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

The Largest Mistake of Our Generation

The proposed annual budget for Winnipeg, MB, reveals the true cost of the Suburban Experiment, and the vibrancy that the city (and so many others like it) has sacrificed in many of its neighborhoods.

Transparent Accounting, Top StoryMichel Durand-WoodFebruary 22, 2023Transparent Local Accounting, suburban experiment, canada, Canada, suburban development pattern, Infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure maintenance, budget, finance, public finance, Growth Ponzi Scheme, transportation, transportation spending

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

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

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

That's Not an Improvement

Engineers who work on municipal infrastructure need to stop ubiquitously describing their projects as “improvements”—especially when the project is actually harmful, not helpful.

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

America *Must* End Highway Expansions

Until we have a credible plan for maintaining our existing transportation infrastructure, we must stop building more roads and bridges. Period.

Fixing the Potholes Requires Digging Deeper

When it comes to our places’ roads, we need to start asking: “How much is this gonna cost us?”

#DotheMath, #InfrastructureCrisis, Infrastructure, Member Post, Top StoryMichel Durand-WoodJune 2, 2022Infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure maintenance, infrastructure cost, infrastructure spending, #DoTheMath, Winnipeg, canada, Canada, member story

When Libertarians Support Highway Expansions

A recent Reason Foundation newsletter thinks that Strong Towns is against all highways. We’re not. We’re against all highway expansion—and you should be, too.

#NoNewRoads, Infrastructure, Marohn, Top StoryCharles MarohnMay 16, 2022Infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure maintenance, highways, freeway widening, freeways, politics, #NoNewRoads

A Minnesota Judge Throws the Book at Immoral Tax Assessments

This case shows why local governments need to do a better job accounting for maintenance costs.

Finance, Infrastructure, Marohn, Top StoryCharles MarohnMay 9, 2022maintenance, finance, local finance, municipal finance, Assessments, local government, infrastructure maintenance, Infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure cost, Minnesota, Law

How to Make the Best Use of Funding for Infrastructure Projects

The infrastructure avalanche is coming… Is your town prepared?

Infrastructure, Top StoryStrong TownsMay 5, 2022Infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure maintenance, infrastructure bill, how to, Local-Motive Tour

Sowing Our Roads with Salt Is No Way to Grow Stronger Towns

Because we depend so heavily on cars, what happens when roads become too icy to drive on? The answer: road salt. But there are serious consequences to relying on salt for road-clearing.

Alaska and New Infrastructure Funds: We Promise Not to Waste It!

As of November 15, Alaska is flush with federal infrastructure money. How should it be spent?

A Community Forced to Play the Infrastructure Squid Game

Residents of this Houston neighborhood thought they were winning the lottery with a government-sponsored infrastructure project. Instead, they endured a seven-month-long nightmare.

Infrastructure, Local Government, Neighborhoods, Roads and Streets, Maintenance, Top StoryJuan Antonio SortoNovember 30, 2021Infrastructure, streets, neighborhood, Neighborhoods, neighborhood change, Houston, infrastructure maintenance, Hurricanes, hurricane harvey, race, Race

The Infrastructure Bill, Racial Equity, and Local Government: How Should the Money Be Spent?

The $1 trillion infrastructure bill is being signed into law. But who gets to decide how the money will be spent, and will they make the right decisions for communities of color?

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