When Is It Time to Pull the Plug on a Budget-Busting Road?

Cities with far more street infrastructure than they can maintain are in triage mode, and are going to have to decide what to keep paved and what to walk away from. Even if they won’t admit it yet.

Top Story, Herriges, #InfrastructureCrisis, #NoNewRoadsDaniel HerrigesFebruary 24, 2020infrastructure maintenance, infrastructure cost, bike trails, St. Paul, Minnesota

Just Say No

If you want to be a Strong Town, your community must redirect its energy to things that will make it financially better off and more prosperous.

Marohn, #InfrastructureCrisis, #NoNewRoads, Top StoryCharles MarohnFebruary 24, 2020Public Return on Investment, Infrastructure, public investment

The Fight For #NoNewRoads Is Alive and Well in Washington State

Veteran advocates for a sane and financially sustainable transportation policy in Washington State see a chance to turn crisis into opportunity. And they're hoping to get state leaders to see it too.

#InfrastructureCrisis, #NoNewRoads, #StrongCitizens, Taking Action, Top StoryStrong TownsFebruary 3, 2020infrastructure spending, #NoNewRoads, Seattle, Washington, Mike McGinn

What Should My City Do About Our Infrastructure Backlog?

If your community has a huge backlog of unfunded infrastructure maintenance — and it’s the rare one that doesn’t — there are some basic and obvious steps that need to be taken.

Marohn, #InfrastructureCrisis, Cost of Development, Engineering Profession, The Infrastructure Cult, Top StoryCharles MarohnJanuary 13, 2020infrastructure cult, infrastructure maintenance, Infrastructure, Minnesota, Memphis, Shreveport

Best of 2019: #NoNewRoads Gains Traction in D.C.

Until America gets its infrastructure priorities straight, the last thing we need is to pump more spending into a broken system. 2019 felt like a breakthrough year for our call for #NoNewRoads, one in which we had more influential allies and receptive ears on this point than ever before.

Best of Blog, #InfrastructureCrisis, #NoNewRoads, The Infrastructure Cult, Transportation, Top StoryStrong TownsDecember 17, 2019Best of 2019, transportation spending, Infrastructure, infrastructure cult, Transportation For America, Smart Growth America, #NoNewRoads

How America's Highway Funding System is Like Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (and No, That's Not A Good Thing)

Hint: even if you get a road for free, you still have to pay to maintain it.

$3.2 Billion to Fix Tampa's Aging Pipes? From Where?

Tampa has an epidemic of leaking and bursting pipes. But don’t worry, the city’s taking action! …by proposing an eightfold increase in the amount it spends on maintenance for the next 20 years, half funded by new debt. How did we get to this point?

Herriges, Growth Ponzi Scheme, #InfrastructureCrisis, #DotheMath, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesAugust 30, 2019Growth Ponzi Scheme, infrastructure, water, sewers, illusion of wealth

The Mobility Trap: Why We'll Never Fix Congestion by Speeding Up Traffic

Love to hate congestion? We’ll never fix it by obsessing over speed or traffic delays. We need to rethink our whole transportation debate, starting with this premise: it’s not about how fast you can go. It’s about what you can get to.

Herriges, Transportation, #InfrastructureCrisis, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesAugust 28, 2019infrastructure, infrastructure cult, transportation, congestion, traffic

If Strong Towns Is Right and Cities Are Insolvent, Why Do So Many Seem to Be Doing So Well?

The unproductive use of infrastructure has put most cities, even those that are superficially prosperous, in a position where they won’t be able to afford to maintain what they’ve built. The signs of this crisis are everywhere—if you’re willing to look.

#InfrastructureCrisis, Marohn, Top StoryCharles MarohnAugust 26, 2019Market Urbanism, municipal finance, budget, infrastructure cost, maintenance, Infrastructure, Growth Ponzi Scheme

Broad is the Road that Leads to Destruction

We’ve been taught that a growing city inevitably needs wider highways. Even those who oppose specific road projects often accept this premise. But is it actually true?

#InfrastructureCrisis, #NoNewRoads, Transportation, Top StoryVince GrahamAugust 15, 2019infrastructure cult, freeway widening, Charleston, South Carolina, #NoNewRoads, transportation

Why Does Infrastructure Cost So Much?

Why does infrastructure cost so much to build in the U.S.? The fundamental reasons aren’t technical. We’ve structured our postwar economy to use overspending on infrastructure as a way to induce short-term growth.

Marohn, #InfrastructureCrisis, Top StoryCharles MarohnAugust 12, 2019infrastructure, infrastructure cost, Growth Ponzi Scheme, macroeconomics, infrastructure cult

A Small City with Big Delusions

Pine Island, MN (population 3,000) has huge dreams, yet they can’t take care of their basic systems. Who pays the price?

Marohn, #InfrastructureCrisis, Top StoryCharles MarohnJuly 30, 2019Minnesota, Infrastructure, infrastructure cost, megaprojects, maintenance, Growth Ponzi Scheme

The Zombie Freeway Project in Shreveport That Won't Die

There’s every reason not to build a freeway through a poor, mostly-black neighborhood in Shreveport, Louisiana. So why is the state government taking money away from needed maintenance to push this bad project forward?

Shreveport, Herriges, #InfrastructureCrisis, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesJuly 15, 2019Louisiana, Shreveport

My Journey from Free Market Ideologue to Strong Towns Advocate, Part 2: Pequot Lakes Bypass

Early in my career, I helped plan a highway bypass for a small town that I was sure would generate a positive return on investment in the form of economic growth. The only problem? The actual numbers we calculated told a different story.

Marohn, Planning Profession, #InfrastructureCrisis, Top StoryCharles MarohnJuly 2, 2019Minnesota, infrastructure cost, MnDOT, small towns, Market Urbanism

What If You Built Hundreds of Miles of Roads and Nobody Came?

America has an excessive infrastructure problem—and perhaps nowhere is that more clear than in places like the massive, center-less city of Palm Bay, Florida.

#DotheMath, #InfrastructureCrisis, Top Story, SulaskiRobert SulaskiJune 25, 2019Palm Bay, Florida, Brevard County, #DoTheMath, Growth Ponzi Scheme

What Would You Do if You Got a $5,000 Street Repair Bill in the Mail?

If the city fixes the street outside of your home and increases the value of your real estate, you should have to pay the city back some of that windfall…right?

Upzoned, WIlson, Podcast, #InfrastructureCrisisStrong TownsMay 16, 2019maintenance, street repair, Assessments, St. Paul

Would a $2 Trillion Infrastructure Spending Surge Promote Good Planning?

As a planner by training, I’m disappointed to see the American Planning Association parrot propaganda about the supposed need for a flood of new federal money for infrastructure. This approach is not conducive to good planning.

Herriges, Planning Profession, #InfrastructureCrisis, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesMay 16, 2019Infrastructure Week, APA

America's Infrastructure Priorities Need Repair

States have been neglecting basic road repairs in favor of costly road expansion. Yet the problem is still misleadingly framed by some as primarily about not having enough money.

#InfrastructureCrisis, #DotheMath, The Infrastructure Cult, Top StoryStephen Lee DavisMay 14, 2019Infrastructure Week, Smart Growth America, federal transportation bill, Transportation For America, highway spending

It's Infrastructure Week Again. Here's Your Rhetoric vs. Reality Primer.

The drumbeat from the lobbying organizations behind Infrastructure Week is, as usual, that we need to build more in America—and it scarcely seems to matter what we build, where, or why. This view is as shortsighted and dangerous as ever.

Herriges, #InfrastructureCrisis, Top StoryStrong TownsMay 13, 2019Infrastructure Week, infrastructure cult