From Streetfilms:
Chuck Marohn cofounded the non-profit Strong Towns in 2009. Since then he has steadily built an audience for his message about the financial folly of car-centric planning and growth. The suburban development pattern that has prevailed since the end of World War II has resulted in what Marohn calls “the growth Ponzi scheme” — a system that isn’t viable in the long run because it cannot bring in enough revenue to cover its costs. Last year, interest in the Strong Towns message surged and Marohn, in high demand, traveled to towns and cities all over the country delivering “curbside chats” about the need to build places differently. In this Streetfilm we provide an overview of his thinking about street design, land use, and transportation funding.
One of his stops last year was in Memphis where he issued a compelling report about smart and better investments that pay the best dividends. You can read about his report here and here.
Thanks to Streetfilms for this contribution to issues that matter to Memphis’ future:
Marohn made his presentation in Memphis last year– great crowd, great presentation. One point he made there is that annexation is usually not a good strategy for a city, because the increased revenue, is less than the increased costs (street maintenance, sewer, storm sewer, electricity, street lights, police, fire, schools, dead animal removal, etc).
I do have a concern about a point in this video– returning decision-making about roads/streets completely to the states has significant corruption risks. At least the current Federal process attempts to fairly handle the appropriate issues. I do agree that each state should get their own appropriate share of the funds.