Can Hamilton, Ontario, Hold the Line on Development—Literally?

This Canadian city made an unprecedented decision to stop expanding its urban growth boundary. What comes next?

Growth Ponzi Scheme, Herriges, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesAugust 17, 2022Growth Ponzi Scheme, growth, sprawl, infill, Infill Development, canada, Canada, suburban experiment

Herriges Rezoned: A Suburban Poverty Boomtown - Lehigh Acres, Florida

This suburb is a growing place, but it's not a successful place. It risks becoming an increasingly isolating place full of people who are cut off from the economic mainstream.

Suburban Poverty, Growth Ponzi Scheme, Housing, Transportation, Top Evergreen, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesApril 13, 2022suburbs, Florida, suburban experiment, Ferguson, page highlight, housing

CNBC Tackles the Growth Ponzi Scheme

You don’t want to miss this CNBC documentary video about the financial fragility of the suburban development pattern.

Growth Ponzi Scheme, Suburban Experiment, Video, Top StoryLauren FisherApril 11, 2022Growth Ponzi Scheme, suburban experiment, suburban development pattern, mixed use, housing, Development, development pattern, development

My County's Award-Winning Smart Growth Plan is a Disaster. Here's Why.

Sarasota County, FL, is viewed as a trailblazer in the prevention of unchecked suburbanization. So why has its growth management plan has not resulted in a better pattern of development?

Herriges, Growth Ponzi Scheme, Planning Profession, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesApril 6, 2022Development, development pattern, planning profession, planning process, growth, Growth Ponzi Scheme, Smart Growth, suburbs, Florida

U.S. History Shows Spending on Infrastructure Doesn’t Always End Well

The past proves that people tend to disregard the long-term costs of the plans they make, particularly if they reap the benefits and others pay the costs. We must become more sophisticated than this.

#InfrastructureCrisis, Growth Ponzi Scheme, Infrastructure, Maintenance, Top StoryRichard WhiteAugust 27, 2021maintenance, Infrastructure, history, infrastructure, infrastructure cost, Maintenance, infrastructure maintenance

Condos: American Local Governance in a Nutshell

The recent tragedy in Surfside, Florida, is both a harbinger of things to come and emblematic of the nation’s larger problem with maintaining our built environment.

Upzoned, Podcast, #DotheMath, Growth Ponzi Scheme, Maintenance, Top StoryStrong TownsJuly 14, 2021Podcast, Upzoned, Florida, second life cycle, maintenance, Growth Ponzi Scheme, housing

Who Pays for Growth in Collier County, Florida: Part 3

Collier County is poised to spend over $200 million extending utilities to a whole new, previously rural, portion of the county. Let's #DoTheMath on this plan.

#DotheMath, Finance, Growth Ponzi Scheme, Herriges, Infrastructure, Rural, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesMay 26, 2021collier county series, water, Infrastructure, Growth Ponzi Scheme, Florida, #DoTheMath

Who Pays for Growth in Collier County, Florida: Part 1

In this new series, we’re looking at Collier County as a case study for how insolvent growth persists in Florida. What's the history behind Collier’s development, and where is it headed?

Economic Development, Growth Ponzi Scheme, Herriges, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesMay 19, 2021Florida, Development, growth, series, history, financial solvency, collier county series

Not Just Bikes: How Bankrupt American Cities Stay Alive (New Video)

If you pull back the curtain on North America’s financially insolvent cities, you’ll see what’s REALLY propping them up.

Growth Ponzi Scheme, Top StoryStrong TownsApril 6, 2021Not Just Bikes, Growth Ponzi Scheme, Municipal Debt, debt, private sector debt

Esquema Ponzi de crecimiento de Estados Unidos

El patrón de desarrollo estadounidense crea la ilusión de riqueza. Hoy estamos en el proceso de ver esa ilusión destruida ... y con ella la prosperidad que hemos llegado a dar por sentada.

Growth Ponzi Scheme, Marohn, Top StoryCharles MarohnJanuary 19, 2021Growth Ponzi Scheme, Spanish

The Trillion Dollar Question Facing Every Major American City

The “growth machine” is too big to fail. What if it fails anyway?

Transportation, Marohn, Growth Ponzi SchemeCharles MarohnAugust 31, 2020Ponzi Scheme, Growth Ponzi Scheme, Bay Area, California, fieldsteadca, transportation spending

The Growth Ponzi Scheme: A Crash Course

Ponzi schemes fail because they are built on illusions: there is no there there. So what happens when an entire continent of towns and cities is caught up in a kind of Growth Ponzi Scheme? We are finding out.

Growth Ponzi Scheme, Pattison, Top StoryJohn PattisonAugust 28, 2020Growth Ponzi Scheme, Strong Towns 101 Articles

When the Feds Believed in Strong Towns

After World War II, the federal government subsidized a massive suburban experiment that was completely unprecedented in human history. But—as a mostly-forgotten 1942 manual by the Department of Commerce makes clear—it didn’t have to be that way.

Urban Design, Growth Ponzi SchemeMatthew RobareJuly 13, 2020History, Growth Ponzi Scheme, growth, small towns, federal government

The Pandemic Sparks an Overdue Reckoning with Kansas City's Growth Obsession

Kansas City has spent decades buying into the “Growth Ponzi Scheme,” forever pursuing new growth to pay off old debts. Now the bills are coming due.

Kansas City, Growth Ponzi Scheme, Top StoryStrong TownsJuly 2, 2020Kansas City, suburban development pattern, coronavirus

America's Growth Ponzi Scheme

The American pattern of development creates the illusion of wealth. Today we are in the process of seeing that illusion destroyed…and with it the prosperity we have come to take for granted.

Growth Ponzi Scheme, Marohn, TrendingCharles MarohnMay 18, 2020Growth Ponzi Scheme, featuredcc2

What Does It Mean to Be a "Strong Town" During a Pandemic?

Are spread-out suburbs safer in a pandemic than compact, walkable cities? Short answer: Yes. Does that mean suburban-style neighborhoods are “stronger” during a pandemic? Not even close. Here’s why.

Growth Ponzi Scheme, Urban Design, Suburban Poverty, Top StoryRachel QuednauMarch 20, 2020strong towns approach, coronavirus, crisis, suburbs, Growth Ponzi Scheme

Closing the Doors on a "Bad Party" in Lake Wylie, South Carolina

A town in South Carolina just banned all new growth. The Upzoned podcast returns with a look at the challenges facing exurbs that can’t afford the growth they worked so hard to achieve.

Upzoned, Podcast, Growth Ponzi Scheme, Top StoryStrong TownsFebruary 19, 2020Growth Ponzi Scheme, South Carolina

Rage Against the Machine

The famous "Growth Machine" theory of local politics explains a lot about the shape of our cities and their present-day problems. But not in the way you think.