Charles Marohn

From one piece The Power of Growing Incrementally 4 beliefs, in the piece's order there

• Our readingkorrents.com

  We admire people for taking bold action with public money who in an earlier age would have been called hustlers.

  Their words

  So whether it is Robert Moses then or Elon Musk today, people who would have – in a time past – been called charlatans or hustlers, now become deeply admired for their willingness to take bold action (with public money or supported by tax subsidies).

  The Power of Growing Incrementallystrongtowns.org

• Our readingkorrents.com

  The break in how cities are built is that places used to be improved continuously and are now built once, at scale, to a finished state.

  Their words

  Pre-Depression development was incremental on a continuum of improvement while post-War development is built at a large scale to a finished state.

  The Power of Growing Incrementallystrongtowns.org

• Our readingkorrents.com

  A neighbourhood redevelops itself when rising land values meet permission to build more intensely, and it stagnates when either half is missing.

  Their words

  It is incrementally rising land values, combined with the ability to redevelop to something more intense, that naturally prompts the redevelopment of property in decline.

  The Power of Growing Incrementallystrongtowns.org

+ 1 more

• Our readingkorrents.com

  Cities have only ever built wealth incrementally, by many small improvements over a long time, not by big projects.

  Their words

  Yet, incremental investment is how cities have always built wealth.

  The Power of Growing Incrementallystrongtowns.org

From one piece The Real Reason Your City Has No Money 3 beliefs, in the piece's order there

• Our readingkorrents.com

  America's accumulated road, pipe and pavement is a bad investment, and no federal spending programme can make it a good one.

  America

  Their words

  All this infrastructure is a bad investment. America needs a different model of growth and development.

  The Real Reason Your City Has No Moneystrongtowns.org

• Our readingkorrents.com

  American cities built roughly two dollars of public infrastructure for every dollar of private investment, and that ratio is what bankrupts them.

  America

  Their words

  This thinking is how you end up with two dollars of public infrastructure for every one dollar of private investment.

  The Real Reason Your City Has No Moneystrongtowns.org

• Our readingkorrents.com

  Nearly every American city is functionally insolvent, because replacing the infrastructure it has built would cost more than its entire private tax base is worth.

  America

  Their words

  It's a predicament that nearly every American city, with very few exceptions, finds itself in.

  The Real Reason Your City Has No Moneystrongtowns.org

From one piece The Growth Ponzi Scheme, Part 1 2 beliefs, in the piece's order there

• Our readingkorrents.com

  Suburban growth is a Ponzi scheme because a city of finite size cannot keep growing at an accelerating rate, and only that would pay the bills it has taken on.

  Their words

  Of course, with the suburban model, it is physically impossible for a city of finite dimension to grow indefinitely, let alone at amounts that accelerate forever.

  The Growth Ponzi Scheme, Part 1strongtowns.org

• Our readingkorrents.com

  The American suburban pattern of development does not pay for itself: a city takes the cash from new growth and, with it, a maintenance bill it can never cover.

  America

  Their words

  Put these two characteristics together and you have a key insight; Cities routinely trade near-term cash advantages associated with new growth for long-term financial obligations associated with maintenance of infrastructure.

  The Growth Ponzi Scheme, Part 1strongtowns.org