Sweat the Small Stuff

Your city’s long-term resilience requires paying attention to the little things.

Infrastructure, Owens, Top StoryTiffany Owens ReedMarch 7, 2023maintenance, infrastructure maintenance, small, public investment, little bets, Infrastructure, infrastructure, public space

A New Tool to Calculate the Lifecycle of Infrastructure

Calculating the 100-year lifecycle costs of new development shouldn’t be an obscure process, and the province of British Columbia, Canada, has created a tool to help its communities do exactly that.

Infrastructure, Incremental Housing, Top StorySeairra SheppardFebruary 23, 2023Infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure maintenance, maintenance, Maintenance, Incremental Housing, canada, Canada, British Columbia, Development, development pattern

What’s Behind PBOT’s $4.4 Billion Street Maintenance Backlog Excuse?

The maintenance backlog excuse should not be the end of the conversation—it should be the start of a new one.

Infrastructure, Safe & Productive Streets, Transparent Accounting, Top StoryJonathan MausFebruary 2, 2023maintenance, Maintenance, infrastructure maintenance, street repair, Transparent Local Accounting, Safe and Productive Streets, Oregon

Financial Outlook for 2023 and Beyond

What kind of financial challenges can our cities and towns expect to face in the new year?

Infrastructure, Marohn, Transparent Accounting, Top Story 2Charles MarohnJanuary 2, 2023financial solvency, Transparent Local Accounting, Infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure bill, infrastructure cost

Your City May Be Illegally Assessing You for Routine Infrastructure Maintenance

Part of having transparent local accounting is ensuring that the people living in a community know and understand the public costs associated with their homes and businesses. Right now, that isn’t the case in most places.

#DotheMath, Infrastructure, Marohn, Finance, Top Story, Transparent AccountingCharles MarohnNovember 28, 2022Transparent Local Accounting, local finance, public finance, maintenance, Maintenance, Infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure cost, infrastructure maintenance, financial solvency, #DoTheMath

The Impact of Systemic Racism on Jackson's Water Crisis

Strong Towns member and former Jackson, MS, resident Amanda Lanata comes to the Strong Towns Podcast to discuss the role that racism played in the city’s recent water crisis.

Podcast, Marohn, ST Podcast, Infrastructure, Race, Top StoryStrong TownsNovember 21, 2022Podcast, podcast, water, Infrastructure, infrastructure maintenance, race, race relations, Race, mississippi

MoDOT Is Proud of Their Highways. Missourians, Not So Much.

MoDOT recently put out a tweet celebrating the 50-year anniversary of a highway that tore up Kansas City’s downtown. Here are just some of the (rightfully) angry reactions they got.

What Does $106 Million Get You in Maine? A Redundant Highway Expansion That Nobody Wants.

Maine residents want road maintenance. MaineDOT is giving them more roads.

Water System Crises and Solutions

What are the origins of our current water systems, and how should we think about them, going forward?

Podcast, Marohn, ST Podcast, Infrastructure, Top Story, Transparent AccountingStrong TownsNovember 7, 2022Podcast, podcast, water, Infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure maintenance, history, History

This Seattle Highway Is Facing a $29 Million Financial Crisis

State Route 99 was a long-anticipated project in Seattle, WA, but this multimillion-dollar highway expansion hasn’t recouped nearly enough money to make up for its costs.

CDOT Leads the Way in Not Building Highways

Traffic headaches in Denver, CO, have caused the state to realize that widening highways just isn’t working, anymore. Instead, Colorado is making a huge shift in its transportation priorities.

#NoNewRoads, Infrastructure, Sheppard, Success Story, Transportation, Top Story, End Highway ExpansionSeairra SheppardOctober 25, 2022success, success stories, colorado, Denver, transportation, Infrastructure, infrastructure, local government, End Highway Expansion

The Highway Boondoggles Report

Frontier Group’s Tony Dutzik comes onto the podcast today to talk about their annual “Highway Boondoggles” report. In light of last year’s infrastructure bill, just how much funding is being wasted on highway expansion?

$4.7 Billion New Jersey Turnpike Expansion Ignores Local Leaders and Invites More Gridlock

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority plans to spend $4.7 billion updating and widening an eight-mile section of the turnpike, in the hopes of relieving congestion. Here’s why it’s not going to help.

Financial Fragility Is To Blame for Jackson’s Water Crisis

The Suburban Experiment is a bad business model, and nothing demonstrates that more clearly than Jackson, Mississippi’s, ongoing water crisis.

Finance, Infrastructure, Marohn, Transparent AccountingCharles MarohnSeptember 12, 2022Infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure maintenance, fragility, mississippi, development pattern, Growth Ponzi Scheme, infrastructure cost, finance, local finance, suburban experiment

Our On Again, Off Again, Infrastructure Future

Frequent power outages in California give pause to reflect on the overall fragility of our built environment.

#InfrastructureCrisis, Infrastructure, Sanphillippo, Top StoryJohnny SanphillippoAugust 26, 2022California, wildfires, climate, Climate Change, infrastructure, infrastructure maintenance, maintenance, Maintenance, Granola Shotgun

A Rough Beast Slouches Toward the Brent Spence Bridge

As local and regional politicians move forward on a $3 billion highway widening project, a local group of activists in Cincinnati are fighting for an alternative plan.

Infrastructure, #NoNewRoads, Transportation, Top StoryRyan CraneAugust 22, 2022highways, End Highway Expansion, freeway widening, Cincinnati, Ohio, race, Race, Infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure cult, transportation, transportation spending, #NoNewRoads

Why Is Rhode Island Building New Roads When Its Current Roads Are Falling Apart?

Rhode Island has built far more highways than it can afford to maintain. So why on earth is it building another one?

#NoNewRoads, Infrastructure, Marohn, Top StoryCharles MarohnAugust 15, 2022End Highway Expansion, highways, highway spending, maintenance, Maintenance, Infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure cult, Nero Project, Rhode Island, DOT, #NoNewRoads, roads

10 Recommendations for Freeway Fighters

From one freeway fighter to any aspiring freeway fighters out there: Here’s 10 things to keep in mind as you advocate for highway removal in your community.