This hits the proverbial nail right on the head. In many towns and cities (of various sizes) across the US, pro-growth agendas are enriching a handful at the expense of residents. Take Metro NY for example, where the latest development craze is market-rate, high-density housing. Gone are the projects building McMansions on an acre or more, as you can pack in hordes of people in thise apartment and condos. Of course, the politicians promise 'affordable' housing as a way to get public approval, but what always happens is a minor number of affordable units are given away in a lottery and the bulk of the project is market rate. Market in Metro NY suburbs is around $3200/mo for a two bedroom. Add to this many developers in this region are experts at getting local and state IDA funding, tax abatements and utility credits, it becomes clear the taxpayers are funding this development. To this post's credit, these projects all require some degree of infrastructure expansion and yes, much of the maintenance of this infrastructure occurs at the detriment of existing infrastructure. Roads, rails, airports,and the electric grid in this region has suffered to the point of being 3rd world or less. Yet, taxes are sky high. Consider a 1500 sq ft, 50 year old home in suburban NJ or NY already has property taxes of $10k-15k in any commutable town/city. And adding insult to injury is the labor costs, which in Metro-NY are among the highest in the world (yes, higher than Singapore).
Metro NY may be an easy target, but like the author of this post, I believe this is happening in many towns and cities across the US. We need to get smart about our growth and take politicians who promise grand infrastructure programs to task. Just look at Trump's Infrastructure Week boon dogle or Biden's now non-existent promise of national high-speed rail. Now these hollow promises would have been growth for the public good, not just the local pols and developers.
Metro NY may be an easy target, but like the author of this post, I believe this is happening in many towns and cities across the US. We need to get smart about our growth and take politicians who promise grand infrastructure programs to task. Just look at Trump's Infrastructure Week boon dogle or Biden's now non-existent promise of national high-speed rail. Now these hollow promises would have been growth for the public good, not just the local pols and developers.