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For centuries, cities used to be built incrementally. Improving and building on successful places, and changing or abandoning unsuccessful places. This changed in America in the 1940s, when whole neighbourhoods were built on the edge of town, to a completed state. After several generations, many of these places are financially insolvent, but are propping themselves up with an ever-growing mountain of debt.

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Sources and Image Credits

Thumnail photo:
Suburban Sprawl, Vegas Style
https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnkay...

This video is based on the work of Strong Towns, especially the "Growth Ponzi Scheme":
https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2...
https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2...
https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2...
https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2...
https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2...

Aerial view of the Napa River where it divides Vallejo, California
By Dicklyon - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...

Historical compilation of photos from Brainerd, MN
Downtown Brainerd, then and now:
http://www.crowwinghistory.org/braine...

Penny Postcards from Minnesota
http://www.usgwarchives.net/mn/crowwi...

$3.2 Billion to Fix Tampa's Aging Pipes? From Where?
https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2...

The land of the FREE [Backus, MN]
https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2...

Transactions of Decline, Lowry Edition
https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2...

We Need Growth. But Only If It Generates Real Wealth.
https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2...

Branch Closings and Budget Cuts Threaten Libraries Nationwide
https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org...

We Can't Afford To Keep The Streetlights On
https://www.businessinsider.com/we-ca...

Cost of deferred maintenance for U.S. infrastructure tops $1 trillion, new report finds
https://transportationtodaynews.com/n...

U.S. and UK on brink of debt disaster
http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate...

Mortgage Debt Outstanding, All holders
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MDOAH

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Chapters

0:00 Intro
0:05 Strong Towns
0:14 Why isn't suburbia bankrupt?
1:12 Traditional incremental development
3:13 Growth and financing through debt
4:54 Why increasing taxes isn't enough
6:44 Successful cities need successful services
7:41 Growing cities with debt
9:32 Conclusion
10:29 Patreon shout-out
10:39 Outro

#StrongTowns #MunicipalDebt