The Growth Ponzi Scheme, Part 1

Charles Marohn · 17 Jun 2011 · strongtowns.org ↗

2 korrents from this piece

Charles Marohn did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

Our reading
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.

Their wordsPut 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.

Interesting
Our reading
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 wordsOf 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.

Interesting