We live in a society where the tendency is to scale up more and more, but are we actually on the path to a small-town revival?
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A great credit rating is not a blessing for a young community if it is interpreted as a license to borrow without discipline.
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If you pull back the curtain on North America’s financially insolvent cities, you’ll see what’s REALLY propping them up.
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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.
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The “growth machine” is too big to fail. What if it fails anyway?
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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.
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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.
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For decades, we’ve built like there was no tomorrow, prioritizing short-term growth over longterm stability, prosperity, and safety. Exhibit A: 20,000 high-risk dams that are emergencies waiting to happen.
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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.
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Whether we go back to work in offices or not, the commercial real estate market can’t go back to the crazy levels it was. Not without huge damage to society.
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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.
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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.
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The slide into municipal insolvency isn’t as fun as they made it sound. It’s time for cities to #DoTheMath.
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No, you’re not stuck in congestion because your city’s infrastructure is “inadequate” to handle growth.
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Communities are stuck in a spiral of infrastructure spending. Who will stand up and say enough is enough?
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Our own Chuck Marohn and Urban3’s Joe Minicozzi got together to deliver some tough truths about building a stronger Kansas City, Missouri. Lesson number one: Simply tweaking how you collect taxes is not going to solve your revenue problems.
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Deeply held beliefs, supported by flawed assumptions, blind us to realities and facts. The supposed wealth and prosperity generated by cut-through urban highways was always an illusion—but who will dare to point out the obvious truth?
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Maybe the one good thing you can say about municipal debt is that it’s on the balance sheets. We’re tracking it. But there is another type of future obligation that is like debt…only worse. It comes back again and again, and too many cities aren’t paying attention.
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We have to stop looking at the stagnation and decline of our blocks and neighborhoods as a normal part of the development process.
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The problem with new American suburbs isn’t a "lack of planning" or “uncontrolled growth” or “inadequate infrastructure.” The problem is a lack of basic financial solvency.
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