Local governments often use terms that downplay, minimize or obscure the severity of a situation. While this isn’t a malicious or even conscious decision, using language that is inaccurate or that the general population doesn’t understand makes it very difficult to build a strong town.
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In this episode of Upzoned, co-hosts Abby Newsham and Chuck Marohn talk about the crisis currently facing the Florida condo market. They discuss the backlog of deferred maintenance revealed by new safety regulations, what this means for individuals and communities, and possible paths forward.
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Reforming the administration of a city's building or zoning code is just as important as reforming the code itself. Fortunately, shifting this approach is within the discretion of city staff, so they can turn an aggravating, time-consuming process into one that better serves everyone's needs.
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Trying to decide on your next smallest step? Chances are, your city already has systems in place to address infrastructure concerns. Strong Towns member Danny Williams demonstrates how you can use those systems to produce positive change.
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Understanding the real costs and long-term liabilities of our infrastructure is essential for the long-term prosperity of our places. Unfortunately, this detail is often overlooked in our decision-making process.
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The financial struggles of Houston and the cities of the Silicon Valley area—as well as tens of thousands of others across North America—have the same underlying cause.
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New facilities aren’t bad, but they do present a problem when we can’t afford to maintain them after they’re built.
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Until we have a credible plan for maintaining our existing transportation infrastructure, we must stop building more roads and bridges. Period.
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If your city is doing a street reconstruction project that involves replacing the curb, then don’t miss the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do a something majorly transformative…by simply moving the curb.
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For local governments, it’s often easier to let the tangled web of debt at the heart of the budget go unexplored. In cities reliant on sales tax, these problems are only magnified.
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Your city’s long-term resilience requires paying attention to the little things.
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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.
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The maintenance backlog excuse should not be the end of the conversation—it should be the start of a new one.
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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.
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Maine residents want road maintenance. MaineDOT is giving them more roads.
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Kansas City is known for its beautiful fountains, but Parks and Rec says the city doesn’t have the funds to maintain this source of civic pride.
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Frequent power outages in California give pause to reflect on the overall fragility of our built environment.
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Rhode Island has built far more highways than it can afford to maintain. So why on earth is it building another one?
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Until we have a credible plan for maintaining our existing transportation infrastructure, we must stop building more roads and bridges. Period.
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This case shows why local governments need to do a better job accounting for maintenance costs.
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