Our answer to this question is a pair of filters. If you can’t pass these filters, it’s a bad project.
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Calgary — like so many North American cities — is like an intergenerational dine-and-dash. Our children will get the bill.
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You don’t have to be a math wizard to figure out if your town or city has more infrastructure than it can afford. Just follow these 5 simple steps.
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Winnipeg says how much infrastructure it can afford is based on “personal preference.” But doing the math tells a different — and alarming — story.
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Cities aren’t exempt from the iron laws of accounting: if you’re spending more than you make, eventually you’ll be underwater.
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People are running the numbers in their cities and confronting head-on the absurd un-affordability of the Suburban Experiment.
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“I was just a guy, in love with a city, asking it to make better use of my tax dollars.”
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When an attempt to solve a problem ends up making the problem worse, that’s The Cobra Effect. It’s also a pretty good description of the decisions that are slowly bankrupting many of our towns and cities.
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A planner in Gallatin, Tennessee does the math to find out how much infrastructure his city can support and who’s paying their share. What he finds could be the Growth Ponzi Scheme in action.
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To have enduring prosperity, a community cannot squander its land; it must develop in ways that are financially productive.
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What’s missing from most comprehensive plans? Dollars and cents. Here’s a simple reform that will focus the conversation on development patterns that create real wealth.
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A detailed analysis of 12 cul-de-sacs show the Suburban Experiment is a dead end. What will it take to make this city solvent?
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What kind of returns will your city actually get from its infrastructure and other public investment spending? These 6 resources will help you uncover the truth.
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Police departments are being given surplus military equipment for “free.” But the longterm costs aren’t often taken into account.
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Want to understand why some neighborhoods don’t sidewalks? #DoTheMath…and look at the history.
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It’s easy for “maintaining” our public investments to become “upgrading” our public investments. Especially when there is money available. And especially when that money is borrowed.
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For most cities, the property taxes from single-family homes simply can’t pay the bills. One Minnesota mayor was remarkably blunt about that fact in a recent speech.
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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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The Federal Highway Administration has a chart full of answers to that question you might find useful.
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The numbers don’t lie: business-as-usual suburban development won’t bring a booming town long-term financial strength. But it turns out that to #DoTheMath is only the first step toward changing your community's business model.
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