Our decision during the 2016 election is not about whether or not to build infrastructure as a way to experience growth. No, our decision is about what to maintain and to what extent we will walk away from stuff we built in the past. The easy growth is done and has been for some time.
Read MoreAmerica has an infrastructure crisis, but it's not the one you think it is.
Read MoreHospitals around the country are realizing that it is good policy and good business to take an interest in the welfare of the neighborhoods they are in.
Read MoreRespected economists know that investing in infrastructure clearly makes us richer. It's obvious. No further discussion needed... Respected economists are wrong.
Read MoreDuncan's approach -- and the bipartisan approach of others who would shower money on our current system -- can only make our fragility problem worse. This thinking scares me.
Read MoreIf the global economy is like a hot air balloon, we're only given the option to continually go higher -- despite the risk -- or cut all the air and crash. Those options aren't good enough.
Read MorePonder what life will be like following another decade or two of inversion, with society’s arrangements -- no longer able to be propped up by an expanding state. Consider an America where the affluent inhabit our core cities and the poor are left behind on our suburbanized outskirts.
Read MoreWe never calculate—let alone track—the public's actual return-on-investment (dollars in versus dollars out over multiple life cycles) when we do a project. We never even ask the question.
Read MoreMost of our investments need to be riskless, but a small fraction need to be high risk, high reward.
Read MoreHauling one big load of merchandise is far more efficient than hauling multiple, smaller loads. Thus whoever can configure their operation to take advantage of this efficiency should win, right?
Read MoreLet's stop using the terrible design of our cities as a random pretext for pulling people over and, instead, be proactive about fixing the design.
Read MoreIn closing many neighborhood schools over the years, my local school district has walked away from neighborhoods that are already struggling, making the situation in those places much worse.
Read MoreRoutine traffic stops are dangerous for all involved and do little to improve safety. It's time to end the practice.
Read MoreIn the short term, you don’t want to lose the big box war. In the long term, the only thing worse than losing the big box war is winning it.
Read MoreCities that tethered their future to this experiment are going to struggle while those that still have a pulse in their core neighborhoods will have a chance at renewed prosperity.
Read MoreStrong Towns kicks off Big Box Week, looking at the promises cities make and the risks they take when a new big box store goes in.
Read MoreSometimes the best thing that can come from a project is to have it be a warning beacon for others.
Read MoreI'm moving. It turns out the place I was looking for was right there in front of me all along.
Read MoreCan we find a way listen to each other?
Read MoreFerguson is trapped in a cycle of decline, not because of its people or even their poverty, but because it is designed to be that way. Failing suburbs are where the power shifts of our time are concentrating desperation and discontent. Sadly, Ferguson will not be an anomaly.
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