> The problems it highlights can be reduced to low tax revenues. Our infrastructure is crumbling because we do not collect enough taxes to subsidize it.
This is a double whammy, because so many urban areas basically came close to the brink of death during the mid 20th century and have only revitalized in the last 30-ish years or so. That means there's a massive infrastructure and services "debt" in most cities, so they have the burden of playing catch up as well.
> Things like roads and trains cannot (and should not) pay for themselves---they are a public good. The train might be empty at night, but the ability to take a train home prevents drunk driving, for example. One cannot put a monitory value on services like that, they speak to our collective quality of life. The SF transit situation is the direct consequence of a failing tax base. The wealth of the local tech industry is not "trickling down" to improve city infrastructure, in proportion to the industry's growth.
I strongly agree with this and wish it was more of a priority (sadly, our political system is so broken everyone is focused on other sideshows and wedge issues). Public transit is really a strong societal good, and an equalizer. Good public transit is a big factor in enabling the poorest and least advantaged to find jobs wherever they exist while keeping their housing costs low and also enabling things like continuing education and so on. It's a major component in that whole "lifting yourself up by your bootstraps" thing that people think is so important.
This is a double whammy, because so many urban areas basically came close to the brink of death during the mid 20th century and have only revitalized in the last 30-ish years or so. That means there's a massive infrastructure and services "debt" in most cities, so they have the burden of playing catch up as well.
> Things like roads and trains cannot (and should not) pay for themselves---they are a public good. The train might be empty at night, but the ability to take a train home prevents drunk driving, for example. One cannot put a monitory value on services like that, they speak to our collective quality of life. The SF transit situation is the direct consequence of a failing tax base. The wealth of the local tech industry is not "trickling down" to improve city infrastructure, in proportion to the industry's growth.
I strongly agree with this and wish it was more of a priority (sadly, our political system is so broken everyone is focused on other sideshows and wedge issues). Public transit is really a strong societal good, and an equalizer. Good public transit is a big factor in enabling the poorest and least advantaged to find jobs wherever they exist while keeping their housing costs low and also enabling things like continuing education and so on. It's a major component in that whole "lifting yourself up by your bootstraps" thing that people think is so important.