
Maintenance is difficult and has little upside.

Cities with huge maintenance backlogs still prioritize system expansion because they are chasing the short-term cash benefits of new growth, even at the expense of their future solvency.

What do we do today?
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